@three_easy_payments:
"OP's question dismissed out hand. How dare you inquire whether you can just use your own ears and emotional response to the gear you're auditioning! "
I'd ask you to more closley examine the OP's question "Are there any others who trust their own ears and go into a music store and BUY something without the psychological hand-holding of a forum or spec sheet?"
Keep in mind that this question followed his opening salvo: "The hypothesis: "Audiophiles" are mostly techno-cats who listen with their eyes - they read reviews and look at spec sheets... END".
He certainly appears to be starting from a confontational and dismissive posture. The phrase "psychological hand-holding", as he uses it, comes across as mocking.
I won't attempt to speak for anyone else, but the tenor of the OP's language combined with a question that I cannot imagine anyone with much experience seriously asking, struck me as ignorant at best.
As I perceive his post, he very much comes across as looking to start a fightrather than intent upon earnestly defending the value of using one's own ears and emotional responses.
How many here would seriously deny the value of listening? ? ?
While MC's post is, as is his fashion, O.T.T.,I can't fault him for the points he brings up. They strike me as appropriate, given the OP's actual words.
Of course, you or anyone else certainly has the right to interpret the text (and subtext) differently.
