I'm here for the sharing, not the snobery

The building stuff side of things always interested me.  I like to know how something works and why it sounds the way it does.  I have DIY’ed lots of vibration control, power conditioners, cables of all types, and more.  That may be why I avoid stuff where the advertising seems to unrealistically stretch the boundaries of science.
I built my first pair of “higher quality” speakers 45 years ago when I was 19 and still remember the helpfulness of the man at the lumber yard who worked with me to find the right birch plywood, the care I took in adding internal bracing and finishing the cabinets, and the knowledgeable salesman who let me into the attic storeroom of the local stereo shop to pick out a pair of Jensen 12-inch triaxial drivers......I couldn’t afford the ALNICO version unfortunately.  Anyway, your point about helping the younger generation build kits and systems struck a chord and reminded me of the excitement of building that first pair of speakers that got me through college and beyond, and the helpful people that made the experience a positive one.
Yes, I still have the speakers.

Measurements do not tell you what a system sounds like either and in what room?

No but they'll tell you if an amp is going to struggle or not at different frequencies to drive a certain speakers load.
And it doesn't matter what room you have, it can't fix that problem.

So you need to "understand and absorb" measurement's and bench tests as well. Just because you you don't understand them, do not write them off, make an effort to learn how to use them.

After all every piece of equipment you have was designed using them.

Cheers George   

Hear, Hear...

I’m all for rational inclusivity. But many people in this hobby have an unfortunate tendency to engage in audio jihad when confronted with something that challenges what they believe to be true in their personal audio belief conjoint.

Take speaker cables, for example. If I had just 1/100 of a penny for every word written about the sound (or not) of speaker cables, I would be the planet’s wealthiest human! 🤑🤑🤑

An experiment I’d love to see someone conduct is to measure the inductance, capacitance, and resistance of a specific length of a highly regarded good sounding speaker cable. Next, I’d construct a speaker cable of the same length, using different materials with identical measures of inductance, capacitance,and resistance.

Then I’d turn these samples over to the audiophile press to compare against each other.

I posit there would be no discernible difference in sound quality between the two cables.

I personally believe that there can be audible differences, but I believe this is because an important application of inductors in active circuits is that they tend to block high-frequency signals while letting lower-frequency oscillations pass. Note that this is the opposite function of capacitors. Combining the two components in a circuit can selectively filter or generate oscillations of almost any desired frequency.

Ergo, I posit I could measure and duplicate the sound of any speaker cable or interconnect currently being marketed as a good sounding wire.

I do wonder why no one has done this? 😳😳😳

I've watched a number of trolls shift the tenor of the discussions

Why don't you say what you really mean?

You don't like the contributors, or you don't approve of the opinions/information?

Are you saying anyone who follows their field of interest is a troll? Then I'd suggest it can be used for everyone.

Surely anything that introduces new ideas and broadens the mind is a good thing. Seems a bit closed shop.