Beware the audio guru

I think, you will find for everything a Fangroup. Best advice from me, check your sources. Yes, I agree, some take themselves way too serious but on the other side...there are also big bucks rolling down the street.
In all my years listening to endless Systems and meeting people with different taste, priorities...WE all have one thing in common:
Anyone is able to hear a good sounding System in 5s.

Interesting is the reaction after that (for some it is too big, too black, too cheap...you know what I mean?)

When I started, I did need some time to discover that review units, winners etc. did not sound the way they were described in the review. I got more and more the impression, when I trust them any longer, I will burn endless money without moving forward. 15 years later I still have the same impression. I know no other business were so much money is rolling done from people who have absolutely no idea from anything what is responsible for a good reproduction.
Maybe the industrial complex is too big  .... or is it a toy store for adults (my amp is bigger than yours, I am closer to live because I can spend more money... yes, I think, that's it)?

Let us hope that JA remains at his post measuring for Stereophile! 

I don't think that's true at all.
I think we've come to the point that most gear measures well,and after that, it's tied to distortions and changes in the reproduced signal vs the original, that don't come across very well in the weighting of a standard engineering approach to electrical and acoustical signals.
The ear does not work that way.
I repeat, the ear does not work that way.
I repeat, the ear does not work that way.
I repeat, the ear does not work that way.
I can only say it so many times.
It takes the other half of the equation to read it, get it, take it in, and do the correct things with it.
It's been possible to end this debate for quite some time now.

I've known it in detail for a very long time.
I won't share the specifics as this is part of the money maker.
But I will do people the service of mentioning it.

Oh that's rich, roberjerman, your name came to mind after reading cleeds first paragraph. I find it tough to listen to measurements. Is it about specs. or how things sound?

@cleeds- probably a fair warning to the uninitiated, but my sense is that most people that stay on this site (as opposed to the person who posts as a newbie saying "I just inherited X, how does this work or is it any good?" and then disappears) are already familiar with the audiophile landscape.
I think most people are sensible enough to put things to the test in their own systems or will take the risk on some equipment that seems to get consistent, positive remarks from fellow users and professional reviews. And, to the extent the manufacturer is a direct seller, an unfettered right to return for refund within a limited time is essential in my estimation ( a modest repacking charge would be ok with me).
Safe to say, there are few posts of the purported guru that go unchallenged here, right? And if you are here for a while, you can sort the informative from the hype.
I recognize that there are certain rifts or areas of disagreement that probably won’t be bridged. At that point, it’s pick your preference.
I’ll obviously pay more attention to a post from someone who had long term ownership experience and has made considered comparisons, rather than flavor of the month or hype or techno-speak. (Not to say there isn't science and technology behind some of this but the harder it is to decipher, the less likely I am to be persuaded. Perhaps I'm technically less astute than some here, but I do defer to those with solid knowledge in circuits, electrical, etc. and they are pretty well known here). 
I think people generally have more sense than we give them credit for, at least when it comes to spendy stuff and their own funds. User preference/bias still remains an issue, even if someone has no agenda.
In my career, the more I did, the less certain I was about certain things. It’s healthy to have the conventional wisdom challenged occasionally. Nothing is as easy as it appears.