Specifications VS Sound Quality

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.

mapman:

Understood. In fact, I'm fairly obsessive when it comes to researching when I feel an upgrade cycle approaching.

orpheus:

Price is the first thing I look at, because I don't have huge amounts of cash to spend.  This has the effect of dramatically shrinking the pool of potential purchases from the onset. Furthermore, as mentioned, I only purchase gear I can demo at home and return, if need be, minimizes options still further. Haven't found this to be a problem, though.  

millercarbon:

You are light-years beyond me in knowledge and experience.
I hope you'll indulge my naivete a little further...

Earlier in the post, you state:

"Technically, there is a level of analysis where the answer is yes. In terms of finding musically satisfying components however the answer is a big fat no.

The problem is it can often times take a great deal of understanding technical specifications combined with real world experience to get to where you understand just how unimportant specs really are".

So, how, exactly do you leverage your understanding when it comes to buying components? What does your buying process look like, if specs and listening are not involved?  This seems quite mysterious to me. 

Ages ago I relied heavily on specifications; that was when I was into SS. Once I discovered how much better tubes sounded, even when SS had better specs, I quit relying so heavily on specs.

Impedance is a very important spec for apparent reasons. Presently, I have plans on the drawing board that I don't think will include auditions. In the past, auditioning would have been the first step. Now that high end salons are no longer an option, I'll be relying heavily on past knowledge of "sonic signatures"; such as the difference between CJ and ARC, instead of auditioning; also the "Stereophile" reviews will mean a lot; preferably only "A" ranked equipment. All of that of course will depend on an "A" ranked bankroll, which is pending.

Since auditioning is absolutely out of the question, I will rely heavily on past knowledge, plus reviews, and only the most important specs. I've noticed that within a certain price range, specs are very close.

Fortunately, if the pending bankroll does not materialize, I'll remain comfortably in place. As a footnote, I noticed everything I own costs over twice as much now.