Those who deny the obvious indication of the measured degree of distortion to the source signal by amplifying it sufficiently to operate a specific speaker driver, also claim that more important is how a component, or the system in total sound's to you, and usually use the term 'good', whatever that means. No one of them has been willing to define 'good'.
I have rather adopted the notion, 'true to the original', and evaluate components, and speaker setup, by the degree of realism in playback.
For instance, you can listen to the sourse material with reference earphones (Shure ER2, $100) and compare to what you hear in your room. It can be disappointing, but like Dr Phil says, 'you cannot change what you do not acknowledge'.
'Regrettably, much misinformation and outright nonsense have been spread to promote certain "high-end audio" products. The power of suggestion works exceedingly well, when listeners cannot trust their own hearing. I recommend to re-calibrate yourself frequently. Listen closely to all sorts of un-amplified sounds in order to recognize and remember natural aural patterns. It becomes an endless and futile pursuit to listen for and try to evaluate differences between speakers, equipment and accessories without a reality based mental reference.'
Like a mirrior is to Dracula, so the double blind test is to the 'connoisser of coloration'.
That is my position, and I am sticking to it.
I have rather adopted the notion, 'true to the original', and evaluate components, and speaker setup, by the degree of realism in playback.
For instance, you can listen to the sourse material with reference earphones (Shure ER2, $100) and compare to what you hear in your room. It can be disappointing, but like Dr Phil says, 'you cannot change what you do not acknowledge'.
'Regrettably, much misinformation and outright nonsense have been spread to promote certain "high-end audio" products. The power of suggestion works exceedingly well, when listeners cannot trust their own hearing. I recommend to re-calibrate yourself frequently. Listen closely to all sorts of un-amplified sounds in order to recognize and remember natural aural patterns. It becomes an endless and futile pursuit to listen for and try to evaluate differences between speakers, equipment and accessories without a reality based mental reference.'
Like a mirrior is to Dracula, so the double blind test is to the 'connoisser of coloration'.
That is my position, and I am sticking to it.