Jessie this is where have some good reference material that you are very familiar with comes in handy. I have several cuts that I use for evaluation that each show me specific things. I know exactly how they sound and in terms of imaging know where things belong in terms od width depth and height and in my own room keep notes as to physical landmarks in the room that to keep track of exactly where things fall in the soundstage. That way I can evaluate a cable or component even without a direct A/B comparison because I have a solid reference point to start from. While this works great for imaging, it is not as easy for things like detail and tonality, but when you listen to the same cuts over and over again, after a while you just get to know what to expect from a recording.
Of course this cannot completely eliminate the need for A/B listening. While this can be very helpful in finding large diferences, the closer the components are to each other, the more important it is to compare them directly. But what it can do is help you narrow the field down to components that are all close so that you only have to do A/B comparisons to the ones that to consider "finalists."
There is however on big downside the this method. When you use the same two or three albums as test music every time they hit the turntable your wife knows that there is a new piece of gear in the house.