By Paul McGowan From PS Audio

A hotel whose bathroom floor is made from marble and comes complete with a phone in the toilet stall is considered pretty fancy.

It is those visible cues of luxury—marble and a useless phone—that set apart the hotel from one of identical proportions and functions.

When we first lay eyes on a sculpted metal masterpiece like a beautiful power amplifier we make our first appraisal of what lies in store for us when music plays.

Visual cues: the cover art of an album, the packaging that surrounds a new product, the perfection of metal work, the quality of chassis paint, the gleam of a connector.

We listen first with our eyes.

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