Tomcy6 - you are correct, there are a great many different perceptions out there in the audiophile world. My well-trained ears remark was meant to be much more specific to professional performing musicians. And yes, we are unfortunately most definitely a very tiny minority. However, I do not mean to imply that only professionals have or can have trained ears. I am actually trained in ear-training, and have helped many people in this respect. I just wish that alot more folks who call themselves audiophiles would actually use their ears, instead of quoting engineers and reciting specs and numbers. There is way too much love of technology in this hobby, and not nearly enough love for music, which is the reason the hobby exists.
The only other thing I would add is that your comment that most people can't afford a vinyl rig good enough to rival digital is sadly mistaken. It is very much the other way around. Digital has improved, yes, but only the very highest quality equipment, I would say at a minimum cost of at least $50,000, can even begin to be spoken of in the same conversation, sound-quality wise, as a properly set-up vinyl rig costing in the neighborhood of $2500. This will eventually change, of course, as music server technology is further developed (the direction digital is clearly headed in), but the sound quality of that technology is still far behind the best digital can offer. It will be a very long time yet before the sound quality catches up to the technology, and then another very long time before the price becomes affordable for most of us.
