Well not so silent on second thoughts, as to voice complete agreement with Frogman's words, that audiophiles who orient themselves entirely on the sound of systems, can have ears equally well trained and honed as avid concertgoers. But all the same, and hence my starting of this thread, there is so much talk here on Audiogon of what is "better" and what is not. The question however of better in REGARD TO WHAT is often left open and I am curious to know where my fellow audiophiles take their benchmarks from. Is it the most impressive systems they have heard, which have grafted themselves in their aural memories, or is it rather the mnestic impact of a myriad of exposures to all sorts of live music which they try to emulate in their homes? I suppose, for the most of us, it is an amalgam of both, actually difficult to differentiate apart in dayly practice.
