Usblues,
A great observation that is too often understated in these posts and reviews in general. I have known many audiophiles in my life and none of them has the same composition of gear in their rigs. They may have owned the same gear at some point or dragged their gear over to a friend's house, etc. etc. but "settled" (if we ever do:-) on different gear to comprise their systems. I think this speaks volumes as to how we hear and specifically, what we find "real". Some people are taller than others and the "sweet spot" listening area we have for ourselves may not be the same for someone 5" shorter. I had an audiophile friend who had large ears that stuck out somewhat (think Alfred E. Newman - almost)who I always disagreed with over what sounded best. The point is, if it mimics what you percieve to be real and you are happy with it - cool!
I have owned a lot of digital front-end gear and currently have the Sony 999es residing in that spot. Some who know me thought it was a trade "down" but I got sick of having 3 racks dedicated to transport/DAC/upsampler not to mention cables, etc. You can see my review of the Sony in other threads. Is it "the best" I have heard (or owned) - no. Is it a sound I can live with - yes. At the end of the day, it does more things right than wrong. To the original point though, it would be interesting to see a study done on ear structure (and shape) with relation to hearing perception. I think it is a much more complicated (and subjective) human sense that doesn't get its due consideration when the "war of words" starts over audio gear - IMO. - Tony
A great observation that is too often understated in these posts and reviews in general. I have known many audiophiles in my life and none of them has the same composition of gear in their rigs. They may have owned the same gear at some point or dragged their gear over to a friend's house, etc. etc. but "settled" (if we ever do:-) on different gear to comprise their systems. I think this speaks volumes as to how we hear and specifically, what we find "real". Some people are taller than others and the "sweet spot" listening area we have for ourselves may not be the same for someone 5" shorter. I had an audiophile friend who had large ears that stuck out somewhat (think Alfred E. Newman - almost)who I always disagreed with over what sounded best. The point is, if it mimics what you percieve to be real and you are happy with it - cool!
I have owned a lot of digital front-end gear and currently have the Sony 999es residing in that spot. Some who know me thought it was a trade "down" but I got sick of having 3 racks dedicated to transport/DAC/upsampler not to mention cables, etc. You can see my review of the Sony in other threads. Is it "the best" I have heard (or owned) - no. Is it a sound I can live with - yes. At the end of the day, it does more things right than wrong. To the original point though, it would be interesting to see a study done on ear structure (and shape) with relation to hearing perception. I think it is a much more complicated (and subjective) human sense that doesn't get its due consideration when the "war of words" starts over audio gear - IMO. - Tony