I don't even think Sanyo makes a receiver.

Yeah, I know this debate, I was just playing devil's advocate. I tend to side with your point, sluggo, that D/As, circuit design, etc do make a difference.

That being said, I wouldn't stake anything on passing a blind test. There is some serious personal phycological warfare and pressure in blind testing. The reason you never see the #1 company promoting blind tests is because they know blind tests are set up to make the taker fail, in other words, look inconsistent. Nobody wants to look like a chump and the stress and second guessing usually produce results that would reflect somebody who can't tell the difference. I've read about wine tasters who can't tell the difference between red and white wines while doing blind testing. When was the last time you saw any blind test conclude with a clear and definitive winner? Usually its the underdog claiming to be just as good as the big guy because everybody couldn't tell a difference. I just think there is more to the eye when it comes to blind testing. No pun intended.