Great sound equipment is a blessing - always has been - at least in my life. Always needed a setup that would move A LOT of air - and with precision. So, often have used big Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater speakers, or Klipsch Corner Horns - (horns seem to do it best) and appreciated the efficiency. Usually have pushed those with McIntosh or Crown amps - and some other very good ones others have mentioned here.
Instruments and voices move air - the larger ensembles move a lot of air in performance - not easy to reproduce those real effects. Speakers other than horns, especially those with the smaller overall surface area, can sound quite good when one is up close but, regardless of amp power and volume level, I have never found them able to cause me to feel that I am standing up front and conducting the ensemble. Moving air mass is it - acoustics is acoustics.
