I think we are pretty much on the same page. I agree with what you have posted.
I personally don't want to trade anything off as I really enjoy both music and, surprisingly, movies a lot more now that I have a good system.
Honestly, unless you are in the budget category, I don't think you need to trade anything off any more. There are a lot of very well designed drivers and subs out there. You have DIY, kit and prefab options available to you so that you can get excellent bass with no tradeoffs in the $1K to $2K range.
