I think what has been somewhat lost in the discussion here is that as much as we would like to be able to duplicate that "live" feeling in our listening choices, we have to remind ourselves regardless of what one spends on their speakers, they will sound only as good as the recording that is played through them! Obviously, the vast majority of music is recorded in a studio and the musicians are not playing in a "live" concert venue thus they are subject to the whims of the sound engineer and producer which can be processed in multiple locations even on the same album! These are the limitations of what a speaker's capability is, not the speaker in and of itself.
I suppose it depends on personal taste, but as far as quality and consistency are concerned jazz and classical recordings tend to stand out here. That is why most reviewers tend to use these in assessing equipment, especially speakers.
In recent years, I have attended a number of performances that were recorded live for sale later in various forms(DVDs/CDs etc.)and as it turns out I much preferred the recording to the live performance just because of better overall balance and the ability to hear ALL the instruments and voices. I was at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards in April and if one didn't know you would think the person on the mixing board in the theater just came from doing the same thing at a "Poison" concert.
I would suggest, when listening to speakers, listen to the music as a whole and just not one instrument. In recent years all reasonably good speakers can reproduce pretty well anything that is thrown at them.
By the way, as a musician myself for over twenty five years, as much as we would like to think we know best what sounds good and accurate and what doesn't, it isn't necessarily true. That is why even the most successful, have producers.
