This is very timely...


I'm confident that opinions will vary quite a bit with what's written in this article.

https://www.soundstagesolo.com/index.php/features/286-how-audio-writers-are-killing-the-audio-indust...

Some familiar names are present in the comments section.
edgewound
I want to add that extremely flat frequency response and extremely low distortions don't have correlation to the real listening. The religious belief in measurements shows the incompetence of the author.
"...hi-end shop in NYC because he was listening to an iPod with little earphones while browsing through the store. I wonder if that was Lyric Audio."

I doubt it. They even sold cheap things.