I once tortured my dealer (no, not that one!) for weeks on end by "auditioning" power amps. I had plenty o' power, I just wanted (thought I needed) more. I used the same 3 tracks of program material for all of it. I'm way too embarassed to reveal those choices now, but it wasn't the songs I was listening to.
When it was all over (they still let me shop there, 30 years on),
I didn't have much that was definitive to show for my efforts.
The differences were mostly non-existant, except for slight colorations in very narrow ranges. Having had to transcribe recorded arrangements in college, I felt pretty confident about my ears at the time.
And tubes were something a roadband was always short by one, so after I moved to solid state @ home, I never looked back.
Ultimately, in a non-A/B switching test, I knew I would not be able to aurally recall those differences once I went home, cashless. We don't possess that kind of aural recall, nor do we for color perception, either.
So, you just have to give in at some stage, point your finger, open your wallet and pick one.
Last edited by BobKay; 04/20/10 09:28 PM.
