Yes, I agree with you Wayne, it is a shame. Not sure even "legitimate", government enforced specs would help much for speakers. Those lucky enough to have a good local dealer can make informed decisions, the rest of us can hope they tell us about it on forums like this. And I can tell you that the names you see over and over in the review community are very conscientious listeners and stake their career and reputation on their comments. Don't be afraid to consider these review opinions to be from a "professional listener" you can trust. Some of the best gear I ever owned came from reading a review from a trusted reviewer.

Thanks for the story about your recent audition. There's a good reason the reviews of the Triton Twos have always compared them to much more expensive speakers (Sound & Vision, in awarding the Triton Two the 2010 Product of the Year, said they sounded like $50,000 speakers ... Stereophile guessed $10,000 before being told the price). Breakthrough products often redefine value. I imagine the first Model-T upset the horse and carriage products value equation pretty quickly .