I agree that when one hears a good system it's obvious the sound is quality. What makes it so and how does one put a number to it? That's a question that will never be answered, because it can't be. I guess one could also ask: What makes a beautiful woman beautiful? What makes a painting a classic? It's all in the eye (in our case - ear) of the beholder

Each culture has an ideal of beauty that is different from others. These ideals are not constant and change as the culture changes. To apply a set "audio reference" is, in my opinion, different for everyone. Audio reproduction would be considered ideal if were able to reproduce live performances. But what if the music being played is purely studio work or even totally electronic. Works such as these will never be heard "live." Or what if one's frame of reference is club music. Does my "reference" system need to produce ONLY volume and lots of bass?

The people that have 300B amps with large horns have truely great systems. Out of all the people that have stereos in their homes, what percentage have this kind of setup? 0.0001%? I agree a 300B with horns is about as close to perfections as one can get. There are obviously other ways there, but this is a good route. Now why is this combination that good? It IS that good, or I have been TOLD it is supposed to be that good. I suspect the answer lies somewhere between the two. No one goes to the local audio store and buys a 300B/horn system on the spur of the moment. There was lots of research (reading / listening) done prior to purchase. There was already an expectation of how it was going to sound.

I guess that's my point for right now. Before I even hear a system, I have an expectation of how it's going to perform. We all do it. As ojective as we think we are, we are subjective (emotional) creatures. There is no way around that. Earlier you mentioned the Bose Wave Radio. Have you heard one? What did you expect it to sound like? Did it sound like you expected? What about the Klipsch vs. Cerwin Vega sound. Which one do you expect to sound better? Why?

On to lighter things:
- I hope to get the parts ordered for the pre this week. I'm working on a surprise for everyone who builds, so don't tell
- Yes, I know what the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal is (Thanks Dr. Bennett.) The idea was, errrrr, adapted by Social Sciences to imply that mearly observing a system changes the system. Really, I am not making this up.

......Until next time, Colin