I have owned and loved my Bryston system for many years. Active speakers are a must. The amps are designed to work with specific drivers, not merely speakers in general.
That being said, nothing I have heard comes close to my current system. Expensive, very. Bryson gets you more bang for your buck. System consists primarily of Meyer Sound Bluehorns, subs, Datasat processor and a dCS Rossini DAC with external clock. Here are a few pics...


James, if you ever get a chance, check out the Meyer Sound Bluehorns at one of the trade shows.