Pleasurably better, not measurably better

I love the “ Pleasurably Better”! That’s what enjoying music is all about. How we all get there when not actually attending a live performance is what this forum is all about.

Whatever makes you happy is great regardless of how something might measure. There are no units of measure to define pleasure, happiness, relaxation, peace etc. 

I generally grade a component or system of components by how long I want to keep enjoying it. If listening sets in quickly something is wrong, at least for me regardless of the apparent frequency extension, imaging, dynamics etc. until maybe the past 5 or so years, digitally produced sound fell into this category & I couldn’t listen & really enjoy it for more than a song or two. That is no longer the case for me & hi rez streaming w/ a good DAC is really close to good analogue. 
 

That said, while tube amps ( pre or power)generally measure worse than comparably priced solid state, I seem to almost always enjoy them more & sound more like live music. Tubed equipment is probably the prime example of “ Pleasurably Better”.

Kenjit comments represents Audio Science Review philosophy.  I just ended a 27 page, 2100+ comment forum here concerning this very subject.  Unfortunately, the owner and some followers of that site came here to lambast our knowledge and opinions which conflict with his and Kenjit.  

Others continued to assault us with not comprehending our choices without measuring them in a blind ABX test and with high end equipment.  I don't know who does that but not any of my friends or even those $500K to $1 million systems I've heard at their homes.  ASR/Amir claims we are fooling ourselves.  They indicate that cables and tweaks are irrelevant in making music sound better (or worse).

This forum says the opposite-if we enjoy what we are hearing, that's good enough.  I have mostly older equipment (oldest-highly modified SME IV arm from 1989) because I want to spend my time listening to my vast music collection rather than testing equipment.  In in my case, if a cable or tweak upgrade works I keep it, if not I return it-audition only.  

The only upgrade I want will be costly as my system already sounds great and is lower cost high end.  A better imaging/soundstaging/ambiance retrieving speaker than a Legacy Focus.

Oresund Space Collective sounds pleasurable on any system!

talking about “measurements” without specifying details is pointless.

one measurement to shed a light on how good system is integrated would be measuring sound distortions, phase and FR in actual room, at listener point. you will be surprised with discovery of how many things inside your home are resonating, reflecting, and impact SQ on mega scale!

@westcoastaudiophile Absolutely, even with my custom listening room, there's the couch/seating, the equipment racks and equipment, speakers themselves and CDs in a corner. 

(If someone is curious concerning my custom room, check out my profile equipment information).