Asa: No gesture, no feigning - I did not say total neophyte, I said relative novice, as in relative to many other A'gon regulars, for instance. And that's alright - it's actually the way I want it, and it's the way it will still be 30 years from now too. My attitude will never be one of a true believer (concerning...anything!).
Anyway, it's not that I can sense anything about *these* amps, it's just that I will never buy into the concept of *the* amp (or whatever else). As a worthless example of what I'm saying, imagine sitting Harry down in front of all the amps he's loved over just the last ten years, for in-depth auditions at his leisure, with the only handicap being that all the amps are cloaked in identical plain-jane chassis. What do you think the chances would be that he would come to the same conclusions right down the line? Yet the fact that such a stunt can't or won't ever be pulled on any writer, eventually, inexorably leads to at least a little unchecked hubris (which eventually, inexorably leads to at least a little self-delusion), in that several years on they often feel perfectly comfortable in extrapolating conclusions about the ranking of phantoms. And this despite the context having changed practically beyond recognition, which all by itself should invalidate the already invalid idea of absolute rankings. It's clearly a false construct, but one which is probably better than trying to be more philosophical (not to mention intellectually honest) if you want to sell magazines (or maybe even more to the point, have audiophiles listen to the things you say). So what I understand, if anything, is that one must proclaim in order to be heard above the fray.
(As for accumulations of accuracy, I'll address that in the other thread we're involved in right now... :-)
Anyway, it's not that I can sense anything about *these* amps, it's just that I will never buy into the concept of *the* amp (or whatever else). As a worthless example of what I'm saying, imagine sitting Harry down in front of all the amps he's loved over just the last ten years, for in-depth auditions at his leisure, with the only handicap being that all the amps are cloaked in identical plain-jane chassis. What do you think the chances would be that he would come to the same conclusions right down the line? Yet the fact that such a stunt can't or won't ever be pulled on any writer, eventually, inexorably leads to at least a little unchecked hubris (which eventually, inexorably leads to at least a little self-delusion), in that several years on they often feel perfectly comfortable in extrapolating conclusions about the ranking of phantoms. And this despite the context having changed practically beyond recognition, which all by itself should invalidate the already invalid idea of absolute rankings. It's clearly a false construct, but one which is probably better than trying to be more philosophical (not to mention intellectually honest) if you want to sell magazines (or maybe even more to the point, have audiophiles listen to the things you say). So what I understand, if anything, is that one must proclaim in order to be heard above the fray.
(As for accumulations of accuracy, I'll address that in the other thread we're involved in right now... :-)