Re markw's comments

Drug trials pose a far higher risk-reward value than any silly audiophile issue. The drug companies DBT use placebos (usually a dummy pill of some type) as a control in part of the test group to distinguish real drug results from results created in the subjects' imaginations. I remember one trial yielded a drug improvement-benefit of 49% in the test group while the placebo group taking the placebo pills achieved a 33% improvement-benefit. This did not seem to be a ringing success for that drug.

DBT's are useful for screening what type(s) of components you should be spending your time and energy in order to select better components of that category to improve your sound system. Loudspeakers are clearly the 'biggest hitters' here. Of course, the question of 'what to prefer' always enters these discussions.

'What to prefer' can really only be answered by attending a lot of acoustic-instrument recitals so as to lodge the voice (sound) of the real instruments in your acoustic memory- the same way your mother's voice is lodged in your acoustic memory. The specific people playing the instruments need to be competent, but listening to different artists will not pose a problem. You are learning the voice of the real instrument, not the artist.