if you have gathered anything from this discussion thread, it should be that you have to audition the equipment you intend to buy. Over the years, i have heard great sounding Class A amps and some really expensive awful sounding ones. While you compare the purchase to buying a washer dryer, I would suggest that you are making the mistake of false equivalence. one is purely functional the other a matter of entertainment and enjoyment. Washers and Dryers don't activate endorphins nor do they create harmonic effects or bring back memories. Acquire your equipment as an iterative and involved process. Would you buy a car without test driving it? A piece of art without seeing it?
