Buying Equipment Based on Philosophy???

I realized that I buy most of my HiFi equipment based on the designers/ manufacturers philosophy.....Example: Nelson Pass,Pass Labs "First Watt"....Jason at Schiit,......David Haffler with Dynaco......Richard Schram/John Curl, Parasound...Etc... These designers/owners/manufacturers have a deep philosophy about the direction of their designs and their products

Well, this certainly is intentional. Vendors all want you to feel a certain connection to the brand.  I mean, that's the entire purpose of branding.  To sell you an idea on a name or symbol which you want to associate yourself with due to ..... whatever.

It is akin to being part of a community or tribe.  Not quite a family.  That feeling you get when you show up to an antique store and there's 8 other cars just like yours outside.  Your tribe awaits you.

Nothing wrong with it, per se.  I get the need to believe in a brand or designer. 

It influences my decisions regarding DACs. I favor non-oversampling designs.

To some degree - In evaluating turntables, I listened to low mass, high mass and suspension tables. 

Well, this certainly is intentional. Vendors all want you to feel a certain connection to the brand.  I mean, that's the entire purpose of branding.  To sell you an idea on a name or symbol which you want to associate yourself with due to ..... whatever.

This is missing the point. I'm not buying from a person or company because they are nice people....This ain't about lollypops and roses.....I'm buying because their design "philosophy" has merit on an engineering level. 

I agree to a small extent, but when all is said and done, it’s my ears and bank account that determine what I buy.