Don't feel bad about being confused as you say, there's always a lot of others just waiting for someone else to ask the question do they don't have to. I suggest for a good starter that you pull up the Web site below and click on the review & interview articles posted there from a Stereophile Magazine issue covering these very questions. At the very least you will gain a considerable amount of highly informative information from one of the most competent and reliable sources in the Hi-End Industry. www.museelectronics.com/download.html