If you were serious about sound you would...

Acoustics unlike digital audio is not defined by bits ACCURACY alone ....

Acoustic accuracy include many parameters which cannot be reducible to a playback system specs ... We need a room to measure these parameters and more than that we nead two ears with a head and the parameters which are associated with them...

Then the gear choices, when they are relatively well chosen to begin with , matter less than their acoustics embeddings ...

Then yes we need to pick a good playback system and it is not the one you will recommend for everyone and for all needs..

What we need is defining the basic acoustical, mechanical and electrical embeddings controls for ANY playback system..

For example, because of the acoustic revolution created by Dr, Choueiri, his BACCH filters must be included in any TOP acoustic embeddings list of controls...

They will work with ANY basic good playback system choices...

Any other embeddings controls will do the same...

It is useless to choose a playback system with no knowledge about his optimal embeddings controls...

we need as audiophiles to start to agree on some baseline definitions of what playback systems should be.

@mahgister It won't be long, my guess in 1.5 years that AI will completely changes the home audio world. Some smart company will use a group like the AES/EBU and record companies to agree on a baseline standard for acoustics. I believe that surround sound will be the norm and there will be an objective baseline in small room acoustics. AI will change everything because the most important aspect of good playback is acoustics, I'm bias because I started in acoustics but if you look at experiments with acoustic devices (passive not DSP) they can make even cheep speakers sound amazing. When this happens great systems will still be great and produce the emotions that we connect with in music and movies but there will be a standard and people will understand that expensive huge playback systems are a train without tracks.

I totally concur with your post...

I think we are on the same  communication  level about the importance of acoustics then...

Thanks for your precision...

@mahgister It won't be long, my guess in 1.5 years that AI will completely changes the home audio world. Some smart company will use a group like the AES/EBU and record companies to agree on a baseline standard for acoustics. I believe that surround sound will be the norm and there will be an objective baseline in small room acoustics. AI will change everything because the most important aspect of good playback is acoustics, I'm bias because I started in acoustics but if you look at experiments with acoustic devices (passive not DSP) they can make even cheep speakers sound amazing. When this happens great systems will still be great and produce the emotions that we connect with in music and movies but there will be a standard and people will understand that expensive huge playback systems are a train without tracks.

@mbmi

Are you aware of the fact that many years ago, when the Armor all craze was popular, reviewer Ken Kessler got in a lot of hot water for endorsing the practice when it was found to be harmful to CD’s?

If you want to use a surface treatment on your CD's  there are better and safer alternatives, such as Auric Illuminator. 

I also use that method . I've been Armour- Alling all my 500 cd collection since 1989 and only enhanced the sound , never did one penny of damage...if "damaging"  Enhances soundstage...nullifies sibilance,  tightens base, brings out fine details, and just Improves the sound of my system.....Then that so called "damage" is welcome......And you're smart enough to know Why the talking heads poo- poo ed this idea......