Guys, I want to thank you all very much. I feel I've gleaned a bit of information from all of you. Some (OK, a LOT of) technical, and quite a bit of perceptive info, but all appreciated. It must be really nice to either work in an audio shop that sells quality gear, or have an excess of play money and time to try different pieces. Perhaps when I retire I can play more :)
This discussion helps me stop worrying about what the name on the case says, and use my ears as the real judge. I have been feeling like I'm sure a lot of people feel, that if you can just take that one step higher up the dollar ladder, you can achieve greater musical satisfaction. I see now this may or may not the case (based on far too many variables), and in fact something that may coat much less might in fact sound better to my own ears.
The one down side to all this information, is that it makes it almost impossible to get an answer as to which xyz is better. I guess the best one can do in this regard is to ask a question in poll form, then weed through and try the most popular first.
Anyways, thank you all for your thoughts and time. I will bookmark this, an refer to it anytime I get nametagitis again :)
This discussion helps me stop worrying about what the name on the case says, and use my ears as the real judge. I have been feeling like I'm sure a lot of people feel, that if you can just take that one step higher up the dollar ladder, you can achieve greater musical satisfaction. I see now this may or may not the case (based on far too many variables), and in fact something that may coat much less might in fact sound better to my own ears.
The one down side to all this information, is that it makes it almost impossible to get an answer as to which xyz is better. I guess the best one can do in this regard is to ask a question in poll form, then weed through and try the most popular first.
Anyways, thank you all for your thoughts and time. I will bookmark this, an refer to it anytime I get nametagitis again :)