I have often found that Oscar Peterson never sounds better on my system than when there are wafts of garlic and basil coming from the kitchen and my girlfriend and I have a lingering buzz from the bottle of shiraz we are drinking.
Sound quality vs. Mood
I've been trying to get a handle on why my system sounds so much better some times than others. The most common explanation would probably implicate the quality of my power. That could very well be and as soon as I can afford to experiment, that's what I'm going to focus on. However, I've always suspected that mood has a huge effect - maybe the largest effect - on subjective sound quality. Any thoughts?