Maybe I have not been clear in my intentions for this discussion. The base question is: what is an audiophiles' (your) point of reference that you use to determine which components produce a better sound. As a subtopic, you may feel it is necessary to define "better" as part of your response to the base question. Is "better" accurate, processed to highlight certain frequencies, does it vary depending on material, is it completely subjective and how/why. As a second subtopic, you may address any factor which you feel defines your point of reference. Possible examples include: room shape, environmental conditions, mental states, etc. Obviously I do not have the answer since I am asking the question so if you feel something else needs to be stated to define your point of reference please feel free to include it. If your answer is "it costs more so it must be better" you do not need to respond, but almost anything else had the potential to be a valid answer. Since this is the Sound Science forum, I would expect your responses to have sound science and/or explanations behind them. I will not dismiss an anecdotal "why", but if you feel that quality is subjective please explain how you have gone about creating your kit.
Personally, I rarely listen to music casually in an environment where I can actually hear differences in quality. However, I try spend a few hours each day critically listening to compositions, often accompanied by a lecture on the piece. I have been to many live orchestral performances and concerts and have always found the sound produced by the actual instruments' reverberations throughout a concert hall to be more revealing than any recording on any system that I have ever heard. At the local symphony there is usually a lecture given before the performance which I try to attend, so that I know what to listen for during the performance and have some understanding of the composer's intentions and the performers interpretation. I find this analysis of the music fascinating. As such, when looking for equipment I try to obtain a sound that resembles the live performance as that is usually what the composer and performers used to base their decisions. As I said in an earlier post, its all about effective communication and I do not feel that I should alter someone else's words (sound) to fit my own preferences. Its like changing "I don't like you" to "I hate you". Similar meaning, but yet not the same emotion. From this persepective, my ears and perception have no bearing whatsoever on sound quality and as a result, I believe that one could conclude that sound quality is objective.