@Jax2 The point is that people read reviews of equipment, they come on to Audiogon and ask people's opinions of gear.. People/Reviewers respond in such detail about how certain speakers, amps, preamps, cables, etc sound to them. How accurate or useful can this information be if their hearing is compromised.
Audiophiles want to talk about how they can hear the difference in a cable. How much positioning, room treatments, stands, etc, etc, etc, can make a difference in sound, yet most here seem to be arguing that their ability to HEAR doesn't matter. IRONIC?
Whether reviews come from someone here, a reviewer, or a reliable friend who you have a track history with, any and all of that should be a point of departure to varying degrees and ultimately you should make your own choices and base those choices on your own direct experience and not someone else's. At least for me, it is far more rewarding in that way. I don't come here to take convert peoples opinions to a shopping list. I do enjoy the discussion though, and especially enjoy talking about music and getting recommendations there.
Aside from that, you did not really answer my question to you: What's the point of a "neutral perspective" since not any one of us listens from one? You might interpret something as sounding "warm" while someone else may say its "cool and analytical" to them, regardless of whether that component falls into some arbitrary idea of what is "neutral". You could establish "neutral" by measuring response with machines but none of us actually are machines and machines do not have emotions and experience and all the infinite complexities and imperfections that make us human. So I ask you; what's the point, even in the context of a discussion about how human beings experience this stuff? It goes to the argument of some "Absolute" or universal goal that all audiophiles should be striving for. Pardon me, but I believe that's total cow pie talk. If it were so the options would have narrowed down long ago and there would be a far sharper focus on the same kind of sound and design goals. This is far from the truth. Many different people = all kinds of tastes = all kinds of options = all kinds of ways of expressing and interpreting zeros and ones or the movement of a stylus on vinyl. Bring your music to one of the shows and take it from room to room and tell me what "neutral" is. My bet is if you do that and ten others do it you'll all come back with varying opinions. And that's all any of these discussions are about; opinions. Sad as it may be, there will be no George Foreman Grill prize awarded for the person who is the most rightest, bestest audiophile here. I hope no one was holding their breath on that one.