So all that talk you read about with hifi reviews “These (insert speaker of choice) reproduce the sound as the artist/producer/engineer intended" is a moot point if the average hi-fi consumer doesn’t care about accuracy in reproduction.
My comment regarding shiny veneers/glitzy equipment wasn’t directed at yourself, apologies if my intention wasn’t clearly defined.
Frank said it better than I did.
I agree. I'm not one for reviews but don't recall seeing “these (insert speaker of choice) reproduce the sound as the artist/producer/engineer intended" in print. Who knows unless you were there? Does that even matter? I do have several commercial releases of live acoustic (classical) performances having attended the recorded performance, I enjoy them for what they are, I don't start trying to think how it compared to the live event.
I listen to speakers and make subjective judgements as described by Neumann based on how I like music at home to sound. I know its subjective because I have friends who have made different choices, some with professional monitors, which I don't like. I've heard quite a few monitors from the likes of ATC, PMC, B&W, incredibly revealing, I get what they give as a professional tool to mix and master recordings, I just don't much enjoy listening to them, and I'm not going to tell myself I should be using them because they measure better (if they do).
I think my approach is much as Neumann described as the difference between professional and consumer choices, and I also agree with
@Frank Dernie 's explanation. I don't agree you can use "high fidelity" rigidly. There are very accurate speakers generally considered uncoloured, and some are a much more relaxing listen than others. I prefer the more relaxing ones, but it doesn't mean they lack in power and dynamics when needed. They can reproduce the music I like, and I have no doubt the Neumann KH420 could do a much better job of lots of music I would never listen to, which doesn't bother me at all.
My room has some acoustic treatment and I have measured it. There are no horrible or unpleasant peaks. I have fixed the minor issues with the bass with DSP, and remeasured it, but I could not hear the difference so I turned the DSP off. The brain fixes quite a lot on its own. I had professional help setting up the speakers, which made a tremendous difference in getting them to image properly and remove some masking by the bass as they were about 6 inches too close to the rear wall.