kren0006,
By no stretch of the imagination (except for yours) was my Rouge butt-kicked. We had this discussion many months ago. At least 40% of the YT voters preferred the Rouge. You and Jay preferred his amp. All that proves is that both of your sonic preferences for a little warmth are consistent with that choice. Why do you deprecate the preferences of others who voted for the Rouge? What gives you the nerve to think they don't know what they are talking about? Jay is more open than you to respecting the choices of others.
But unlike you who say that musical knowledge and experiences have nothing to do with analyzing sound, my experiences give me an understanding of why people have different preferences. For example, if a classical music or jazz unamplified music listener likes midhall tonal quality, he would tend to choose warmer electronics, speakers, etc. I respect his musical tastes, just as I respect his choice of a musical instrument to play such as midrange-dominant cello or French horn. My favorite instrument is the violin, more HF oriented, so I prefer the front row seat. He and I respect each others tastes and agree that those tastes correspond with our audio preferences.
My biggest objection is using artificial recordings and live rock events with bad amps and PA speakers to judge audio. The worst I've heard here is the Zeppelin video. The sound is muddy and distorted. How can anyone judge analog vs digital using that? How can neutrality, warmth, or anything we discuss here be assessed from that recording? Anyone who enjoys that music is entitled to their musical pleasure, but why use that recording? I wouldn't use a 1920 classical recording for audio evaluation, although I appreciate the musical content. But Jay's music is much more tame than Zeppelin, much better audio quality, and much more useful for assessment of audio components.
It is most useful to use live, unamped music as a reference. Sit at different distances, and be aware of different mike techniques used to make recordings. If you build your audio system based on the quest for high fidelity, these experiences are important. But if the listener just wants sound to please him without any reference to high fidelity to natural music, that's OK for him, but it does take the wonder out of why many of us were attracted to this hobby. It all started about 120 years ago, when middle class people who couldn't afford to hire live musicians could experience their "likeness" in their homes on demand. "His Master's Voice" with the dog listening to the horn of the record player was a great promotion for the thrill of fidelity, which got better and better.