Miller is right, I did a lot of this kind of youtube listening as well. I always use Grado RS-1 headphones for that, not speakers.
The recording quality should be close for any meaningful comparison.
I didn't compare cartridges and turntables, only amps and speakers.
Of course, you cannot hear anything close to everything there is to hear, but still it can give you a pretty good idea.
One example. Same recording quality recorded by the same people. First, there was all Gryphon system with cd player as a source and Gryphon midrange speakers driven by 300 watt/ch class AB Diablo 300 integrated. It sounded very good. Then, same recording and same system except now it was driven by Gryphon preamp and Class A power amp, both not top of the line. The difference was striking, it was much better. Three times the price, I guess. Was it worth it? Hell yes.
I listened to a lot of speakers in various systems. Didn't like the sound of either Magico or Wilson. Did like a lot the sound of Kharma, Lansche too.
Kharma/Lamm and Kharma/Wavac, both with Purist Audio cabling were super. As was JM Labs Grand Utopia driven by top of the line VAC electronics. Harbeths were very musical but slow with not enough resolution and bass.
So, I wouldn't buy expensive pieces based only on youtube listening but relatively inexpensive I might take a risk with.
The recording quality should be close for any meaningful comparison.
I didn't compare cartridges and turntables, only amps and speakers.
Of course, you cannot hear anything close to everything there is to hear, but still it can give you a pretty good idea.
One example. Same recording quality recorded by the same people. First, there was all Gryphon system with cd player as a source and Gryphon midrange speakers driven by 300 watt/ch class AB Diablo 300 integrated. It sounded very good. Then, same recording and same system except now it was driven by Gryphon preamp and Class A power amp, both not top of the line. The difference was striking, it was much better. Three times the price, I guess. Was it worth it? Hell yes.
I listened to a lot of speakers in various systems. Didn't like the sound of either Magico or Wilson. Did like a lot the sound of Kharma, Lansche too.
Kharma/Lamm and Kharma/Wavac, both with Purist Audio cabling were super. As was JM Labs Grand Utopia driven by top of the line VAC electronics. Harbeths were very musical but slow with not enough resolution and bass.
So, I wouldn't buy expensive pieces based only on youtube listening but relatively inexpensive I might take a risk with.