canary audio cd 100 better than bluenote koala?

You need to have a finely tuned pair of ears. Some folks are just blessed in that regard. You play the cards your dealt. This audio stuff is easy.

the problem is not how to discern small differences but how to quantify the change, without having a method to do it.

i realize that this hobby is subjective, but small differences are often imperceptible.

it is one thing to suggest that you hear a difference, but quite another to quantify that difference.

remember, a difference that makes no difference is no difference. that is, a two percent difference may not matter.

True 1-2% is very difficult to perceive. But i assure you when i changed the stock chinese tubes with the russian NOS Sovtek grey plates 6922's, i noticed a difference, a improvement. Some of you tech guys, being around tubes and stereo's for yrs now, you could tell when the tubes are switched. i use certian reference recordings. i had the top off the cdp, and quickly switched the stock to the Sovtek's with the same recording, and did notice a difference. The other Telefunken tubes i bought used on here, did not work well.
Changed opamps also made a 2% improvement. Thats 2% out of a 100, not much, but a justifiable tweak.
What i'm not keen on are speaker wires and interconnects. there you'll have to make mea believer.
I use Romex commercial wire for speakers.