How do you know when a stereo sounds good?

+1 @bishop148. Very true!  Did we miss that one somehow?

The worst sounding system I ever heard as far as expensive gear that sounded bad as opposed to the cheap stuff that is typically more suspect was in a very high end NY shop. Luxman driving Peak Consult. Uggh. It was not good. Something probably awry but the salesman was happy to demo it. In another room there was a VAC/Magico setup that was the bees knees. Go figure! Different strokes?

I had about a ten year period about 25 years back or so where I made impulse purchases without doing proper homework and my system sound quality suffered. Learned my lesson. I am pretty good at resisting impulse buys these days but the urge is always there to just go nuts sometimes so who knows what the future holds.

I ask guys selling expensive audio tweaks. They must know best, right? 🤔

What is so funny about that?  Lol.

Measurements are another tool that smart people know how to apply for example to help decide what products to choose to listen to so they can then make their subjective decisions about what sounds good more effectively.

What comes first the chicken or the egg?

How do you decide what products to listen to? A crystal ball? What looks good? What some guy on the internet or a reviewer says you should? Only the ones at the local dealer if there even is one near you? Only the ones in a friend’s house, if available?

Maybe. But if you are building a system with components, putting those into a room, and you want those components to perform well together and thereby have a better chance of sounding good or maybe even outstanding once you get that far best to learn to read and interpret measurements. Not that you might not stumble onto something good otherwise, but....facts matter. Especially technical ones. You can choose to ignore them but does not change the facts.

The middle is never a fringe.  Vice versa.

I suppose this thread might be viewed as part of Synergistic’s research.   

Mr. Denney your company sells many products.  I would be very interested to know  your answer to your question?   Thanks. 

Oh I see. Appears the point of this thread and loaded question apparently was to assert what we like is completely subjective which means anything goes just because. Got it! Mr Denney and his Synergistic company got that covered in spades! Where can I buy the stock?

Being objective is a means to an end. It helps one make good decisions based on the information available. No good reason to vilify that. 

I listen and the music draws me in to stay.