I recently bought a Technics turntable to use with an old vintage amplifier as a headphone only system. Two things struck me in a fit of pique, the first being how much better the headphones sounded with my ancient Trio integrated amp the second being what a close run race it was between my VPI turntable with a decent MCC on board. So, do we kid ourselves into thinking how amazing something is because of its perceived price/performance ratio or does the hype about high end or more expensive equipment mess with individual levels of autism?
The older i get the more i seem able to sort the wheat from the chaff (no mean feat for a celiac). The OCD element of the audiophile has in my view kept many in the industry afloat. Having said that, i think that as more and more of the generation who became hooked on this obsession the more and more manufacturers will cease to be. In the meantime i will indulge myself.
Tricky innit?
People like owning things for different reasons, sometimes it’s not all about the best technical performance.
Marketing is a thing.
Perhaps the Trio is simply a better match for the headphones.
It’s easy to lose the perspective that it’s the music that is enjoyable, not the kit. And the booze, obviously.
Which one? People are often surprised by the sound quality on offer from humble Kenwood / Trio amps.
Sometimes I mention to exhibitors in Munich that there is something missing.
They all laugh and agree when I take a bottle of whisky out of the bag.
Hyperbole is the only available language of commentry and review - the reality: incremental differences vs. exponential cost increases is simply unreadable.
This is why speakers matter, they’re the one thing that can make big differences.
Thought this thread was going to be about one of my workmates.
KT-1500
I presume you mean KA-1500 as KTs are tuners? It looks like a nice budget amp from the golden age of hifi. I’m not surprised it sounds half decent.
That’s exactly what i meant.
Was it you who had a bottle of whiskey at Scalford some years back? I seem to recall you kindly offering people a tipple when you visited Jim’s room!
Yes, I did bring some when I was at Scalford.
Iirc it must have been on my second visit, but first as (co-) exhibitor, together with Paul and Olan. We all had brought along something, so we had a nice selection of some bottles in our room.
The pinnacle of Wam/AA to me, Brexit spoiled many things like increase of travelling cost and restrictions on what you bring along, haven’t traveled to the UK since then 
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Edit: error/typo corrected
We can only hope all this silliness changes sooner rather than later.
Ahem…
Paul and Olan 
IIRC @Bolts and I were in the room opposite with the cognac.
I think I had the room you were in the year before (or two years, memory is err hazy for some reason).
Yes, you were opposite of us!
And I now remember someone remarking that it was notable in our corner that we brought in some booze 
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