[Chocaholic]

Sound quality is a psychoacoustic phenomenon. Different for every person with a pair of ears. That’s why there’s so much snake oil in the audio world. For many (me included) it’s a hobby that got its roots in the 70’s when we were young and there were no computers and video games. If your NAD amp setup please you, get a nice, inexpensive phono pre and have fun.

For me it was a slippery slope over decades. I just ordered two preamp tubes to try that cost more than a week’s groceries. I’d like to say it’s “all about the music”, but it’s more than that. If I can sit in my listening room late at night, put on a Ben Webster LP at volume, I can close my eyes and the man’s tenor sax is 10’ in front of me, with snare brushes a bit to the right of him and several feet further back. Acoustic bass so clear you can hear finger plucking as those bottom octaves underpin the performance. I get chills, and can’t get enough. That’s what it’s about for this old man.

And it’s (a little bit) cheaper than hookers and blow.