Specifications VS Sound Quality

Specs are mostly useless but with years of experience you can sort of read between the lines. A 100wpc $300 Sony receiver is not going to be equal to a 100 wpc Musical Fidelity integrated even if ALL the specs are comparable. . 

I was prompted to start this thread by a friend who is as extremely knowledgeable Audio manufacturer and audiophile who looked at the specs of my new amp and said that it was one of the best amps of its class available. He also heard my rave comments. I liked the encouragement but wonder what the basis of his remarks.

The main value  of specifications to someone who knows how to interpret them properly  is objectively deciding which components to try ie which components are likely to work best in a specific system with others.   You will get to a better place faster if you learn to assess and use specs properly.  Otherwise deciding what to buy is a total gamble with nothing concrete to validate buying decisions other than hearsay or pure guessing. 

In most of the cases specs are just the last part in the page. You read those you are interested in as to have a better picture.

mapman:

"The main value  of specifications to someone who knows how to interpret them properly  is objectively deciding which components to try ie which components are likely to work best in a specific system with others"

The above makes sense to me but this next part of your post I find confusing:

"Otherwise deciding what to buy is a total gamble with nothing concrete to validate buying decisions other than hearsay or pure guessing"

Seems to me that listening is very "concrete". And it's not unusual for reviewers to state that a component sounds really good even though it does not measure ideally in some regard. 

What is it I'm not understanding about your post?