Have you ever spoken with a designer or audio engineer

oregonpapa---Bill Johnson, though a "progressive" engineer (listening tests playing a large role in the development and evaluation of a new design/product), was also pretty traditional/conservative, being more of an EE type than a lot of high end designers (some of whom are not formally educated engineers, but advanced audiophiles---formerly lawyers, for instance). I had not ruled out ARC's use of Shunyata power cords at CES and consumer shows (as well as the chassis damping employed in the SE version of some of the LS pre-amps) as a cynical move to keep audiophile credibility with, for instance, the reviewers and readers of The Absolute Sound and Positive Feedback, who seem particularly influenced by that kind of thing in their perception of a company and the sound of it's products.

Roger Modjeski, in contrast, though much younger than Bill, is much more of an academic and old school degreed EE designer, who first evaluates a design with a close inspection of it's schematic, then extensive bench tests to expose any weakness or problem behavior in a circuit, listening to it only after it has passed those hurdles. Roger couldn't care less about reviewers (he has stated making amplifiers is of much less interest to him than is designing them, perhaps why Music Reference has such a low profile) or audiophile credibility-insecure consumers, and is willing to sacrifice sales and ac to remain intellectually honest. I know Frank Van Alstine feels the same.