Traditional Brands vs. "Audiophile" Brands

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Aptquark, you had me laughing out loud for five minutes!
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Interesting opinions. I would say that for pure music listening, the quality of the sound is pre-eminent, but when you get into HT, there are codecs not available to the small guys that the Denons of the world would get first. I wouldn't put a price floor on what is considered "audiophile," since the term itself is vague, and, at least to me, if the argument is "whatever your ears tell you," then adding "as long as it is expensive," or "as long as it came from a boutique audio store," weakens the one core notion of being an audiophile that matters, which is loving the sound. I think we need a new term for some in the community, which I hereby coin, as "gearphile," one who yearns constantly for new gear, supposedly in a quest for the perfect sound.

***Can folks think of brands that you would absolutely trust and those that you would absolutely flee from?*** It is important to note that unless you live close to bigger cities, listening possibilities for a variety of equipment is impossible, and brands then matter very much indeed. The only guidance is forums such as these and reviews. Next question. ***Whose reviews do you count on?*** I tend to like whathifi as they are mercifully brief.

Details will vary but in general, at a particular price point "traditional Brands" will offer more features which may come at the expense of pure parts and build quality, and possibly, but not always, resulting sound quality.

"Audiophile" brands in general will offer less features and focus more on aspects designed for better sound.

That's not to say that one group categorically always sounds better than the other. YMMV. Its all in the overall execution and how well any particular device fits your needs.

"Aptquark, you had me laughing out loud for five minutes!"

Mitch, I had you beat by laughing an additional five minutes!