It's that nasty science stuff. Who needs that when you have golden ears?
In fact it's the sort of testing that tells you how good a product really is.
It may tell you how low the distortion is, and how near to accurate it is, but it doesn’t tell you whether you’d actually like the sound of the product. Many amplifiers use certain distortions to create a ‘house sound’, which of course, to the disciples of ASR, is the work of the devil - it doesn’t matter what it sounds like. Stating that a £200 product IS better than a £1000 product because it’s distortion is 0.001% less isn’t the way to choose your own personal system. The specifications of a Tesla are better than a (insert petrol based supercar here), but it doesn’t mean that the Tesla is a preferable drive for everyone.
If you’re after the lowest possible distortions, the lowest SN ratios, the highest power outputs, etc etc for the lowest price, ASR is the forum for you. Most people like to listen to what they’re buying, seeing as they’re paying for the product and they will be listening to it. The fact is, there are a huge number of happy Hegel owners, and there will continue to be, despite what any forum says about their measurements. Also, making assumptions about a brand based on its entry level product just smacks of some sort of smear campaign, especially when “new” members join up to slate the company and the specific product in question. I don’t know why they think a sensible person wouldn’t notice them. But it all fuels the forum’s narrative.
As a young teenager at school, I used to draw the system I was going to buy in my maths book (because of the squares), which was based around being affordable, but incorporating the most power I could get, the lowest distortion figures, the widest frequency range etc etc. Then I grew up.