Learning how to listen to our stereo systems is very important. So back in the day I could walk into a real live brick and mortar store and hear a state of the art stereo. Then I would go home and listen to my system and I would think, "wow, my system sucks." Now I would go back to the store and listen again to see why the stereo in the store sounds better. Is it the amp, the speakers, the preamp, the source or the room? What about the sound is better at his store vs my no good stereo at home? This could also apply to a friend or group of hobbyists where you have the opportunity to listen to their systems.
An equipment manufacturer might want to bring in some mics and measurement equipment to understand why the sound is better but most of us learned to depend on our ears and our notes. In fact, without the opportunity to hear other stereo systems - be it at a friends house or a store, our systems can become quite off and we not even realize it. At least until we get in our car one day and think, "Man! This car stereo sounds better than my home stereo." Been there too.
For example, about two years ago now I got to hear the Alexia 2's in Atlanta for the first time. I went home and thought, wow the bass in my stereo system sucks. I went back and listened some more and started hearing the differences between the Alexia's and my speakers. I was just about ready to drop some serious $$$ for new speakers but decided to first work on my room, speaker placement and I also added subwoofers which took another several months to position and tune. I'm at the point where my system has bass almost as good as the Alexia's but good enough at least that I'm no longer motivated to upgrade. It took me several months of work, including putting in a wood floor but I can say from experience that speakers are not the number one influence on the sound. It is the room and then the electronics. Of course, the speakers have to be reasonably qualified.
My point is some actual measurements are needed at times but critical listening skills can guide us to build exceptional systems.
Oh, and the other thing- it took months to find the best position for the speakers and subs because what sounded good one day sounded terrible another day. It can take time and patience to get dialed in. I also spent some time listening to the Wilsons over a year plus and I did buy some other gear at that store since I spent so much time there. I still think they are great speakers.
