In a perfect world, I would have found a new home with the perfect listening room, but alas... Instead I found my perfect home and have had to modify my system accordingly. Due to space restraints I had to replace my beloved Quad ESL-988s in Vintage finish. Both sonically and aesthetically, they were my perfect speakers. The combination of the Monbrison and an EAR 890 was the most musical home listening experience I had in 30 years of putting systems together. Though definitely not as transparent, I've found a great substitute in the DeVore/Cortese combination - not the Quad/EAR, but they are beginning to break in and work well in their new home. I'm also managing to keep up with VPI's upgrade path for the SSM - so far so good! FYI, the EMT is not a perfect physical match for the 10.5i - I had to have a custom tube made. See below.