Give me a break I'm from a humanities background! I would not presume to theorise about this, but it seems to me foolish to ignore evidence, even if that comes from my own ears. I did not expect to find the differences, one attraction of Meridian was the simplicity of the concept. But they exist, they are significant and I don't buy the placebo explanation. Nor do i want to indulge in unreason. I have no idea what is going on but I do know that my system sounds much better. And that is what matters to me. I wrote my original contribution in the spirit of sharing and suggesting that others may wish to play with these ideas too. I'm not trying to sell you anything! (But Bright Star Isonodes are wonderful things.)
Best wishes.

Main system: NUC, Roon, Network Acoustics Ag ENO/cable, 218, 5200SE, Townsend Podium, Sennheiser HD820/800s, Sennheiser HDVA 820 amp.
Mobile: Explorer, IE800
Kitchen: MS200, F80