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I would love some tutorial on the most important measures for primary components and how they link - e.g. impedance/loading MC cartridge to phono pre - line stage...etc. And if stuff like that isn’t really important, I need to know that too.

Gotcha covered.

The most important measurements are speaker sensitivity and cartridge output. Get those right and you can safely ignore all the others they will have zero impact on your ability to create a fantastically musically satisfying system. Don’t believe me? Come and hear mine.   https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367   

Speaker sensitivity matters because you can use it to screen out speakers that will be hard (read, expensive) to drive. Anything much below 92dB you are better off to leave for others. There are so many fantastic speakers 95dB and up, they all can be driven beautifully with anything from a handful of watts and up. This one measurement, speaker sensitivity, eliminates all concern over how many watts your amp has, whether it is tube or SS, impedance, all that jazz. Drives people who spent years memorizing all this stuff batty to think all they had to do was avoid anything under 92. Oh well. Their problem. Not mine. Not yours either, if you follow this most important of all advice.

Cartridge output matters for the same reason. This more than anything else determines what phono stage you will be able to use, whether or not it will need a step up transformer, how easy or hard (read, expensive) it will be to find a good quality low noise phono stage, on and on.

That’s it. All the rest is window dressing and bragging rights. Guys love to toss the word salad, pour on the dressing. Watch. Pages will follow! Speaker sensitivity. Cartridge output. All else is noise.

I have read Stereophile and TAS since the early 80s. I enjoy them for what they are. To me a source of exposure. I do not purchase them to find fault. There is so many good to great products available today why not review those that can be recommended. Cause no harm. (That said I have/had components in my system that have not been reviewed.) The collective sonic merits of a component is so subjective. It remains that one can put together great components at any price level and end up with a system that represents far less than the sum of the individual components. 

From my viewpoint two technical aspects that could be better discussed in equipment reviews are:
      1)The relationship between speaker sensitivity and the impedance/reactance curves with reference to power requirement. (Usually covered well by JA in Stereophile.)
      2)Compatibility concerns of the component under review with the upstream or downstream component as influenced by impedance or gain particularities. 

Reactance and gain structure compatibility across a system is very important. This includes, however is not limited to, speaker sensitivity and cartridge output. I do believe as transducers they do contribute a great deal to the character of a system.  

To the guy who said to stay away from speakers below 92db. Between that and all the writers who say Stereophile is all payola, this whole thread couldn't be more depressing. Dude - if I may call you dude - listen to Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers, well below 92db, and tell people to stay away from them. Sheesh. What is wrong with y'all? 

Haters love to hate.

If you read JA's comments in the measurements - plenty of reviews have cautionary(can even read some as 'negative') comments.

I don't think some here have even read it, but the pile on is to be expected.

To the dude with limited reading comprehension, never said there are no good speakers with less than 92dB. What I did was answer a question, what if any measurements are important? Speaker sensitivity surely is one of them. Notice, since I actually do read and comprehend, I do not twist your words around into something you never said. I take what you actually did say and show how you completely misunderstand the message.

Anyone looking to build a great music system will do well to exclude from consideration speakers with low sensitivity. Such a speaker will limit your amplifier choices. Since the sound you get is not all due to the speaker but is the sum total of everything in the system, then things like choosing hard to drive speakers exact a price in terms of having to spend more money on amplifiers. Therefore, if you want the best sound you can get for the least money you will do well to avoid such problems. Is that so hard to understand?