chunky70 said:
My Cambridge Audio DAC 100 has snr of 113 db. My Fiio D3 has snr of 95db. Both sound exactly the same.
As a general rule, higher signal to noise ratio is better.
However, electronics have got so good these days that they way surpass the abilities of humans to detect. In a normal domestic environment, noise 95dB below your loudest listening level would be undetectable. More so for noise 113dB below. Not surprising the Fiio and CA sound the same.
Other parameters arguably matter more, a flat frequency response for example. Here again, the magic of modern electronics means that most equipment of 'hifi standard' these days is extremely good.
Speakers are the area where there is most variation, they are imperfect mechanical systems and their performance is all over the place.