Music reproduction is art

...and art is show biz

@snif - I write and record music so I'm reasonably familiar with the creative process involved. Secondly, the "whole cloth" reference is yours and was not stated or implied by me and, as such, is irrelevant in response to my post. Lastly, you are confusing the production of a recording - which is a creative process - with its reproduction i.e. the playback of the recording. The former involves artistry, though whether is is art is debatable. The latter is categorically not art.

This seems rather silly. I can have more than one amp that I like, many Agoners own several. It’s not “right or wrong” but simply Preferences. Substituting like/dislike with right/wrong can be misleading.

Production is an Art, primarily, but there are non Art tasks like accounting, ordering supplies…

Reproduction is Not an Art, primarily, but visual design and component voicing are.

Don’t believe everything you read 

Basing truth on a sample of one, or any insufficient sample size, is usually considered foolish.  However if the voice(s) have demonstrated expertise then their opinion has more weight in leading to truth.  Otherwise the OP should stay away from MAD magazines;)