I don't want to beat a dead horse but I'm bugged.

However, the upper shelf designers seem to make stuff that does not require cabels

Show me just one audio electronic manufacturer that doesn't use aftermarket cables to demo their gear.

@holmz

I don’t know who these "upper shelf designers" of amplifiers are that you’re referencing

Well @atmasphere himself opined in the thread, and you quoted him.
There is also the Purifi gear that a lot of manufacturers are using, and a few others that are pretty stunning (Benchmark, Pass, etc.).

I’m in no position to challenge or refute what you’ve experienced. I can just simply say that you and I have had different experiences and as a result, different outcomes that shape and form our respective opinions. I hope that you are able to obtain an amplifier made by one of the upper shelf designers that you cite above.

I am in not position to refute what Ralph said, not Bruno, nor Nelson.

I meant what I have written earlier, follow the pathway that suits you the best. My chosen pathway is to hear and do actual listening of audio products myself. If you are reassured by test measurements then continue with that method. For me it’s woefully inadequate.

Have you heard any of the Purifi based Class-D? The Benchmark, or Atmasphere amps?

I am seriously thinking about selling the VTLs, and the PrimaLuna. But I’ll slide a class-D in first to make sure.

Show me just one audio electronic manufacturer that doesn't use aftermarket cables to demo their gear.

Ok - let’s take the Benchmark ABH2.

On the back we find a pair of Neutrik SpeakOn connectors, like we find on many other pro audio pieces… amps and speakers.

Many other amps also use those and they are common item for hooking up amps and speakers.

AVS tests measurements. It test well or it doesn’t - facts are facts. Good info but not the final decision for art or what a person likes. Some people like paintings that are hyper detailed (like a photo), some like impressionist paintings, which are a bit ’blurred’. I feel music is the same. Some like very detailed, some like a softer sound. Like any art form, the key is to make yourself happy.  I think both are important when comparing equipment.  For example, if you like a speakers particular 'sound' then you may want neutral DAC/AMP to not color the sound of the speaker you like.  Likewise, if a speaker is a bit to crisp, then an amp with a bit of softness to it may be just what you need.  Testing can help us get on the right path.  

I always hear this color issue from the measurement objectivists, they use the term accuracy as if it has no color. What proof do they have that accuracy has no color? Yes, measurements have correlations to qualities of sound reproduction, but our brains interpret these qualities in both common and unique ways. I've interpreted color from every single audio system I've ever heard, and that would range all the way from sterile to extremely romantic. Perhaps some believe accuracy lies somewhere outside this all encompassing bell curve. Please suggest to all us deluded audiophiles a single outlier system that is accurate and devoid of color, I really want to hear music reproduced with absolute accuracy. And then to prove that accuracy, it must conform to the original recording, we must be present at the time of that recording and/or the production/engineering of said recording. I'd say the objectivists have a tall task in front of them.