Which system would you rather have?

akg_ca,

Easy there akg, I was not trying to offend anyone at all. Neither personally nor even anyone’s sensibilities if I could help it. But, I suppose I was taking a calculated gamble. My door number 3 quip was actually merely a half-hearted joke really, but I did intentionally leave some things open to interpretation. It is not meant as an insinuation of any kind, or to impune anyone’s motives or motivation. It’s only there as an out-of-bounds marker to a mostly - but not entirely - hypothetical consideration, if you will. That’s also why I specifically left all reference to money out of it - so that each of us is allowed to interpret the boundaries of the question according to the breadth and depth of our own unique experiences. Consider it merely my invitation to each of you to decide for yourselves here more or less what you want the question to mean and how to answer in an appropriate way. And if you still decide to stick to your original sentiment, akg, then your answer above is no less valid than freediver’s, mine or anyone else’s here...yes?? But, as far as I’m concerned, the question posed is not meant to confine or nullify the answer so much as to expand the discussion of the topic. It all depends on your take on it. It does begin with a sticky, either-or proposition and therefore it’s meant to provoke some thought, yes...but, hopefully just the *thought* and not the person behind it. But, like I say, if your answer is still the same then I say so be it, it’s still perfectly valid to me.

As far as freediver’s comments on the Chinese gear goes, I find his comments and the gear to an extent, somewhat intriguing. As of yet I have no experience with it. But, it doesn’t automatically mean he is necessarily right. I may get curious one day and try one out for myself (what better way to know, right??) and, who knows, I may think it’s just da bomb...or I may think it’s junk. But, when that day comes it will be my money riding on it, so I don’t really see the harm in trying it out for myself. But, my real focus here is what anyone is willing to add to the original discussion....including you akg!

"The more I experiment with the Chinese Boutique Brands the more I am convinced that in this day & age you do NOT have to settle for an unbalanced system.$500.00 Tube Integrated amps that outperform $10,000.00 amps from 5 years ago!$100.00 DACS that,in a blind listening test, stand toe to toe with anything under $2000.00."

It could be that you don't hear differences in better DACs because you're playing them through $500 Chinese amps.

I thought the same as you not all that long ago.