There is what I do and what I tell my customers to do.
I tell my customers to choose in the following order:
GRIP - choose a grip and riser that fits your hand and how you shoot.
ATA - select it to suit your needs; if you know your needs.
BUDGET - let me know what you want to spend and I will show you what's available in that range.
CAM STYLE - speed cam(s) usually relate to harsher cam action and short valleys. Again this will get down to the application of the bow.
REFLEX/DEFLEX - I try to educate them on the differences.
BOW WEIGHT - depends again on the application.
BRACE HEIGHT - I again try to educate them on the differences.
What I do:
I shoot them all because I tune them all. When I find something I like, I buy it and try it. You wouldn't believe how many bows that I've shot for a month and then sold them as Dealer "Demo". I'm talking about the "best" of bows.
What it all gets down to in my selection is the bow that I enjoy shooting day after day after day. It's the one that fits my hand nicely while on the range and in the woods. It's the one that I can still pull smoothly at temperatures in the teens. It's the one that give me good power and decent speed with a smooth draw cycle. I have found that I like recurve limbs much better when I have the choice. Some of the shorter bows have quickly wound up on the "Demo" rack because of my draw length ratio to ATA. I have found that 36-38" ATA is generally my choice given my 29 1/2" draw. I am right now, however, about to try out a new PSE Enforcer (34" ATA). I shot this bow when the Rep brought it in and really liked it for some of the above reasons. We'll see if I'm still shooting it in about a month.
Like Sag, I prefer nicely toleranced bronze bushings over some of the bearings I see in some of these new bows. I will agree with him also on the weight of a bow. Heavier doesn't bother me as long as it provides stability. Lighter is OK as long as my accuracy and enjoyment in shooting doesn't suffer. The brace height is something that is way over-rated, IMO. Proper form allows you to shoot very low brace height, to a point, with excellent results. I can't tell you how many times I've hit my arm with the string on 8" BH bows that habitually torque with every shot, and never hit my arm with 6" BH bows that are designed better. You have to hold the bow with a VERY loose grip to experience this phenomenom. I do, however, try to put new archers in a deflex or lightly reflexed riser with as much BH as deemed necessary. In other words, I try to steer them away from a "speed" bow.
Quality of design and components will be recognized in the performance of the bow over various conditional shooting. I do check for proper tolerancing and have been know to shim and modify certain aspects of components.
Even though we're only talking about bows, don't forget that arrows are equally important in the final equation.
Frank's question cannot be solely answered on an objective note. Subjectivity has to be filtered into the equation due to objective physical differences in the archers. Think on that one, Frank. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>