This probably isn't the right thread for me, because I find the endless back-and-forth about electronics to be really tiresome in general. Based on all my own testing and reading on this forum, I'm very convinced that if you take the average "decent" piece of electronics(whether it be a DAC, amplifier, whatever), you're just not going to hear any significant differences, especially on speakers. A lot of tests done to "prove" you can hear differences are done on headphones which often have much lower distortion and reduce the environmental noise as well. I'll define "decent" as SINAD of 80dB and all other tests having a "passing" result as called out in a typical ASR review. I realize that's not a very precise definition by this forum's standards, but that's sort of my point.So what is a next best alternative? What is a friendlier way to get the point across? How do regular ASR members pick their gear?
When we spend so much effort on arguing about miniscule differences it convinces new people that they NEED to care about whether their AVR has a SINAD of 80dB or 100dB and they should spend significant amounts of their time, money, and effort finding a "solution" to this "problem".... when their speakers usually have at least some frequency response issues and 10-100x more distortion baked in even at low levels.
I am NOT saying there are NO DIFFERENCES in a literal academic sense. I am saying the correct advice to 99.99% of the people looking for recommendations is "get a basic level of performance from your electronics and then STOP READING ABOUT IT. Instead, focus on speakers/room treatment/room correction/bass management, any of which is far more important."