I rarely understand his criteria for anything. For example, his definition for "no new gear in 2008" somehow included at least three new turn tables, one or two dacs, new speakers, and a few headphones that I know about.
I suppose one headphone would qualify, but his nonsensical point was that the type of gear gets weighed in. He said, for example, that a Grado 125 rig would count, but an R10 rig disqualifies a person from the team, as there is nothing minimal about it, in his opinion.
Btw, I agree that an additional speaker rig doesn't eliminate you: one main dynamic, one main stat, one main portable, one main speaker rig. Nice, clean and minimal.