Regarding cultural absolutes, I disagree there can be absolutes in beauty or its perseption of it. Beauty is defined by one's culture and background. Let's take an extreme example. I don not like hip-hop or rap. I find no beauty in it. Does this mean someone does not appreciate the artists or sound? Of course not. Would the person that does find beauty in this "music" have the same appreciation for the classics, as I. I don't know. This is an assumption I cannot make.

Going one step further, I do not find far-eastern musci all that pleasing. It's based on a different chromatic scale, something I did not experience in my cultural upbringing.

The Bose quote was was referring to the plug and play aspect. Even though it's considered mid-fi by most audiophiles, does this keep those from listening to such a system from enjoying the music as much as us? No, it doesn't.

Pizza's done. Gotta go.......