Atma-Sphere vs. Supratek

@jetter  Exactly!  Originally, I heard about this issue with Supratek from good ole Georgehifi (now banned), I just thought some of his criticism justified here, unlike many of his contentions.

I presume showing people side by side internal photos of Supratek and Atma-Sphere and asking which one appeared to be better constructed, I'd bet nine or ten out of ten would pick the AS. This is not judging the book by the cover, we are seeing the guts with our own eyes. I agree, sound quality is another thing altogether.

A gentle reminder from Marcel Proust on the influence of our own biases over actual evidence:

"We pack the physical outline of the creature we see with all the ideas we already formed about him, and in the complete picture of him which we compose in our minds, these ideas have certainly the principal place. In the end they come to fill out so completely the curve of his cheeks, to follow so exactly the line of his nose, they blend so harmoniously in the sound of his voice that these seem to be no more than a transparent envelope, so that each time we see the face or hear the voice it is our own ideas of him which we recognize and to which we listen."

- Marcel Proust, Swann's Way

Why consider an exotically produced product when there are US based options?

I have never seen any of Ralph's gear at our local Hi-End repair shop which

but I have seen Supratek. (Not a scientific poll). 

Of course it is fun to have a piece few others own but if you need

to buy 2 of them to stay in business I think the excitement factor dwindles

quickly.

@david_ten I don't see this as subjective opinion or biases affecting our judgement. There are  objective value judgements in regard to what are best build practices in assembling audio components. I can only say the photos I've seen of Supratek internals don't conform to these best practices.

Reliability is our means to measure whether particular product conforms to best build practices. Chorus claims he's observed reliability issues, this is only anecdotal evidence at best. Only a survey of many Supratek owners over relatively long period of time will reveal true reliability. If there are no reliability issues, messy internals are only esthetic issue, otherwise it is an issue.

On presumption it isn't an issue. Why bother with neat and tidy, well laid out wiring and parts if reliability is of no concern? Is this kind of assembly and build quality only a marketing ploy?

I'd like to throw out my above comments as to assembly tidiness and best build pracitces to audio equipment manufacturers out there. I understand you may not want to come out and criticize Supratek, but tell us why you observe and conform to well organized, neat and tidy build practices? Does this have bearing on sound quality or reliability? Are there objective best build practices, or is it an arbitrary construct that you feel obligated to follow?