Top of the yardstick?

[Roger Dunn <rdunn@nh.ultranet.com>]

I've been watching from the wings for a bunch of months now, with immense 
appreciation for the breadth and depth of looping expertise out there.  
But I've gotten lost in some of the gear descriptions that have gone on... 
 It seems that the various gear choices for looping are measured against 
some kind of yardstick - Jammans, EDPs, a couple of Revoxes strung 
together with tape, a rack full of TS2290s - but as a newcomer I'm really 
confused about how these alternatives measure up.

Seems like gear is real important to looping, that the "looping 
instrument" = the looping device + conventional instrument (guitar, synth, 
whatever).  Gear may be more important than the more compositional, less 
improvisational ways of making music.  Which begs my question:

Is there some sort of unspoken, ideal, money-no-object looping system that 
defines the top of the yardstick, the ultimate system against which all 
others are measured?  What would be included/omitted in an ideal system?

Also, is some kind of price/performance breakdown performed on these 
things before springing for one or the other (i.e. can EDPs, Jammans and 
the like be quantitatively gauged against any yardstick)?  Or does the 
appeal come from qualitative individual aesthetics (knobs versus buttons), 
and not so much how feature-packed and pricey a given alternative might be?

Roger