The CD launched in the middle of the 80s and the following wave of digital systems that marked the last quarter of the century of audio (both quality and non) definitely had a worthy aspect: having brought about almost the complete disappearance of the legions of do-it-yourself types convinced that they had the definitive solution for good listening.

I would like to premise this with the fact that I have nothing against amateurs or somewhat semi-professionals who work with the design and construction of music machine prototypes. Quite the opposite: when I was twenty “stereo” was the technological frontier that young people were looking to cross. It is the reason for which today real hard core audiophiles have a common trait: white hair (for those who still have hair). But I have always detested the self-evident rhetoric of the “I’ve done it: it’s the best piece in the world” types.