Regardless of whether the person making a statement about alleged sound qualities of an electronic component is a friend or respected person, if it resulted from casual listening it can't be given much weight in comparison to well-established audio principles and negative blind testing results. Dr. Toole, in a talk to a AES meeting a few years ago on double-blind testing, emphasized the point with a little intentional hyperbole by stating "If you can see what you're listening to, you can't hear it!". The principle stated, for example by Mr. Aczel in the article linked above, hasn't been repealed. There are no miracles in audio.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.