Whole matters

And continuing our thought from yesterday's post, only this time in reverse, isn't it obvious that just because something has all the right stuff it doesn't necessarily qualify as great itself? And doesn't this observation help explain one of the age old mysteries in audio about how something can measure great and sound poor? How many times have we all struggled to understand how a loudspeaker can measure flat, have great efficiency and technology and yet sound unlike music? How many times have we seen a piece of electronics measure with remarkably low distortion, perfect frequency response, transient response, all the right elements, yet fail to make music? Great products are entities unto themselves. You can't judge a book simply because it's filled with many great words. The words together have to mean something. Just like the elements within a product have to work together. It's why so many legitimate reviews of equipment today express an opinion on sound and ignore the details of performance. It's the whole that matters.