Even intelligent and otherwise rational people make bad decisions (voting Brexit, voting Trump, watching Big Brother the list goes on). I don't know why you have to take it personally as it's nothing personal. I never called any end user a mug, stupid or a fool, you did. I am saying that they are misguided and are lied to through an industry propaganda machine geared up and structured to convince people to part with ridiculous amounts of money for palcebo.
I appreciate your belief doesn't allow you to consider this to be the case but the truth is that they do technically sound exactly the same. It's not really open for debate any more and has been proven in multiple double blind loudness matched tests. Tests conducted with industry "golden ears", veterans, sound engineers, musicians, journalists and enthusiasts. No one, not a single one, can tell two amps apart or two cables apart in any test once you remove confirmation bias and other such outside influences. Hundreds of tests that do not exclude confirmation bias or tester influence have shown there is a difference but years of cognitive study and neuroscience tells us that it's effectively all in your head.
I appreciate you are 100% sure you do hear a difference and I can be confident that in your head, you can. But that's the reality here, it's in your head and is not due to your amps or cables. What you are hearing is confirmation bias and placebo. It is incredibly powerful and will absolutely cause you to hear this wonderful sound. I even have no doubts your system IS wonderful but it's a sound you could replicate exactly by replacing your amp and cables with any number of alternatives that would be a LOT cheaper.
So allow me to hazard a guess (and please correct me) what your research consisted of:
- Having demo amps at home to listen to
- Going to trade shows and open days
- Listening to amps in shop listening rooms
- Reading reviews in the press and online
- Reading forums and listening to other "audiophiles" who already have the amps in question, already demo'd them or want to buy them
- Talking to retailers and shop owners
- Reading the specs on manufacturer websites
Now let me guess what your research didn't consist of
- Double blind matched loudness testing against any other amp
- Reading and understanding other double blind loudness matches testing of cables and amps
- Researching and looking for any peer reviewed scientific studies that add any credence to any manufacturers claims
- Testing any low end PA amp in your system which had enough power to drive the system
- Testing and comparing any low end cables without going in with the attitude "these will be rubbish"
Naturally you will have almost definitely done every single one of the items in the first list but likewise I'd suggest you didn't do many if any from the second list. Now that doesn't make you stupid or a fool, it just makes you the same as most people. You justify spending £7500 by convincing yourself it is VFM or worth it by focusing on and immersing yourself in everything that confirms that. We all do that (me included) but sometimes we need to ask ourselves "Hang on, do these raving lunatics telling me I could have saved £7000 and got the same sound have a point".
I liken this bit of the audio industry to that of a cult or a religion because like a cult or religion it is based on faith and not science. Now there are billions of believers in religion, many I call friends and many who are very intelligent. But being intelligent doesn't necessarily mean that there is some intangible being in the sky, that the world was made 6000 years ago or that theres some magic etherial "stuff" that magically ignores science and causes amps and cables to sound different.
G