When I sense that something isn't quite right it causes me to get rid of whatever doesn't work (assuming I can figure out what it is)...a pair of "balanced" Mogami cables didn't work, possibly due to the fact that my amp wasn't actually balanced and these Mogamis didn't like that (I've used Mogami stuff in pro work and have a great very quiet Jelco/Mogami din cable for my TT). Bought a pair of beautiful and relatively efficient floorstanders to pair with a low wattage single ended amp, and I kept leaning in wondering where the treble clarity was...put my previous speakers back in the system and they sounded so good I sold the new speakers, proving the point that one should never buy speakers without first hearing them. I eventually replaced my less efficient speakers with some I'd actually heard.
The Difficulties in Component "Shootouts"
First of all, I hate doing component "shootouts" or "this vs. thats" as if it’s a wrestling match. I find it tiresome and generally unenjoyable. That said, I purchased an Oppo 205 a couple months back and I’ve been really enjoying it, especially with my Oppo PM3 phones, now that it’s a bit broken in. But last night I broke my rules and decided to compare it directly to my EAR Acute CD player, which costs about 5x as much. OK, first of all, it’s impossible to do a realistic test at home because it can’t be a blind test, I’m using different interconnects and power cords, although of equal quality and I’m comparing CD to SACD, which may not even be the same mix. So that said, I was still curious. So I decided to use the Opus3 disc and the first track is "I can’t get started" that features a very realistic live performance on tenor sax. So I listen on the EAR and it’s pretty great. The tenor sax is up front, very live sounding with a lot of air and space. On the Oppo, even with SACD, the space around the instruments is not there and the horn sounds more honky and kazoo-like. But that’s not the point. The point is this - as I listen more to the Oppo, it starts sounding just fine. Nothing seems missing and I think that’s because the human ear has a way of filling in the missing pieces when we listen to music. That’s why I can listen to a Beethoven symphony on my Tivoli table radio with a 3" speaker and find it totally enjoyable. The brain completes the sonic picture that is lacking in the source. After a few back and forths, my ear became more and more desensitized and the whole experience just became boring and meaningless. So look - if shootouts are your cup of tea, go ahead by all means. It’s not my place to criticize how someone should enjoy his bought and paid for property, but I would much rather just sit back and listen at this stage of the game. I'll leave that to BO1972, who appears to enjoy them very much.