Best all around speakers

"That's because source material is recorded and mastered using all kinds of different-sounding equipment, such that there are all kinds of variabilities in the sound of source material-"

Very true.

But you cant have a different system for every case here when something is recorded differently.

At some point you just have to accept the inherent flaws and imperfections in the entire performance/recording/playback process and enjoy the art that the makers provide as it is.

Its like going to an art museum. You accept and appreciate an abstract painting by Monet for the art form it is. You don't look to run image sharpening algorithms or buy a different pair of glasses in an attempt to make it clearer what the heck it was he was painting.

I understand the limitations of the Quads in particular, but there are other large speaker designs out there that cost a lot more that should be able to handle everything extremely well including the things the Quads excel at, don't you think?

Sure there are many other speakers that handle everything extremely well and are an all-around much better speaker than the dynamically limited Quad ESL. My point was that the Quad's are absolutely exqusite in the midrange and, as long as the music dynamics and frequency range just happens to fall right in the Quad's sweetspot, it is hard to do better with any other speaker period.

So isn't the fact of the matter then that there are many speakers out there that handle a wide variety of music types well, if not perfectly in all cases?

The answer to these threads about "best this, that or the other thing" always seems to come back to "it depends on personal preference" and of course the rest of the target system, and budget.

Some good recommendations for some very good speaks here though!

So isn't the fact of the matter then that there are many speakers out there that handle a wide variety of music types well, if not perfectly in all cases?

I'd fully agree with "there are many speakers out there that handle a variety of music types well" - especially provided you add the caveat of modest SPL levels.

As for near perfect - I think there really isn't one.

Mapman, you're quite right, an awful lot of this is personal preference. I noted my own preference for Harbeths above, but (as also noted), I find that I'm happiest with several diffent sources, each of which has a bit different voice. I guess I've gotten very picky in my dotage, but I haven't found a speaker that gets everything close enough to "right" (for my ear) that I don't feel a need to tinker with what I'm inputting into it.