Enhanced or held back?

If we make a change for the better to our room or equipment, one that gets us closer to the music, was it achieved by a fundamental change or by the removal of existing obstacles? When I first asked myself that question my immediate answer was semantics. What's the difference if we achieve better by removing obstacles or improving performance? I believe it's more than semantics. In fact, I think it may be at the core of what we do. Lowering distortion might be viewed as removing an obstacle while improving the slew rate probably qualifies as an enhancement. Both work to improve performance, each in a different way. Perhaps another way to look at this would be the difference between removing obscuring veils vs. improving dynamics. Or, for a more common metaphor, the difference between cleaning a room vs. redecorating. One makes better what is while the other addresses fundamental weakness. Lumped together they become more difficult to focus the engineer's efforts. Viewed as separate tasks we clear away misconceptions and arrive at a clearer path towards better performance.