Thoughts on the Signal Path

LEngth/complexity of signal path alone means nothing. I wouldn't spend any time worrying about it. Its the quality of what comes in and what is done with it along the way to its destination (in conjunction with the destination itself) that matters. You know all the complicated stuff. There is an easy way out called an integrated amp. Someone takes care of all the complex stuff for you and you get to just enjoy the music. There are some really good ones out there these days I read. Some with built in DAC, phono and tuners even. Let smart guys who know what's important and what is not design and handle this stuff. I'm probably not smart enough to do it any better anyway.

You can match gear well and do well without an active pre-amp if you know what your doing but I think it gets harder to get the same sound out that you want from multiple different sounding sources without one. Active pre-amps are the great equalizers....literally!

You would think.

Might wreck havoc on phase coherence as well.

At least if really long.

Purist's want to keep everything short and simple. Of course how often are purists right when it comes to the big picture? Synthesis is usually more effective when done well. if its too pure, you are probably missing something.

A tie between synthesis and shortest possible signal path would be a form of synthesis itself so I will buy that one as well.

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