AV Racks. What difference does it make?

personally, I was taken aback by twl's tone. The last thing we need in this over-hyped hobby is people who use the poor logic of twl. Things are better because someone else says so? HUH? I have many years in this hobby, and don't expect anyone to defer to my opinion because of it. Somehow we've gotten to the point that buying expensive equipment justifies itself, how'd that happen? I am not some techno-dweeb who rejects anything that isn't proven by double-blind tests, nor am I likely to believe that just because some writer for stereophile says it, it's therefore true. One of the best articles I ever read in stereophile was a few years back, and related to the incremental improvements in our hobby. It was an honest, backward-looking piece about how all those "must have" tweaks and upgrades haven't moved us as far forward as we all think. To read all the hype, you'd think that anything made over three years ago is garbage. Luckily for me, I have the chance to evaluate my system against a baseline (so to speak) quite often. I have a very close friend who bought a complete system identical to mine about seven years ago. Now my friend is one of those lucky types who can be happy with "very good" and not yearn for "great", I on the other hand, can't go a month without an upgrade, however minor. In the intervening seven years, my buddy has only tried the few upgrades I recommeded, and rejected most of them as too minor to merit the cost. To get down to brass tacks here, the only thing that our systems still have in common are the loudspeakers, and yet, depending on material, his system can still sound as good or better than mine. How does this relate to this discussion? My basic philosophy on audio has developed into this: most changes we all make are based on creating a different result, not necessarily a better one. Racks, spikes, cables, whatever the topic, in most cases you are creating a difference that may be an improvement, or not. The very fact that so much good, high-priced gear sells here every day pretty much proves this point. Slappy, if you can hear a difference, and be sure that you prefer it to your previous set-up, keep it and don't look back or listen to any pompous, sneering blather from others. Your ears, your system, your enjoyment.