"honest A/B"
No such thing imho. A system is a system and needs to be tuned and set up carefully which takes time- more time than an A/B allows. Plus, in your system we'd only learn what your amps + pre-amp + speakers + source + cables + your room do... which might be helpful to you but not others with totally different variables. And I can't tell you how many times I've heard a component fail in comparison to a known lesser unit due to limitations of the system- even Shindo versus higher end Shindo. One can make the analogy to that of a plumbing system... if its draining slowly or clogged, sending more water through isn't going to make things better.
Slow and soggy isn't musical. Musical is often a misnomer for exactly that. Musical is when you forget about the system and hear the music. Gone is the thought process or descriptors. You're correct, 99% of the time people use musical to describe softness, overly warm etc. I would agree that this would be quite boring.
No such thing imho. A system is a system and needs to be tuned and set up carefully which takes time- more time than an A/B allows. Plus, in your system we'd only learn what your amps + pre-amp + speakers + source + cables + your room do... which might be helpful to you but not others with totally different variables. And I can't tell you how many times I've heard a component fail in comparison to a known lesser unit due to limitations of the system- even Shindo versus higher end Shindo. One can make the analogy to that of a plumbing system... if its draining slowly or clogged, sending more water through isn't going to make things better.
Slow and soggy isn't musical. Musical is often a misnomer for exactly that. Musical is when you forget about the system and hear the music. Gone is the thought process or descriptors. You're correct, 99% of the time people use musical to describe softness, overly warm etc. I would agree that this would be quite boring.