I hate to say it. The last thing I want to do is insult you all but, none of you are right regarding what gear is better. You've heard it a million times & it's true. "What is best is what sounds best to you with your choice of music". Let me extend this to with what choice of source. How many people can explain to you why? Here goes. I agree with some parts of some comments & I would have to write up an essay with evidence to back it up. This is not the place so I will do my best. The only way to truly understand is engineering experience. I own a pair of HS50 in an untreated room. I have mixed and tracked on Behringers, KRK, Advent, Genelec, Mackie and more. My best mix is always at home. Why, because I know how they translate in this environment. That’s all. A professional mixer can mix on anything if they know how they translate. Yamaha NS-10 worked not because they were pleasurable to listen to but because it was the only phase coherent speaker available at the time and did the job to present an image, especially when stereo was in it's infancy. When you here a Les Paul or a Fender strat in a live room, nothing will replicate it because even the mics are colored. Every piece of equipment is colored. Pre amps, consoles, the lot, and of course the room. Not to mention processing and recording / mixing and mastering technique And yes, your hifi as well. What you all are actually debating is A: your preference of speakers, B: your subjectivity in sound. Period. Audiophiles will never know what the production sounded like from the engineer's ears. Engineers can only make music to please the masses & to interpret the norms of the consumer’s preference brought about by semiotics in culture and society. Hifi gear was never meant to replicate a production. The same principal applies for the manufacturing of so called reproduction equipment. It's usualy bassy because thats what a lot of consumers prefer. There are technical standards but there is no sound standard or a true sound. It's a cultural paradigm. High end manufacturers are ever endeavoring to cater to the tastes of audiophiles, whatever that is? That’s the million-dollar question. It's a business. A good engineer produces music depending on Genre, subculture and tries to please that audience and even lyrics are written with cultural perspectives in mind, whether to target a particular audience, subculture or mainstream and there are asthetics considered. (The Sex Pistols is an exception. That was a fluke & probably the most important contempary music made. Lyricaly they had an agenda but asthetically they did not). That’s why engineers typically check their mixes on different hifi gear, even the average car stereo and even P.A gear and stadiums. I have several hifi gear in my home studio. Some I like and some I dislike but it has to embody certain characteristics depending on genre, my target audience and the gear they generally would use. Even iPhones and ear buds if you are doing pop. I have my preference for leisure, which is vintage. "Forget valve gear, Justin Bieber fans don't use it. The music will be over compressed and the audiophile will hear it but who cares", get the picture? Sure there are qualities in sound but when you are talking about subtle nuances and the difference between, timbre, harmonics that very high end gear can re-produce, it's all academic and the engineer has done his job if you like it. The genius, "Quincy Jones" knew this well and was able to execute his vision. He has over 40 000 000 sales to prove it and he mixed on Aurotones, Tiny little horrible cube speakers but, he knew that you would like how it was going to sound on your system and how you would like it. Jackson never thanked him publicly.
Peace.