Mike,

Before you go relying on, and spouting off, about perceptions derived from "experiments," by which I mean your apparent attempts to ignore specifications, you really should try to build a circuit that follows the specifications for the devices you use.

You'll be surprised at how well they work, but probably just as much by how difficult it is to adhere to all the spec's without first reading and thoroughly studying and understanding the spec's. You can't design a circuit with no awareness of all the specified limits within which you have to work.

OTOH, you'll be surprised at how well things work while staying within the spec's.

RE