ACTUAL MUSICAL SOUND VS. MEASUREMENTS

@texbychoice you hit the nail on the head. The snake oil comments are the ones that get me.  They accuse you of promoting snake oil or you are not smart enough to even know snake oil. I have then had it devolve into personal attacks after that. Just nutty! 

No problem with what you are saying. But how do you go about making a buying decision?

@calvinj  

I agree with you. There are some things that I have taken a pass on, like expensive switches, because I tried them in my system and couldn’t hear a difference. But if someone else does hear a difference, it’s not for me to say it’s their imagination. By the same token, if someone chooses to drive their purchasing decisions entirely by measurements, it’s their money and their choice and that’s OK by me. I know there is such a thing as confirmation bias and it’s possible that I have been affected by that when I bought certain cables, etc. I’ll admit that I don’t do state-of-the-art, juried, double blind tests with every purchase I make because this is a hobby, not a colonoscopy. I’m a lawyer too, and know a little bit about arguments. Generally, when it gets to the ad hominem stage, it’s because that person has run out of logic.
 

I do take with a grain of salt those who say price doesn’t matter. There are certainly products that offer high value or poor value for the money. As a general rule, however, it’s very unlikely that a well thought out $10,000 system is going to perform as well as a well thought out $50,000 system, which is not to say that the less expensive system can’t still be highly enjoyable. As I’ve said before, I think the whole deal is to get the system that brings you the most joy for the resources that you are willing and able to devote to that purpose. Any time we find ourselves calling somebody names on a forum like this is probably a time that we should engage in a little self reflection

Physics is physics, and math is math. Those are usually not open to debate. 

Generally, quality goes up in price, generally higher parts are used at higher prices. 

Also there is a law of diminishing returns. Think we all know a $100 cable will sound better over a $5 cable. But how better is a $1000 cable over the $100 cable? 

Music is much more then math and science. There is emotion involved. That is very subjective also hard to quantify. If you remove all the emotion from music it becomes sterile and lifeless. Specs only tell half the story, but at least give you some context. 

Guess my point is, we can all use the scientific method, and measurements to create a "perfect" setup. But that "perfect" setup will most likely be cold and lifeless. No one really wants that, we want the emotion, that cannot be measured. So here we are.

I hear what you’re saying.  I find it depends on the site.  One of the reasons I like this site is people can share their experiences and perspectives without ridicule for the most part.  (I’ve real opened myself up with that comment lol).  I like reviewers that balance personal listening impressions with measurements since I find both helpful.