Does anyone out there NOT hear a difference in CD

Velocityofhue
Ha, Funny thing is the 700 dollar rotel probably uses a 9 dollar transport and the 50 dollar panasonic probably uses a 8 dollar transport!

Depends on your price range, but you want a really good universal machine to not break the bank, and do it all so to speak for the time being with very little worry about future upgrades or investment woe's.. Look at an Oppo digital 980h, for 169.00 I bet it will beat the pants off what you have so far heard, and give you SACD, DVD-A, and world class DVD picture, look em' up, about 1.5 million positive reviews on this machine.

of course, that one never really knows for sure *how* neutral one's system is, until an upgrade is made that reveals previous colorations.

How do you know that it is not the "upgrade" that is adding coloration? This can just as often be the case - a higher price does not guarentee that the upgrade is more "neutral"....the higher prices item may simply have a dose of pleasant sounding sugar coating and therefore easily "wins the pepsi taste challenge"!!

no system is neutral. there are colorations which can be identified after serious listening. i think one should accept the fact that imperfection is reality.

hopefully, one can enjoy a stereo system being aware of its limitations. an "upgrade" may solve some problems while creating others.

the term "more" neutral is illogical. it is correct to say less erroneus, not more accurate, or more neutral, since accuracy and neutrality are states of perfection, both of which are unattainable.

Mrtennis, I feel that you have a knack of twisting and playing with words. You mentioned that no system is neutral and one shall accept imperfection as reality. Please kindly elucidate how would you qualify a system as "imperfect".

You mentioned the term "more neutral" or "more accurate" as not logical, and "less erroneous" as logical. You cited accuracy and neutrality are unattainable. Please kindly elucidate how would you qualify a system as "less erroneous".

There has got to be a benchmark for comparison purposes although this hobby is mostly about subjectivity. It is quite a norm for folks to use neutral, accurate, bright, warm etc. as adjectives to describe the sound of any particular system. Otherwise, there won't be any discussions in audio at the first place. As a reviewer yourself I think you should have used quite a lot of these terms in your write-up?

While I may agree with a few of your points, I am confused by your absolute statements made most of the time.

Shadorne - I'm simply speaking of using one's own long-term to make careful determinations over time. Of course one has to be meticulous about this sort of thing; and of course an "upgrade" can add coloration.

Mrtennis - I agree with you completely, including where you say "more" neutral is illogical. I imagine - and hope - that people understood the gist of what I was saying, despite my own imperfection : )