Wow, this is a great thread and an astonishing read.
Everything in here is factual. To add my pennies worth 18 years after the inception of this thread I may be a little late in the game. FWIW here are my experiences. I started my audiophile journey in my early 20s with the best I could afford. Akai, Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, Adcom, B&K, Krell, and culminating with Lexicon. Along with the electronics speaker upgrades were a natural companion such as RS, Fisher, Boss 901, Polk etc finishing with B&W. My early stereo days lost their way and ended up in HT. I was satisfied. I remember distinctly before HT going to friends and LISTENING to albums and enjoying it. After HT, we were all tuned in, it was a concert feast at concert levels. Social interaction declined to just kicking back together since any kind of comment could not be heard. It was fun but missing something. As I was the oldest I retired and had more time to just relax and listen. And I did just that. And as I did just that on my satisfactory HT I exponentially felt that what I thought was great sounding was no longer satisfying. HT was missing someting. Never having experienced the Tube sound I saved and purchased a integrated tube. Wow what a incredible ear opener that was. I again LISTEN to the music. With time on my hands I sit alone, just me and my system and I hear and feel all the nuance, inflection and mood of the artist (s), instruments and band interaction. I regained my audiophile concience lost to HT. My friends come over and proclaim the tube sound superior but soon are tired of just LISTENING and up come the concert DVD with all the sensory input and volume levels at the expense of audio quality and it’s purity. HT on the best equipment made cannot equal the joy of musical reproduction in a properly set up HE stereo system and environment. Visits for just LISTENING as before HT are non existent. Such is the lot of the audiophile. Alone with the music......... and it’s all good.
Everything in here is factual. To add my pennies worth 18 years after the inception of this thread I may be a little late in the game. FWIW here are my experiences. I started my audiophile journey in my early 20s with the best I could afford. Akai, Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, Adcom, B&K, Krell, and culminating with Lexicon. Along with the electronics speaker upgrades were a natural companion such as RS, Fisher, Boss 901, Polk etc finishing with B&W. My early stereo days lost their way and ended up in HT. I was satisfied. I remember distinctly before HT going to friends and LISTENING to albums and enjoying it. After HT, we were all tuned in, it was a concert feast at concert levels. Social interaction declined to just kicking back together since any kind of comment could not be heard. It was fun but missing something. As I was the oldest I retired and had more time to just relax and listen. And I did just that. And as I did just that on my satisfactory HT I exponentially felt that what I thought was great sounding was no longer satisfying. HT was missing someting. Never having experienced the Tube sound I saved and purchased a integrated tube. Wow what a incredible ear opener that was. I again LISTEN to the music. With time on my hands I sit alone, just me and my system and I hear and feel all the nuance, inflection and mood of the artist (s), instruments and band interaction. I regained my audiophile concience lost to HT. My friends come over and proclaim the tube sound superior but soon are tired of just LISTENING and up come the concert DVD with all the sensory input and volume levels at the expense of audio quality and it’s purity. HT on the best equipment made cannot equal the joy of musical reproduction in a properly set up HE stereo system and environment. Visits for just LISTENING as before HT are non existent. Such is the lot of the audiophile. Alone with the music......... and it’s all good.