If a person has the time to research, thoroughly, you can avoid much of the snake oil. I haven't been involved in this hobby for too long, but it has been my experience that this seems to be the case. I spent 100's of hours on line, many of them on this site, and I'm quite happy with the sound I'm getting in my starter system. There is always room for improvement, but to me, that's what the hobby is about.
