@millercarbon
We simply know so little of what matters and what does not. We can look all we want. In the end, if it sounds good then we can only admire the way it’s put together. If it don’t, well then who cares how it looks?I agree with you but isn’t it great when what you see correlates with what you hear? There are circuit designers who can achieve tremendous sound from relatively ordinary but reliable parts, but few to none who can do it by cutting corners. Some of us like George and Grannyring probably know exactly what they are looking at and even others like me have seen enough to know when something doesn’t pass the sniff test as to power supply, internal layout, and parts quality. As to proprietary designs, there are a few who hide small stuff (i.e., like which chip they are using) but very few who do not let you look inside.....to the point where you wonder if they are hiding something. The worst are those like about 10 years ago when Lexicon was putting Oppos inside of their cases and charging a lot more.