Great Gear rarely goes out of tune .... so its a non-issue for discussion at least in my experience.
Great Tone is a tool and like any other tool how you use it is AS important. Just watch American Idol. The Great Singers have so many factors that make them great singers BUT look at whats common. Whats common is that ALL of their voices have GREAT TONE.
But using MP3s at 5% fidelity? For a lot I guess thats sufficient but I won't even bother given my standards. In my experience, for the people who come over and try out my gear IN PERSON; they are so shocked that Guitar Gear can sound so good. They usually start out with the usual -- LETS SEE WHAT THIS GUY HAS TYPE OF ATTITUDE. When they finish; as if they have never heard such great gear in their life.
(replying just for the sake of discussion, hoping no heat shall rise. replies based on the points implied)
For me, some of the worst singers I've heard have been on American Idol. Yet with your standards, I should watch them looking for great singers? Nah... There's no "my standards are higher than yours", only preferences. What sounds gold to you may sound like dirt to me, but hey whatever. For the record I have heard your Yaron up close and personal, and like me and a few other guys watching it in action thought, it sounded great but not as great as you made it out to be. Its a great sounding guitar yes, but would I go the lengths you went through for that.... hmmm, not really. But to you its worth it, thats your preference, I can respect that. Maybe you also need to check what the people who come over to try your gear say when they have left your place.
An mp3 at 5% fidelity? If there's ever something like that, why would anyone base any decision on a file format you know upfront would sound like crap. Unless you make another sweeping statement that 95% of all mp3's are only at 5% fidelity 100% of the time, then that would be another discussion. But I guess most agree to trying gear in person before making a purchase, sound clips help them reach decisions on which gear to try. The worst person to ask about which gear you would prefer though, would be any other person that's not you.
You missed the whole point on why you got heat. It wasn't because you said mp3s suck, its because you said that tone over the phone sounded better than tone over mp3's (or something to that effect). I think all would agree that mp3's don't sound as good as the same songs on the original CD, but you got heat the last time because you said you'd rely more on what you hear over the phone than mp3's. Maybe someone can quote that, kakatamad mag-search. Maybe this thread is a non-issue because no one here has said that they rely ONLY on mp3's for their gear purchases.