As much as audio is a science it’s also an art, and the art is how the equipment ultimately matches with our tastes and unique hearing abilities that IMO cannot all be measured but must be experienced.
I agree with that to a point, that is why I don’t do this:
Then, we’re also able to glean that if the vast majority of reviewers and customers say that something exhibits the sound qualities we’re looking for it’s also worth exploring
I don’t waste my time with other’s subjective opinion. See above.
Sure, I might miss out on something but that is a possibility no matter if I filter by performance or by what other’s think. The difference is performance is a factual metric that can be compared, ranked, etc. Other people’s opinions are usually all over the board and are never based on the amp in my system in my room. I find their value less than marginal.