>From my journey through the sub rabbit hole I remember people agreeing that a nice set of big 3-way towers

Totally this! What held me back (and still does) is that a change of venue is coming in the next couple of years so I'm considering the addition of a sub as a possible intermediate solution for a sound upgrade. Also, as this falls more in the 'nice to have' than the 'absolutely need to have' category for me, I'm internally debating about buying nothing now and upgrading my budget for later.

Well, choices choices I guess!