Sorry, it's only me again... I just noticed that my "5 Final" render settings are not really a compromise at all - they are pretty much full on with everything, higher even than the maximum "Auto" setting. No wonder they take so long for large size renders! I could back those off a bit and still get a perfectly passable render in less time.

Now I'm going to shutup.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)