Of course, I must admit that I do not have the extensive experience listening to top end commercial brands unlike some FMs like you.
Actually Capt. I still consider myself a novice and still feel that I have a lot to learn. Secondly I also firmly believe that preference for equipment is strongly influenced by the listener's bias (as well as his music preference), and really there is no good or bad. Good sound is essentially what is perceived by the listener. I have had good and bad listening experiences but what I have learnt is not to generalize because one man's meat could be anothers poison. For instance, I have yet to warm up to single driver (cross-over less) spkr. designs, and a recent experience with one such design (that has won numerous raves in the global audiophile world) just did not motivate me enough to consider buying it.
Cheers,
Sid