@millercarbon: you keep addressing to "audiophiles". Please realize that what you are talking to, and debating with, are not audiophiles. They are anti-audiophiles. They are in a mission.
Just ask them to show you their system. You will see....
I know. As previously stated this is trolling on a Trumpian scale. Maybe its the to them unrecognizable adjective that let that one sail right over their heads. Like Drax in Guardians, "Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it." Then each and every one of them gets served a Michelin Three Star plate of Crow, to which they are as oblivious as Jake and Elwood having a food fight, "The little girl! How much for the little girl!" Only thing, Drax, Jake, and Elwood, they all have a sense of humor. Only thing these guys have a sense of is- well, nothing. Not one single thing.
At this point there's really only two things left to say. That I can think of for now anyway. And if I may suspend trolling operations for a moment, there really are some here who are genuine audiophiles in the truest sense of the word. Duke, Tim, Frank, David, Michael, and a few more I'm sorry to say aren't coming to mind right now. You know who you are. These guys are all audiophiles in the truest sense of the word because of the way they listen, think, analyze, and always seek both to learn, and to share what they have learned. They are also way more kind and tolerant of, let me just say the full spectrum. I've learned a lot from all of them, and really appreciate it.
Unfortunately they are a tiny minority. Which on the one hand is to be expected. In any field only a tiny minority ever reaches anywhere near the top of the heap. But that's not what I mean. Its not simply a question of competence or knowledge. Nor is it anything to do with money or systems or anything like that. The problem is like that guy said in the recent article, coming off like a snide know-it-all engineer. Putting one-upmanship on a pedestal while showing music a cold shoulder.
At least for the time of this thread they are drawn like flies to road-kill. Another one destined to sail right over their heads.
Oh well. More time they spend insulting each other here the less they have to pollute the other threads.