. . . as an example of what I was talking about, I remember once I was listening to the red book mfsl Eric Clapton/Slow Hand and on the mellower tracks, Lay Down Sally and May You Never and Next Time You See Her, it was so apparent to me that the scratchiness in his voice was not due to a less than stellar disc, but it was due to the abuse his vocal cords had been taking with the cigarettes and what have you (Slow Hand was released near the end of '77, and I think they were all pretty much living in the fast lane about then), and the guitar work on those tracks, in particular, was just hanging in mid air in front of me. I don't know that I have ever quite heard that ever since.
Anyway, what my system does for me with a good source CD is that with the lights off and my eyes shut, the walls in my small room disappear as do the speakers. Don't get me wrong--I am not saying that I am fooled into believing that it is live as opposed to being Memorex . . . that isn't happening. I assume that is what is meant by those who talk about experiencing The Holy Grail. But my goal is to enhance what my system is doing for me. I am happy to experiment with $150 worth of power cords to see if that makes it inches better for me.
@mrdecibel , this next is not intended to be sarcastic or confrontational or to express anything negative . . . I am truly and simply curious. I didn't take what you typed as a rant and I did not take it,badly the way it was offered. But given what you typed about what makes the listening experience work for you, why bother with upgraded equipment and power cords and etc?