You wrote :

"And another point - people who build and sell "statement" speakers with passive crossovers are just full of shit - there's no justification for a $30K pair of speakers with a passive crossover these days, especially as cheap as DSP has become."

BAM! I feel like somebody just hit me square in the forehead with a 2x4 to get my attention. I had never considered that thought before but it makes absolute perfect sense. Spend $30K and you get to listen to your high priced amps and preamps filtered by a bunch of Solen caps, sand cast resistors, and coils of magnet wire. But they are safely hidden in a beautiful styled exotic cabinet that makes a statement to anybody coming into your home. That was probably one of the most enlightening statements I have read on a forum in a long time.

Excellent,

Martin