denverfred
I like your post...
Placebos is constitutive of human experience and has nothing to do with snake oil... Snake oil for me is crookery, thieving someone by selling him crap... Snake oil exist, but accusing many audio industries to sell snake oil is totally mistaken most of the times...
The reason is simple, ANY "generic" electronic design must be "specifically" embed, namely any electronic component must be used with controls methods in the mechanical dimension, electrical dimension and in the acoustical one to give his S.Q. potential...If not, the electronic component cannot gives his best...
What is the value of any review comparison of a dac in a bad controlled acoustic, even if the dac was measured by state of the art engineers?
I read most reviewers with a grain of salt.... When i started to understand that, i embarked in my systematic listenings experiments...
I will add something: a bunch of branded ready made tweaks is NOT and NEVER will be a method...
With a method of listening and a methodical investigation in this 3 embeddings dimensions, you dont buy a bunch of costly, ready made tweaks, instead you create step by step your own devices, perfectly adapted to your audio system, to your house, to your room, and to your listenings habits.... My point is that cost PEANUTS....
And it is this fact that almost nobody want to believe, even less verify with their own creativity...People wish that their money is sufficient to buy heaven.... It is not always the case because wether the best electronic component cost more money, or wether there is a lack in the controls embeddings of the costly products you already own whitout even knowing it...
Dont buy if not necessary, dont upgrade first; think and embed it all ....Listen between each steps... At the end enjoy a paradise created in part by your own hand ....It is more rewarding and less costly....
:)