TAS 194: Classé Audio SSP-800 Multichannel Controller

DMF, Not trying to stir up a hornets nest, but would sure love to know what you are trying to say about the Wilson speakers that were utilized in this review? I am the farthest person here from an expert on any of these topics, but with a total Classe driven system, except for my Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player, I am also running Wilson Audio, but am back in the "cheap seat section" with Sophia 2s and a Watch 2 center, very inexpensive B & W in-wall surrounds, and a single JLAudio Fathom F113 subwoofer, with very inexpensive bulk Transparent brand speaker cables, and some old existing Monster Cable buried under my baseboards for the surround duties, custom made, but inexpensive balanced interconnects, and a set of cheap analog cables running to my SSP-600 in bypass, so that I can allow my Blu-ray to decode the Dolby HD, and my preferred DTS Master Audio. I listened to a lot of speakers, a lot of electronics, cheap cables, expensive cables, and a myriad of source players, in which I have both the CDP-300 and a CDP-502, and I cannot say good enough things about my Wilson Audio speakers. Even if they are at the lower end of the price spectrum, just above the Duettes, which by the way are some of the most magical and amazing speakers I have ever had the pleasure of putting an ear to. 
I would love to have you elaborate on your comment on what I interpret as a knock or slam against Wilson, and why you feel the way you do? I would also love to know what your speaker of choice is, and why you think that it is superior to the Wilsons. 
Please don't interpret this as a challenge or me gearing up for an argument. I am fairly new into this entire arena and can only base my thoughts and opinions on what I have personally heard out of my own two ears, in the retail stores where I auditioned prospective speakers, and finally, in my home with the unique (and not necessarily perfect, or the best) sound signature characteristics of the room in which I do many, many hours of listening and watching week in, and week out. 
If all of the parameters of the reviews of preamps and processors were consistent, as in same speakers, same amps, same cables, same room acoustics, same program material, same formats, etc., then I don't see how you can challenge Mr. Harleys review by stating "how do you really know how it sounds if you are using Wilson Speakers?"
At the end of the day, isn't it our desire to play our music and watch our videos in a manner that we find the most aurally pleasing to our personal ears and tastes, and viewing our video sources as we wish to see it reproduced? Like anything in life, there is almost always room for improvement, even if it means altering something slightly or drastically. I can understand why one would wish to have a piece of source material duplicated to sound exactly like it was originally recorded.....only if that particular recording was absolutely perfect. Only problem is what might sound absolutely perfect to one person, might sound boring, dull, and benign to another, while a third person might think it is particularly bright, annoying, or poorly recorded. I don't think that any two human beings on the planet are going to hear things exactly the same. 
About the best analogy I can think of is eating a piece of prime, aged beef, let's say a filet mignon. Taking out the level of how it is cooked equation and just for the same of keeping it simple, having it a perfect medium rare plus. Out of 100 people, how many are going to want that steak cooked on hardwood oak charcoal over Kingsford? How many might like the flavor their gas grille adds? How many do not want to taste any wood flavor and prefer to cook the steak over an electric grill? Then we move on to seasoning. Some might like a bit of salt and pepper only, some may like some added garlic powder, some may like a large pat of butter melted over it. some might like a favorite dry rub, or other seasoning of choice. Who is to determine which steak tastes the best? Is it going to be that pure, unadulterated ccoking over an electric grill so that it is merely cooked beef? Don't most people have a certain type of flavor that they desire on their steaks, or whatever they may throw on the 'ol barbecue?? I love a good filet as much as anybody on this earth, but I can't eat one with absolutely no seasoning of flavor at all. I certainly would never dream of destroying that filet with A1 or Heinz 57, even though there are some cuts of meat, or means of cooking where one might just need to drown the taste with a strong, disguising steak sauce. There are others that would not dream of eating that piece of prime filet without it doing the backstroke in a pool of steak sauce. Once again, who is right and who is wrong here? 
I can't imagine that there are two people that are going to listen to two totally different speakers, and hear the exact same thing. A person could go to a concert or live recording, come home and listen to some form of media that can reproduce the recording as accurately as possible, and think it sounds identical to the performance out of speaker A. Another person who attended the show might hear the recording as exact as possible out of speaker B. A third person can hear the original recording, think it's a lousy performance in person, but might love what it sounds like on speaker C. It's all subjective and what might be a treasure to one person might be junk to another. What is the purpose of an equalizer? Is it to make a bad recording sound good, is it to make a good recording sound good in a situation that has bad acoustics, or could it be used to make a bad recording played in a perfect, enhancing listening environment, sound bad like the original recording? Is there a right answer to that question? My personal thoughts about speakers, source players, acoustic treatments and environments, is that I want whatever I am listening to or watching to look and sound as good as I can possibly make it sound, so that it is pleasing to my ears.
I suppose this is why there are so many brands, types, sizes, and designs of speakers and electronics, so that there will always be something that appeals to all different kinds of people, in all different kinds of environments, 
So please share with me your take on speakers, sound, ideas of the ideal listening situation, and what it is that you desire and consider to be perfect musical nirvana.
I look forward to hearing your take and please pardon my grammatical errors and run-on sentences and such. It's 2:30 a.m. and I am quite tired and not overly concerned about my writing skills at this juncture.
Tom

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