Comment by andybak

I'm not dismissing anything. I'm arguing for the power of human self-deception. I feel the same way about connoisseurship in most other realms; food and wine being the obvious examples.

I believe it's a combination of imagined differences and barely perceptible differences elevated to implausible heights of significance.

Even if one can hear the difference between 16 and 24 bits it will be almost imperceptible in most listening conditions and when it is perceptible it will on the threshold - and certainly too subtle to affect the quality of the experience in any meaningful way.