Specifications VS Sound Quality

Sure well you still have to decide what to try so same  story of course.  Specs help. 

I use many reviews to analyse for some older design that help way more than specs if someone cannot listen to the gear before buying...

I dont regret any of my choices....

"Real"  specs are useful to create standards not so much  for picking  the gear we will love....

Sorry-- I naively assumed no-one would buy gear they couldn't try out first in their room, either borrowed or bought with a return policy! ! !  

Please see: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367#89829
First off, every single item was bought sight unheard. Been so long since I did a home audition I don't even remember any more. 16-20 years I bet.

Subs, amp, conditioner, cartridge, arm, turntable, crossovers, whole bunch of stuff bought with no return. Phono stage, whole bunch of other stuff I never asked or even considered asking. If I even thought of sending something back that's not buying, that's trying. Don't confuse the two.

I am currently in the process of ordering a Raven Reflection MkIII. These are made to order. There are no returns. This concerns me not even in the least.

As you can probably figure out there was a time 16-20 years ago when I thought home auditioning was important, even essential. Probably still is, at least within a certain range of buyer skill and equipment performance. Above that level though, whole different ballgame. In that case then yes, you are naive to assume.

No one put cost of the product as a factor? I guarantee you, that might be one of the most important factors. If the specs are the same, and one product costs five times more than the other, which do you buy?

Since there is no way you can audition equipment, you have to go by what you read. Presently, I'm making some important and expensive for me upgrades, and partially, I'm going by "history" of the name, and is it currently in production.

"Herron Phono" is no longer in production, so that's been scratched off, but I have yet to find a replacement.

If the specs of two different amps are the same, and your hearing is not as good as it once was, you probably couldn't tell the difference in a blind test.

Even if a CJ amp and an ARC amp had the same specs, they would sound different, but not everyone can hear the difference.

Before I spend any money, I'm going to an "audiologist"; one must begin at the beginning.