@FeddyLost , I'm a bit conflicted about your message, so I have bad news too : this thread got to page 5 with
a lot of great people being extremely helpful and resourceful. Thanks to them I have already gotten up-to-date recommendations (which was my main goal), very relevant tips, and I have learned some valuable things.
You are treating me like I am some Hi-Fi newbie, and I don't know why you'd think that.

In 1993 with a group of friends from engineering school we buit our first series of Integrated Amps. I got into Hi-Fi at that time. Went to a lot of auditoriums. Listened to lots of technologies and gear, including stuff that nobody can afford. Been to some studios too. Around 2005, a friend and me built for his place an audio-dedicated fanless PC, with heatpipes and the best
Pro studio soundcard that money could buy at the time
(Lynx Two-B). Then there was a tri-amp (Power Amps that were an evolution of the Integrated Amps that we built in 1993 - not done by me) and a pair of DIY speakers weighting > 100 kg each (see pics). Everything with active XO based on IZotope Ozone and DRC. We listened to that system a lot. There were other projects after 2005 that I don't want to mention extensively.
I know how Pro gear is meant to sound like. Actually I'm used to it. But being older, increasingly lazy and having other priorities, I never took the time to change my current system (which is not so bad BTW - It cost me 3-4 K€ 25 years ago), until now. I don't want to go the "DIY from scratch" way anymore, because I've already been down that road (it was fun but hard), and I know that I won't be able to achieve the level of performance that I'd like, even with lots of effort (at least not alone, but now my friends and I are in distant cities). Not to mention that I don't want to dedicate so much time anymore. We all need to remain humble and know our own limits.
I too have trouble believing that a pair of bookshelf speakers can meet my needs (because... physics). Still, I'm willing to give some of these new-gen monitors a try. Because they are full of promises and ease of use, which would really make my day, and because SPL is not as important for me as you may think, so I'm willing to compromise on that.
With that said, if for you a listening point at 3.5-4m is "less than optimal" then let's agree to disagree. Feel free to listen at 1m if you like. Or buy headphones.

Also, if for you Hi-Fi requires heavy room treatment, then know that
for me Hi-Fi is rather about finding the best solution to meet the
unchangeable physical constraints that we all have at home. Want an example ? Take a look at this picture, you may recognize it :
https://audiophilestyle.com/uploads/monthly_2018_09/image8.jpg.35473b4c818eda52e3f8eb12a8d9263b.jpg . The room is far from ideal, right ? And I don't see any heavy room treatment.
I still have
lots of stuff to learn, especially on recent technologies, and I'm learning here thanks to lots of knowledgeable people. Let's remain positive and keep it that way.
