hmm... diff pple diff opions... i'm at a lost.. lolz...
yes, i understand your problem man...diff pple drive differently and have different requirements of their tires....some tires are supposedly quiet, but i have also heard of pple complaining noisy. Some tires which supposedly have reputation to be grippy, but still, will get complains that its not grippy enough to some drivers. It may be their ego speaking? or it may be that they are really aggressive tire and require semi slicks to control the car.
Take the civic type R for example, the stock tire is a really really hard semi slick tire called the RE070. So to type R drivers, they are used to hardsidewalls, give them a street tire which can be used on the tracks, and they will complain its too soft, whereas to a layman, the street racing tire can be considered very hard already. All depends on the car and the driver.
I think what you can do is do your own research, try searching for test results, what other forums may say etc etc. You might not want to check with tire shops directly first because its usually sales pitch, unless of course you feel that the guy can be trusted and is truthful in recommending the right tire for you, not just the tire which needs to be cleared off the shelf or because of profit margins. This paragraph may offend some vendors who are in our forum, apologies to that, but i am not directing to anyone or any company, just speaking from a consumer's pov.