I first wanted to say thanks to all the posters this has been a thread has been a massive help to me in terms of next steps. I have been looking at the Mackies, Genelec, and Adam monitors for a couple months now, and while I think each has its own flavor, strong points etc, each seems to have its own list of problems or issues to boot.
There are a couple points in this thread that caught my attention that I did want to respond to. As a long time drummer (some 30 years now) I can say the ringing is both real and intentional. (and you are quite correct not easy to do on a regular basis without work). First you must play open handed and with a good bit of flex in the wrist to pull it off, and second you have to have a consistent and powerful strike to the same basic spot repeatedly if you don't want a complete mess on your hands. You also need to be prepared for more then a couple broken sticks at the end of the day.
It can be clearly heard if its intended, and is in the mix. What you get if its not making the mix is a tighter top end with some bottom end fundamentals. A bit more snap up front with a lower end (read almost 12 inch tom like sound underneath) Back in the day I used to loosen the snare head just a bit to get a more stable bottom end ( a bit of sloppiness if you will counting on the rim to give the strike a bit more ring). So I yes, I have played it heard it, and listen to it all but lost in the mix on recordings. If you can hear it, I would say that it matters and the Adams get a big thumbs up on that account.
As for the rest I could not agree more that its your work and your ears that matter the most. I spend a great deal more time decomposing and listening these days then playing, mixing or working with music. (just the realities of family, work and life in general). My interest here is more so on the side of being able to hear what is on the recording, what is in the mix, what the musician, engineer, and production folks wanted to put out. It seems that most if not everyone is leaning towards the Genelec on that account, but I wanted to post the question. Post production, for the final readout, or playback for your client which monitor would you choose?