what percentage of us really knows sound

I guess I would agree as it always shocks me at shows, such as CES that rooms I left because of the bad sound get "best of show" awards. And I go into rooms where some of transfixed by the sound and I have to leave. But all that I have to satisfy is me, so what do I care. I have a circle of friends whose ears I trust and cannot say I trust any reviewer, with the exception of Michael Fremmer.

Tvad, none of us can have complete exposure to outstanding equipment. Since it is quite evident that few of us share tastes in audio, an extended trusted group whose tastes we share becomes all the more invaluable in these days of few dealers and even fewer with a broad range of manufacturers.

I share tastes in wine, in places to travel to, and of course in politics with divergent groups of friends with only some overlap. All of this saves me enormous amounts of time is testing. Life is great. Agreed?

I do not think this is a very useful thread. Were we all to take auditory tests, I am sure we would see many nowhere near flat responses across the audible range of frequencies. It is not just a matter of the loss of high frequencies with age. Also, we know that many cannot sing on key or to recognize accurate timbre of instruments. We know that musical experience helps with all of this. Nevertheless many performers are off key and digital music helps to make their recording on key.

All of this means is that we cannot trust others to make recommendations for us. If a reviewer has a peak in frequencies where we have a valley, we probably won't like what he likes. Even a speaker with a perfectly flat frequency response and coherent phase, may not prove outstanding to everyone or to us personally.

I don't understand comments such as "taking advantage of the audio community." Who appoints these people as the scam police? There is no basis whatsoever for dismissing the benefits of audio components and tweaks based on "science." All designers also have ears and must design within the limits of what we know about nature's laws. No one yet has made a point source speaker with a frequency response, dynamics, and perfect phase of real music. Nor has anyone designed a "straight wire with gain."

Finally, I had a very interesting personal experience with a famous pianist who listened respectfully to my system and said he found it very enjoyable. Later when I visited his home, I asked to see and hear his system. Begrudgingly, he took me back to a small room where he listened. His system was a portable record player with outboard speakers. Seeing my reaction, he said, I know every piece by its music, I listen only to the interpretations of the individual performer while seeing and hearing the music in my head. He said that when he needs to hear music, he plays it.