Sadly I feel the above post accurately reflects the majority of modern consumers, they no longer care how anything works, or indeed if one component is more suitable for their application.
It is just part of the general dumbing down of our culture.
A little technical understanding will enable you to enjoy a better sound , without the constant, aimless swapping of components.
Keith.
Wow. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
Try to remember, PA, that the name of the game in any performance-oriented industry is supposed to be performance. Not understanding. Even though understanding can beget performance. Ever hear of a Formula 1 or Top Fuel dragster driver who races and wins and may not understand the first thing about an internal combustion engine? Maybe one of the fundamentals is that we need to be cognizant of is that most of us in these forums are drivers only.
As much as I'd like to refute your comment, "a little technical understanding will enable you to enjoy a better sound", I have to somewhat agree with your poorly worded statement here. I do possess technical understanding about areas that should be foreign to you and it is those areas upon which I built my playback system.
But where we differ is that I limit my understanding to those areas that really matter from a performance perspective. I have no desire to mfg'er an amp or CDP, therefore, I waste little precious time attempting to understanding all the intricacies of those products because frankly the gains in those parts of vineyard are most always quite limited. In my quest for performance, such knowledge or understanding that provide only limited performance benefits matter very little to me. I know nothing about a component's internals so I don't modify internals except for cryo'ed IEC inlets and fuses. Could I squeeze out a tad better performance having others modify my components? Perhaps. But I've gone the mod route once before and got burned by the modder who turned out to be a criminal so I've sworn off that route.
But externally, you probably should not find a more modified system than mine. The mods start at the AC service panel with 4 dedicated circuits on the same phase/leg to 4 cryo'ed Romex lines to the listening room to 4 cryo'ed outlets. That's just for starters and that's only to get electricity into the room. How about you?
I'll use properly cryo'ing product as my simple example for understanding. Is cryo'ing the end-all of performance gains? No but it plays a vital part in the audio performance vineyard and is part of a package of what I call proper electrical mgmt which in turn is a small but still quite significant part of what I consider building on the right foundation. And though all the cryo'ed parts combined will easily generate greater performance gains than any sonic differences I've yet experienced between Redbook and hi-rez recordings, cryo'ing still is only a very small boost compared to other parts of the vineyard. Now do I really understand what cryo'ing does to change a metal's properties that leads to sonic improvements? Somewhat but ultimately no. I leave that to the experts like Jenna Labs who co-hosted an audio event I held last year that focused on cryo'ing. FWIW, Jenna Labs founders did cryo'ing work for NASA some 40 years ago and have been cryo'ing audio products for over 30 years.
Do I understand that properly cryo'ing a product will lead to improved sonics? Considering I've been having product cryo'ed via the inferior vapor method and superior full-immersion method since 2005 and every time received clearly audible improvements, I'd say yes. Do I really really need to hit the pause button in my life to learn everything there is to know about the cryogenic process and what it does at a molecular level to alter metals and improve sonics? Apparently, according to you and some others I must, if I really want to appreciate cryo'ing's sonic benefits. And if I choose not to go down that rabbit hole, I risk becoming a victim of a dumbed down culture? That's just silly speak. However, in another context, I'm very much on board with your dumbed down comment.
You wanna' talk appreciation? I've mfg'ered audio product before. Understanding what's involved between a product's design, mfg'ering, and getting it to market has really made me appreciate even something as simple as a $1.29 light switch plate. But even with that understanding, my lights are no more brilliant and frankly I'm no more or less appreciative of electrical lighting.
As for your comment of constant aimless swapping of components, I'm not sure how you got that one. But since your entire response seemed out-of-context, I've gone upwards of 5 years without a single product swap. Last year I did swap out all components. CDP, amp, and speakers. Prior to that swap, I owned my Esoteric CDP since 2006, my BMC int. amp since 2011, and Legacy speakers since 2007. Perhaps you're thinking of somebody else?