Best set-up for up to 9k retail?

Excellent.I would like to add that Tom is a big boy and does not need your support.But he does sound like a salesman,selling his opinions in the case of this forum.Who else has similar thoughts?

Kinda like your pimping of Purist Audio cables, Inna? Why not make that "outta", instead of "inna"? Who else has similar thoughts?

Ahrrrrrr! I didn't mean to start the war here dammit! My fault! Appologies to Twl!

Usually for me one answer on one question is enough to be satisfied...

As to being or not being a part of design team of Teres, I also didn't mean to burn someone on that! To me it's NOTHING-wrong-about situation as long as it helps to the members...

Rives advertises HIS PRODUCTS and his designes, ideas here on the forums and I think with great success and with great help to the members... Anyone has thoughts about Rives?

Yes,I do.Rives is good;reserved and intelligent.He has no need for a megaphone to speak his mind.

Even the casual lurker like me knows when someone asks for a 'table recommendation, Tom will suggest Teres. We can all count on that like the sun rising. Those of us who are not considering buying one in the near future take that en passant.

It really doesn't strike me as selling anymore than when other satisfied owners raise their hands for the equipment they own too. But the most meaningful endorsement comes when the endorser has made active comparisons to validate observations. Tom has done that, a/b'ing against other first-tier rigs.

I find myself 'filtering' out unqualified recommendations which don't note comparisons that support their conclusions. And I've never been in a position to compare my lowly VPI HW19 with other similar-tier 'tables, so any product recommendation I might make would be less than useful.

But what carries the most weight for me is that someone with that much experience with different 'tables, and who has helped me personally with so much analog instruction on so many different aspects, feels so strongly about a product that he doesn't sell. Whenever I think of upgrading, I'll seriously consider Teres, which I would never have heard of if Tom didn't consistenly stick his hand up.

Rives has also provided a lot of education for me with regard to his products. I'm better equipped for it, and I haven't bought any of his stuff yet either.

IMHO, if it wasn't for guys like Tom and Rives, there are countless aspects of audio I would still be ignorant about.

Tim