Before I became an audiophile, I was a working electronics technician who worked with many measuring instruments, some that measured sound beyond human audibility. That was when I judged audio gear by it's specifications. I often wondered why those crazy audiophiles paid big money for equipment that was inferior to mine; theirs had more noise and distortion.
I acquired a loaner CJ preamp that clearly had both noise and distortion, but sounded better musically better than my SS rig. I had to call a friend over to see if I wasn't going batty.
After he confirmed that the CJ sounded better, I quit judging by specification, and let my ears tell me what sounded best.
No instrument can measure all the components involved in music, other than your ears; and that's what audiophiles use to judge their gear.