Paying for the last 3 to 5%

I can tell the Eversolo A6 Master Edition from the WiiM Ultra ten out of ten times. But is this enough? For most of you, no.

My conditions are not normal conditions. A treated room, Wilson speakers, flagship McIntosh electronics, Transparent reference cables, three months of side-by-side listening and a very good idea of what to listen for. On that system the Eversolo gave me better imaging, a wider and deeper soundstage and a darker background.

Real, but subtle. I mean squeezing out the last 3 to 5% of performance on a system built to reveal it. That is what the $1,070 gap buys when everything else in the chain is already right.

Now take a system where most components sit in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. Remove the visual cues, pause for a long time between tracks, and I am not convinced anyone could tell them apart. There, the limiting factor is the speakers and the electronics, not the streamer.

Is the last 5% worth paying for? Only when the other 95% is already in place.