Thom_mackris, your last post certainly shows that your spare time can't be all that limited...;-) ...
Value is of course kind of a label and assigned by people. As thus it can never be universal nor objective in any way.
Value in the sense that most people understand it today is only individual.
However - a roman gladius, its blade made from the special alloy produced by a certain celtic tribe in the area of lake Chiemsee in southern Bavaria ( because the soil there was contaminated by millions of fragments from an exploded comet which exploded in the sky above their territory a few hundred years before ) had an inherent quality which by far exceeded (in all critical aspects of "performance" such as hardness, durability, weight etc.) all other swords of its time for 3 centuries and won the roman empire the pre-dominance in Europe.
That is an inherent product quality which has nothing to do with individual point of view, bias or price tag. There are similar examples today ( if few - and even fewer in high-end audio ).
We all have very different biases and what one may call a gifted or ingenious design means nothing or just being mediocre to the other.
Lets just assume that a person is every bit as deep into the design process of preamplifiers, poweramplifiers, turntables and loudspeakers as the persons/designers you think are the most gifted. But he has long progressed from a level which is still thought of as state of the art. But that person has no financial interest anymore and - that is important now! - does not tries to "market" a "product" and thus is no competitor on the market.
It certainly makes little to no sense to discuss here any aspects of philosophy - if I want to do this with an audiophile on Audiogon, I will send a PN to Nandric, as I know he is both willing and able to follow certain paths in philosophy and has enough knowledge, cultural education and background to do so.
So much for my arrogance and yes, you may indeed interpret my posts correctly, but that is a reflection of your own imagination and will tell you something - independent of the quality of my english which indeed in neither my first language nor my only one. But it serves me good enough to follow anything written here and I may have little problem to walk without your guidance - through english and through audio.
You are a dealer and need to support the products you sell and to defend your position - fine with me.
Value is of course kind of a label and assigned by people. As thus it can never be universal nor objective in any way.
Value in the sense that most people understand it today is only individual.
However - a roman gladius, its blade made from the special alloy produced by a certain celtic tribe in the area of lake Chiemsee in southern Bavaria ( because the soil there was contaminated by millions of fragments from an exploded comet which exploded in the sky above their territory a few hundred years before ) had an inherent quality which by far exceeded (in all critical aspects of "performance" such as hardness, durability, weight etc.) all other swords of its time for 3 centuries and won the roman empire the pre-dominance in Europe.
That is an inherent product quality which has nothing to do with individual point of view, bias or price tag. There are similar examples today ( if few - and even fewer in high-end audio ).
We all have very different biases and what one may call a gifted or ingenious design means nothing or just being mediocre to the other.
Lets just assume that a person is every bit as deep into the design process of preamplifiers, poweramplifiers, turntables and loudspeakers as the persons/designers you think are the most gifted. But he has long progressed from a level which is still thought of as state of the art. But that person has no financial interest anymore and - that is important now! - does not tries to "market" a "product" and thus is no competitor on the market.
It certainly makes little to no sense to discuss here any aspects of philosophy - if I want to do this with an audiophile on Audiogon, I will send a PN to Nandric, as I know he is both willing and able to follow certain paths in philosophy and has enough knowledge, cultural education and background to do so.
So much for my arrogance and yes, you may indeed interpret my posts correctly, but that is a reflection of your own imagination and will tell you something - independent of the quality of my english which indeed in neither my first language nor my only one. But it serves me good enough to follow anything written here and I may have little problem to walk without your guidance - through english and through audio.
You are a dealer and need to support the products you sell and to defend your position - fine with me.