Of course, and I haven't claimed differently!
It's only afterwards, once having bought the gear from "a small-time specialist", when taking it to shows and bake-offs, and TESTING it in the context of other systems, and with all sorts of different equipment, that I'm then in a position to judge it against some of the current competition I've compared it with.
This is what you seem to be refusing to do, and would instead rather pay attention to marketing and website reviews, from folk you don't know, or indeed how good their ears actually are. That for me, is more than likely a recipe for failure, or rather for you potentially missing out on hearing all sorts of wonderful gear, simply because you're not willing to make the effort to seek out anything that's a bit different from the norm.
When I lived in Glasgow, I traveled to Bath and back in the same day, to buy my first pair of Spendors (from The Right Note). Since moving down to North Wales, I've traveled to Penzance and back in the same day, to buy the Tannoys I now use - and I've embarked upon umpteen journeys like that, all over the UK, either to buy something I want, or hear something I'm interested in.
If I want something badly enough, then distance (within the UK) is NO object!
Also, I've taken quite a few 'blind punts' on stuff, often where I've had no other option (such as with cartridges), but also with my modified Technics SL-1210, which I initially bought blind from a company in the US, and had to fork out £1500 upfront, to buy a stock MK5G from the chap in question and for him to apply all his mods to it - then when it was ready, cough up the tax and import duty on top, for something, to all intents and purposes I had no idea how it would sound....!
Fortunately, the gamble paid off handsomely, as has indeed been the case with the vast majority of 'educated punts', but that's only because I do my homework first on the product concerned, and eliminate as far as possible the likelihood for disappointment - and virtually my whole system has been assembled that way, with little help needed from dealers or magazine reviews.
Each to his or her own, of course, but it's that sort of level of commitment and endevour, coupled with lateral thinking and the desire to be different, which we promote and value on AoS, but whether you decide to go that route or not is up to you.
Marco.