what is good sound ?

Mrtennis, your asking for a clearly defined answer to a question that most audiophiles cannot give the definitive answer to. Any answers you get are subjective. You already know that given the variables involved in any system and the average listener coming in with his expectations & experience will differ from one person to the next. For that reason nothing is written in stone. Therefore it "is" a matter of opinion. Evaluating quality requires some experience as you know but even then may not be what the next guy considers quality sound. A similiar question would be, what came first, the chicken or the egg? This question would involve an endless debate as does this one & cannot be taken seriously. My attempt to address this question originally made me curious to the responses you might receive. Anybody else?

I find some of mrtennis's threads entertaining & fun, if nothing else this is the perfect exercise on how audiophiles interact or react to such a simple question. To put things in perspective, since we all are taking chances just by living, I don't think any harm has been done here.

I think most of us can generally agree on what sounds good regardless of the combination of components used in a system, if the outcome is desirable and you find yourself enjoying the music & not paying attention to the components, you could very well be there!

A system that sounds good with a steady diet of audiophile music can be important but in my opinion it should also sound great with other types of music because variety is the spice of life.

Well, I say one more round of drinks and then on to business. Mrtennis, on the more serious side, it is both. Remove either the stereo system or the listener and you have no evaluation.

What is good sound? My conclusion is that it is sound that sounds good, period.

Marco, I agree with you. I do not need to join a club to distort what I believe sounds good to me. But many audiophiles want and seek approval from others and in the beginning I was not that much different. I'm sure that is why clubs like that exisit. My system is a very personal to me including my music & have tried enough gear to realize that the very most important part of any system is the speakers. I can't put enough emphasis here. I have had audiophiles over to my house to demonstrate a preamp or power amp and some folks threw the money at me to buy it. I did however point out to the buyer that with different speakers it may not produce the same results.

Getting back to the subject at hand, I don't think that any system assembled will sound exactly like live music although some may come close and I'm sure that is what many audiophiles strive for but others in the end may prefer a more intimate venue and need only to please themselves.

Marco by the way, maybe we should all try some Grey Poupon just to see what all the fuss is about. I'm still using French's mustard.