Recommended components on Stereophile Magazine.

I'll probably echo things that have already been said here. Music, sound, the "accurate" reproduction thereof in ones home, or perhaps more to the point the "enjoyment" of the reproduction thereof in ones home, is entirely subjective. You might prefer a system that I would not choose myself. We are not machines that respond to graphs and plots and sine waves in a consistent and predictable manner from person to person. That said, like any input / opinions you read or hear on this subject, take them as a point of departure, with a grain of salt, as just one more bit of information to make your own choices, but most certainly do not take any as the last word on the subject. The only opinion that should count in the end is your own. A system is the sum of all the links in it, and stereo systems are highly dependent upon synergy between each of those many links. It is not only impossible for a reviewer to test all possible combinations with any given component, but what they do actually test and comment on, given what is available to them as a system, represents a very tiny, and I do mean tiny, fraction of what is possible for the component being reviewed. As has already been stated, there are a huge number of components and manufacturers that are, for whatever reasons, not reviewed in Stereophile, and that is most certainly not a reflection on their worthiness for your consideration. I could go on. I would no more let someone else choose the gear that I use in my system than I would let them select the music that I use it to listen to.

Bravo, Marco! Best post of the year, in my opinion.

Thanks, Joe!

I think it's human nature to need to make everything fit into some kind of black and white, better worse, Class A and everything else, us and them scenario. And boy do we love to have our opinions validated by others (except for Elizabeth, of course :-).

No one tries to measure and assign a set of numbers that serve as the be all and end all to things like upscale jewelry, ice cream, or handbags. So, why do we continually fight this battle in regards to high-end audio components?

I think there's the camp ("camp them") that believes that there is some kind of objective "truth" that should not be soiled by our nasty components lest we live under the delusion that we are actually listening to "real" music. They can be spotted chanting ritualistic verse about the sound engineer's intent, reproduction of square waves, and worshiping various authorities who know better than the average bear what music really sounds like. I'm pretty sure if someone came up with some machine that assigned numbers that they claimed quantified the quality of the taste of ice cream there would be a large contingent of people that actually bought into that and purchased only the ice cream that rated the best. It's sad that so many are willing to let others form an opinion that they adopt as their own based upon some kind of popularity agenda.

I ask myself should I put my finger to the left, no
I ask myself should I put my finger to the right, no
I say it really doesn't matter where I put my finger
Someone else will come along and move it
And it's always been the same
It's just a complicated game
-XTC