@kota1 Excellent analysis of Amir.
@rtorchia The comments made here include Amir’s lack of adequate testing. Damping at 1Khz or 20hz to 20khz, burn-in of equipment prior to testing (unless you don’t believe in that) which nearly all published reviewers talk about and do, etc. etc.
Your $95 USB digital cable could be crap. However, that does not translate that all $95 or $6000 USB cables don’t sound as good as your el cheapo cable. Plus, your system may not resolve musical information as well as those cables provide (or don’t provide). I’ve tested many cables in my systems and found that price is not a determinant of value or musical resolution. After testing half a dozen SPDIF RCA digital cables under $750, I tried a $1500 cable. Low and behold, it was superior in resolution, openness, dynamic contrasts, etc. compared to the less expensive cable. My higher end system easily provided the comparison.
The cable I previously used cost $200 and was an excellent first effort by a cable manufacturer. His other cabling is superb at a very reasonable ($400-$750) price. This time, someone else made a vastly superior cable (Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Euphoria). When I wrote this at ASR, I was pummeled with hatred and vile responses. Because it was considered snake oil. Then the personal attacks began.
I didn’t even mention tube equipment. There is NO reason tube equipment cannot measure well. However, achieving solid state results in the micro distortion levels of .001%, yes they may not be capable to obtain those numbers. Who cares? It’s about the sonic results, not a lab test. My voltage regulated 125 watt tube monoblocks are coasting in powering my 7 driver (3-12" woofers) floorstanders because they are relatively efficient yet dive down to 2.8 ohm bass impedance with a few sharp phase angles.
John Atkinson has pointed out speaker measurements in his reviews that are particularly helpful in understanding how difficult it is to drive very low impedances with very sharp phase angles, with wild frequency responses. I happen to not prefer that speaker brand although they are very popular in England.