I think that to some extent it depends on what you are listening for and why. I used my system for 10 years for opera to Blue Grass outdoors and opera to anything in a variety of school auditoriums. Some of the opera was local, some used "Stars of the Met". I never got anything but raves. Now, I was using A-7x's or A7-500x's purchased new and well taken care of by me. I have added what I can get from old theaters out west and they don't sound as good. Still for entertainment purposes - as opposed to hi-fi addicts like us - they do better than anything I have ever heard elsewhere. Of course, having worked for Bell Telephone Labs for 34 years I could be a mite biased.