Ajani, you are NOT getting it. Recall the NYT tasting I mentioned earlier: in the morning everyone (all wine "experts") tasted and rated the wines knowing which was which. The French were rated first, Oregon next, and California last. When the EXACT same wines were tasted blind, the California wines came in first, followed by the Oregon ones, with the French wines being last. I have been to several blind tastings where "experts" gave widely different scores to the same wine. Recall Robert J Reina's article on the ARSi60 integrated amp ($4,000). He actually preferred the $4,000 integrated over his $20,000 pre and power amp separates in the bass. As he put it: "over a wide range of recordings, I felt that the VSi60 bettered the Audio Valve/Ref 110 combo in every aspect of bass articulation and definition. But this made no sense to me. Why would a higher-powered amp with a similar circuit topology, bigger transforms, and better parts produce a bottom end slightly inferior to that of the baby integrated?"

Of course, I often listen sighted (like at the CAS). However, by focusing on and rating the music, rather than rating the audio components themselves, I am (yes, IMO) able to overcome some of the bias involved in listening sighted.