What do you care about in this hobby?

I am only in this because I have always loved listening to music.  It’s one of my favorite things to do.  I know its working when I can listen to most anything and stay glued in place focused happily on the music for hours until I force myself to leave.  Its a state of bliss... good karma!  As such it is also a very healthy pastime.  

The question for me is always how do I decide when making my purchasing decisions towards that end.  Thats where things can start to get complicated.  The easy way out is just listen to the options and decide.  But how much must it really cost?  That’s always the thing!  I try to not stress about it too much and ruin the karma.  I am willing to pay any price for that end result, but the engineer in me says be smart about how you go about making your decisions.

Part of my point is of course subjective sound quality is the thing that matters most to anyone in this club.  The question then is what else of a more objective nature is important towards achieving that goal, if anything?   I’m sure many could care less about specs, measurements, build quality including quality of parts, etc.  Personally I am a technical person, an engineer by trade for almost 40 years now.   I hear very satisfying sound at all price points.  How do you decide?   To me quality of design and build is what helps assure good sound.   But what does that mean?  Quality design is a given.   How much in material parts are needed and what will it cost me?  If it sounds good to me but measures very poorly in comparison to other products that is a big red flag. 

@larsman true sound quality is the end goal for me then it becomes a matter of how all those other things factor in, which is where it gets really interesting.  
 

I care about measurements and quality of parts for example because they may translate into better sound.  Or do they?  Just how much do they matter?   What am I paying for exactly if I pay for better parts?   Better sound quality one would expect.   Why else bother?  
 

Aesthetics matter to me as well.  Call me shallow.    Not so much bling, more that everything looks nice and well thought out.  Especially when WAF comes into play. 

Then there is customer service.   I want it all and I want it now!  😉