Neutral electronics are a farce...

Dave_b..Maybe you missed the "rhetorical question" part of my rhetorical question.  I find that I can pick and choose which aspects of the signal I want to harm, and then harm the living crap out of them. Pesky upper mids? I duct tape 1,247 small pieces of 2 day old rye bread to my ceiling and suddenly my system sounds EXACTLY like a concert in the Filmore West in 1972 heard while my girlfriend Shirley was attempting to braid my hair while surrounded by a "tribe" of hippies wearing feathers…just feathers...or to get the sound of Richie Haven's turquoise jewelry banging against the back of my Guild guitar I leant to him at an after concert party in 1970 Honolulu…I sat right in front of him on acid (me, not him…I assume) and to get THAT sound you have to lead a flock of quiet ducks (!) into your listening room and then gently tap your output tubes with a length of sterilized wax coated plumber's snake. Utterly worth it.

Wolf,  I love the bread thing, especially useful at our Thanksgiving jamboree. Do you think 1247 pieces of rye (can I mix in some white?) would adequately stuff the turkey? Perhaps you know of another way to attach them to the ceiling...... I'm fearful of the affect the duct tape residue may have on the dressing. Cheers

Wolf, you managed to scare the crap out of me...the images you painted sound absolutely frightening!  Not sure if it was the acid or the braiding...I'd prefer 10th row at the BSO;)

JMCgrogan2... i agree with everything you wrote. "Neutral" in audiophile circles is a term that has been twisted to mean something different than balanced and uncolored. As a result, it misleads many people to expect it to mean one thing, when it is being used to mean treble-tilted and midrange sucked out, giving the impression of treble clarity and "clean" midrange. This is something i avoid at all costs, and my experience is that these days "neutral" is used in the latter sense 90 percent of the time.

Jmcgrogan does have a point...as he indicated, natural is vague as well.  How about realistic, as having the full envelope of frequencies and tones expressed with complete dynamic freedom and clarity!  That should eliminate about 90% of systems:). Of course one can only really assess an entire system.  That's why reviews are quite meaningless really, except for the very obvious features and characteristics.