I'm on my 3rd accord. They are bullet proof, do well in all weather, and don't cost much to own or operate. My current red/ivory V-6 leather coupe with navigation is pretty spunky, handles well, and looks pretty good. What more could you ask? Yet, I want a Porche 911, although I suppose I could settle for something more practical like a BMW 335 twin turbo 6 speed manual coupe in black/black. What gives me pause is not just the amount of money it costs to purchase, its that I don't want the ongoing maintenance issues.
I had an opportunity to extensively audition a rig featuring an Esoteric K-01. It was a bit of a frustrating experience, because it wouldn't play half of the CD's I brought. These were not copies, not scratched, red book, SACD, no matter which. I am quite sure I would not trade one straight up for my ModWright sony.
My point is that design of anything requires compromise intended to achieve a balanced set of performance attributes. At some point, when one desires to optimize one attribute to its extreme, it becomes necessary to compromise others. That is just the way it works.
I had an opportunity to extensively audition a rig featuring an Esoteric K-01. It was a bit of a frustrating experience, because it wouldn't play half of the CD's I brought. These were not copies, not scratched, red book, SACD, no matter which. I am quite sure I would not trade one straight up for my ModWright sony.
My point is that design of anything requires compromise intended to achieve a balanced set of performance attributes. At some point, when one desires to optimize one attribute to its extreme, it becomes necessary to compromise others. That is just the way it works.