Pleasurably better, not measurably better

@erik_squires 

"I think there are a lot of people who want to play at being scientists or engineers when they defend their technocratic positions on audio."

I believe that there are many who are unwilling to acknowledge that there may be gaps in their knowledge base, as well as having a low risk tolerance for being proven wrong.  

Then, there's the "SGR" thing.  I became familiar with this term back in my home automation days when a gathering of really smart guys would occupy the same room and quickly attempt to establish who is the "Smartest Guy in the Room."  Audio forums provide a somewhat less confrontational venue, but can be rather energetic at times.

It's all pretty harmless in this enviromment.  Some other situations, not so much.

I look at (meaningful) specs, measurements and other objective data to identify items of interest. That enables one to cut to the chase and start experiencing the pleasure of good sound. You might hear some good things and not have anything objective to back up what you are hearing, but that is much more of a crap shoot and also a very costly one potentially.  The trick is to be able to identify the objective pieces of information that are meaningful.  That is not something that just happens.  You have to live and learn.  In any case we all just do the best we can and hopefully it all works out sooner rather than later. 

Then, there's the "SGR" thing.  I became familiar with this term back in my home automation days when a gathering of really smart guys would occupy the same room and quickly attempt to establish who is the "Smartest Guy in the Room."  Audio forums provide a somewhat less confrontational venue, but can be rather energetic at times.

This reminds me of the nascent days of "nerds" and the comedy films that flourished back in the day. They always competed with each other saying "my kung-fu is better than your kung fu". Things haven't changed much.

All the best,
Nonoise

@erik_squires 

"I'm buying gear that makes me feel good."

So presumably is everyone else here, though not necessarily by the same route.

Different strokes for different folks.

'At best I can achieve a system that sounds good with a wide variety of source materials.'

And just how do you intend to achieve this without measurements and data?

By ear alone?  Without any data whatsoever?

Good luck with that one!

Everybody's ears are different... So, if something measures "flat," that's not necessarily how my ear hears it; so, for my pleasure factor, I may prefer speakers that rise in the high frequencies to somewhat offset my ears' drop in highs, as a simple example.

The point about Bose is well-taken.  It depends on the audience and the application.  While not my primary listening speakers, I have a pair of original 301 v1, refoamed woofer of course, hanging by wires under my porch awning.  We play poker out there.  Everybody including me loves the sound, in that application.  We're not critically listening, and it doesn't matter: we like it.

A speaker series that defies the "measure flat = great" metric is of course the Klipsch Heritage series.  The sort of "it ain't perfect but it doesn't even matter because it sounds so very engaging" experience that many people, most critics included, adore.  Even the Heresy IV have moved me to tears on occasion, and I "grew up" as a neutral leaning sort of guy.  They're like a gateway drug... it's hard to go back to more laid back sound, once you get used to 'em... and the problem is, they have me jones-ing for more:  Forte IV, here I come???