I recently spent two weeks hanging around listening to music and watching movies at a friends place in Florida. After carefully considering his requirements last year I recommended he go with the following system: 3 VP150s, 4 QS8s, 2 EP500s, A-1400-8, Onkyo 885 pre-amp Denon TT, JVC-RS1 projector, Toshiba XA2 HDDVD, Dalite High Matte screen. A critical criteria was excellent sound reproduction and no blocking the views! All the speakers were mounted high and pointed down at the listeners. The subs were behind the piano and mid left sidewall.
He comes from a music oriented background, his father once being an opera singer with the Boston SO, and his mother an accomplished pianist. We listened mostly to piano, classical and jazz with high dynamic range. When his mother played piano unknown to us, it was hard to differentiate whether or not the system was playing . Sounds are very lifelike and realistic, so much so that both he and his mother say its the best reproduction of music and piano they have heard. Movie sounds confused his kids and pets especially when there were ringing phones or barking on the screen. There is great synergy between the equipment and the room. At the heart of it is the a-1400-8 which is lying on its side in the cabinet below left. Even at high levels there was no evidence of distortion.
