the meaning of the word "better"

All very cerebral and appropriate responses.

What about my amp is better than your amp neener neener?

That is frequently present on AG if you read between the lines.

I have a better, more musical sounding stereo now than 5 years ago.

Of course on a macro level, everything is probably better than components were decades ago. But at, and within each step, on this journey, it's not so simple to tell what is better.
Peace

Nonoise: yea, had the SWAG v AFD dropped on me at a party, and immediately fell in love with it. Caught the first few episodes of House of Lies, then lost the thread (life had the gall to interfere, as it will). Definitely rings of management consulting mumbo jumbo, no doubt.

"Better" can be one of two things, depending on the system-builder's goal:

Better is a component that makes (lets) a sound system sound more pleasing to that person; without a specific reference in mind, other than that person's sonic preferences. Or:

Better is a component that makes (lets) a sound system sound more like what live music sounds like. Familiarity with the sound of the real thing makes it possible to have this be a useful reference, in spite of all the variables.