I will fully "trust" my system when I could identify a Dac capable of throwing in wide/deep soundstange AND nimble bass notes at the price I am willing to pay. Until then, as much appreciation I had with my power amp and speakers, there is still something to be desired for my system. If you have come across such a Dac under $1k, let me know please.
Do you trust your system?
I was constantly upgrading gear, demoing songs, reading reviews, trying to find out why I had the feeling that the song I was playing shouldn’t sound the way it does. Something off or lacking, I luckily found a set of equipment and a room setup that if a song is off, it’s likely recorded that way. I trust my system to do a decent job. I wonder do others get to a point where they are more critical of mastering techniques than something wrong with their equipment? Admittedly, it’s easier to say how a piece of gear or cable made some significant difference, but in what exactly since the music sources are so wildly manipulated by engineers?