stereo system evaluation--objective or subjective


is there a valid objective approach for evaluating the sound quality of stereo systems, or is it purely a matter of taste ?
mrtennis
again, nobody addressed my point:

are there any specs that can be used to screen components

are there any parameters which could be used to discriminate between components that one might want to audition from those to avoid ?

for example, there are many preamps out there. it is impossible to listen to all of them. it may be possible to establish a probability that, given criteria, one could feel confident that it is worth listening to some, or , perhaps, it's hopeless.
Mrtennis,

The answer is no. Technical measurements are objective but often gear that measures best sounds the worst.
Stereo system evaluation -- objective or subjective Yes,it's a combination of both.There should be enough information in the above posts to answer the complicated yet very simple question.