To each his own we all have different paths to get where we sonically wanna be.
I have seen some interesting paths here from members, headphone paths, budget paths, luxurious paths, pro paths, and sadly a few people that don’t seem to have found any path except the one that turns their money into a failed experiment in gear hopping.
Since we are on the topic of paths I ended up with the "enjoyment" we are fond of in a path that was simple, but not easy, the acoustic path. You are correct, you can get their by ear alone, but the money and aggravation you waste is not enjoyable for me at least. Once I got my acoustics right for my room BAM, path confirmed.
BTW, the room is 50% of the sound, even if you actually heard the gear you are posting about it doesn't always translate the same in a different room with different components.