I don't know what to make of this really, I know measurements are important, But I just don't understand people writing off a product based of measurements alone, they are not enough to tell you whether ultimately you'll enjoy the sound or not, how big the soundstage is, the imaging, the timbre/tonality etc.
Based off these measurements people say "Denon is the only option", but to assume that without an audition? how can these measurements alone tell you if you'll enjoy the sound? I say this as I personally auditioned Denon and Yamaha av-receivers recently and I preferred the Yamaha every time, and this was with the knowledge of Amir's impressive measurements of the Denon lingering in my mind, the Denon is 'technically' better, but I much preferred how the Yamaha sounded, to my ears Denon sounded quite flat in comparison and lost pace in surround sound duties, and had considerably less depth in the soundstage, with the Yamaha I felt the sound was coming from beyond the TV.
I guess much as advertising has it's psychoacoustics effects I imagine impressive measurements could play a big part in the persons perception of sound also, I mean it has to sound good based off the stellar measurements right? We used to think it was essential to audition equipment before purchasing it, but now there are a subset of people out there that have already decided based off the measurements alone that it sounds amazing.
Don't take me wrong, I do find Amir's measurements interesting, and I think they are important in terms of keeping manufactures on their toes, I guess my issue is I'm not sure if they should be used 'alone' to decide whether a product is any good, especially when the soul purpose of these products is listening to them.