Most so-called high end tube amps do in fact sound different, perhaps "better," perhaps not. This is of course because tubes are usually rich in odd-order harmonics. That $4000 Krell tube amp is actually _coloring_ the sound. So much for 20-bit DACs in the signal source: the amp is altering the sound at about the 6th or 8th or whatever most significant bit.
A couple of corrections, then the comment. First is that tubes boost the even order harmonics, making the sound much richer and fuller sounding. Also, the Krell is digital, not tube.
But your point is correct, but also well-known within audiophile circles. In fact, single-end triode style tube amps (which hit the market about 10 years ago) have really rotten measureables, but they have continued to grow in popularity because of the the allegedly "live/lush" sound. (Another odd thing about them is that they have extremely low output powers--12W, 8W and 6W are common!) Everyone knows they are basically nearly random tone-control gizmos, but no one cares at this point.
As for 24/96 (or 24/192), like I said there are real engineering reasons for doing this, but in the end there's not much reason to argue if you haven't heard. Go listen to a standard CD played on an upsampling machine and you will know in no uncertain terms that the sound is considerably better/fuller/realler. (A hint as to why can be seen when you look a square wave reproduced in 16/22 vs 24/96.)
As for audiophile voodoo there's a lot out there, but there's a pretty easy way to differentiate voodoo from real (though 'inexplicable') high-end stuff. The voodoo dissappears within a year or two, but the real stuff keeps going.
-TD
A PS about double-blind: There's been lots of them done, some confirming audiophile expectations some contradicting. Some of the disparity is due to who the blindees are: high-end listening is a skill that is basically self-taught. Some of the high-end tweeks have differences that are not discernable to nonGolden ears (and some tweaks are obviously pure snakeoil).
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