"The Truth in Audio" -- according to www.commonsenseaudio.com

[Classical Music Lives!]

Erukian has gotten it right on everything except it is debatable if the preamp trumps the power amp. It depends on how the power amp and speakers interact -OR- if the preamp is highly transparent or not. Neither lousy or excellent components matter much if speakers are not faithful reproducers. Try evaluating the electronics with poor speakers. Audio literarium is choking with 90+% objectivity distortion. Much with good intention but compounded from ignorance, the rest pure hucksterism. The big player is psychoacoustic experience. A good analogy is, did you notice how much better your car runs after a good washing and waxing? We tend to delude ourselves a bit when performing for our imagined audience, it seems to me. Maybe it's in our genes. These battered old ears and a room full of test equipment have taught me that listener's impressions are almost solely based on the loudspeaker. Mostly, I believe, due to improvements in high frequency drivers (tweeters), the younger generation with good high frequency hearing notice many of the subtle differences in recordings and the effects the various media add. Even with my old ears I find CD's to be lackluster in the high end and it surprises me when I hear something that really sparkles. And of course FM has always been somewhat disappointing with its limited bandwith and the detrimental effects of that added contrivence, stereo multiplex. Good thing most of us have mediocre hearing and just enjoy the programming. I still like listening to my vinyls.

[Chas Underhay]

You seem to have come to about the same conclusions as me.

Erukian has gotten it right on everything except it is debatable if the preamp trumps the power amp.

If he means a phono pre-amp then I agree with him, if he just means line stage then I don't.

QUOTE=Classical Music Lives!]And of course FM has always been somewhat disappointing with its limited bandwith and the detrimental effects of that added contrivence, stereo multiplex.[/QUOTE]

Maybe, but they sure have a lot of records that I don't have and I can hear them for free.

QUOTE=Classical Music Lives!]I still like listening to my vinyls.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely!