Prof, it ain't that subjective; something that's rated Class A by
Stereophile and TAS will sound better than something rated Class C.
Wrong. Some people will prefer - "sounds better to me" - certain Class C speakers over A rated speakers. That should be obvious.
I have a very old pair of Thiel 02 speakers, late 70's, the cheapest thing they ever put out - made to absolute minimum acceptable standards sold for a few hundred bucks. I very much prefer their sound to any number of far more expensive class A or B speakers. They do some things that sound "better" and more believable to me. Again..you are in no position to tell me or anyone else otherwise. That's subjectivity for you.
it can go beyond the bounds of all truth, to the extent that it becomes
a subjective lie: "Hamburger tastes better to me than Grade A
porterhouse steak"
You just don't understand subjectivity and value, do you?I've tried some of the most expensive and lauded foie gras and couldn't stand it...because I don't like the taste of foie gras! I would vastly prefer a good hamburger which would taste better to me.
It's perfectly possible and reasonable for someone to prefer - "tastes better to me" - a hamburger over an expensive steak. For most of my life I've been in that camp; I generally don't care for steak. But I love hamburgers. If you think you can tell me that I'm just "wrong" that a hamburger tastes better then you are clueless about subjectivity. It's not like there is some objective rule written in to the fabric of the universe "steak tastes better than hamburger." All such statements derive from subjective evaluations which are valid for the individual.
Now we got a brand new con game for new consumers who don't know,
telling them how special it is, without telling them the price of that
"special sound"; that's dishonest.
There you go again, mistaking your own subjective criteria as some rule, from which you can determine other people are being suckered. Sure...all those naive people happily browsing in record stores and getting a kick out of playing vinyl on their non-high-end set ups are just suckers. What they really need is someone like you to tell them "You SHOULDN'T be so happy and satisfied, it's just not valid...unless you spend TONS more money!"
No point in going further; you don't really want to understand an alternative view.