If DSP proponents had something to suggest as effective as the electronic chain to please audiophile preferences it would be very well accepted. BTW, Nelson Pass answered your main question in his manual for the XS series:
If you are concerned that your power amplifier (or anything else
for that matter) is as objectively and technically accurate as possible,
that is a perfectly legitimate criterion. You will certainly find many
products in the marketplace that excel at conventional objective
performance, and most of them are much cheaper.
Our real customers care most about the experience they get when
they sit down to listen to their music. We create amplifiers that we
like to listen to, on the assumption that we share similar taste
We want our products to invite you to listen. We want you to enjoy
the experience so much that you go through your entire record
collection - again and again. This, by the way, is a very strong
indicator.
A simple survey of really successful audio amplifiers shows
that objective performance numbers by themselves are not that
important.
That Would Be You.
If you are concerned that your power amplifier (or anything else
for that matter) is as objectively and technically accurate as possible,
that is a perfectly legitimate criterion. You will certainly find many
products in the marketplace that excel at conventional objective
performance, and most of them are much cheaper.
Our real customers care most about the experience they get when
they sit down to listen to their music. We create amplifiers that we
like to listen to, on the assumption that we share similar taste.
We want our products to invite you to listen. We want you to enjoy
the experience so much that you go through your entire record
collection - again and again. This, by the way, is a very strong
indicator.
A simple survey of really successful audio amplifiers shows
that objective performance numbers by themselves are not that
important.
I marked in bold what I find basic concepts behind high-end - creating a sound reproduction that is systematically enjoyable for the consumer. But also acknowledging that excellent stereo reproduction involves the listener and needs his collaboration in such a strong way that it is not possible to create unique products that are the preferred by everyone.