Easy question needs answering

[madmonda]

Often times I read of other members "reference" amp, "reference" speaker, "reference" etc. What exactly is meant by "reference"? Is this a design that other designs are compared against? What makes it a good reference point? And how do you know when the "reference" is good enough to be a "reference"? If the next build is better than the "reference", does the new build become the new "reference" design? Or am I totally not understanding what "reference" means?

By the way...once I return from deployment, my next "reference" speaker will be Troels "PMS" speakers. A gift to myself for coming home alive, having a birthday away from home, being promoted to E7, and having plenty of deployment $ to burn!!! I plan to document the build and do my first build thread.

[vacuphile]

When other members mention "reference" amp, etc., what they most likely mean is the piece of equipment they judge to be the best, and against which they judge all other systems. When companies mention the word "reference" in front of their product, it most likely is there for marketing purposes.