Buying Equipment Based on Philosophy???

I would hope that everyone would be influenced by design approach of the company in combination with their approach for marketing.

Some companies simply don’t present their products in a way that makes a compelling case to consider their products absent any other information.

I’m a member of several other audiophile groups and I’ve run across several people that are spending thousands of dollars on equipment without having even a rudimentary working knowledge of the product.  What pains me the most is when they try to assess why it does something or sounds a certain way because it breeds recommendations that are completely off base.  Things like evaluating the potential benefit of moving to a balanced connection by using an RCA to XLR adapter. 
 

I probably should have stopped before the rant escaped…

Although I appreciate a brand's philosophy...what it stands for, the truth is in the performance. People can say all they want but the 'proof is in the pudding' for me. Such is nature...a successful design survives.

If I had the money I would buy the Ongaku amp without actually hearing it, and then build a system around it. That is philosophy.

If a Schiit or Pass labs item I own didn’t sound great I wouldn’t own them. I’ve "un-owned" some gear from some seemingly very hip designers, so really...come on man...

You can still build a great sounding system whatever the approach. Better listen first and then decide to accept or reject anything with a term "philosophy" following it. Nowadays it is widely sold. On the other hand some excellent components are created when deviating somehow from their house sound, most designers and brands are not always on roll.