I’m glad you’ve found your ideal emitter preference! Ultimately, we are all here to get the most enjoyment out of our lights as we can. We all just have different ways of going out it.
FWIW, while I do prefer high CRI, I’m not some kind of high CRI zealot. I have many low CRI emitters which I like for various reasons such as beam profile or tint. It just depends on my intended use for the light.
A few months ago I went through my whole apartment and replaced all of my ~80 CRI warm white LED bulbs with 90 CRI bulbs. I see absolutely no discernible difference in color rendering, even in reds. I kind of expected this, since at 2700K, even the 80 CRI bulbs have a significant amount of red phosphor. I could probably see the difference if compared side-by-side, but since it’s not noticeable in day to day use, I won’t go out of my way to purchase 90 CRI bulbs again.
As far as flashlights, given the option between CRI values, I’ll take the highest available (after considering other factors such as CCT and tint of course). Peak output doesn’t matter much to me. I don’t go around blasting my lights on turbo. Even high CRI LEDs are plenty efficient enough for me.
Compared side-by-side, I can clearly see a difference between 80+ and 90+ CRI emitters in a flashlight. However, when compared apart, I’d have difficulty discerning one from the other. Comparing 9050 and 9080 LEDs gets even more difficult. Again, I can see the slight difference when compared side by side, but apart, there’s no way I’d be able to tell the difference. Walking the trails at night with a 4000K LH351D in a C8 looks just as good to me as a 219b sw40 in a D80v2. The very minor differences in CRI and tint aren’t noticeable at all when using them outdoors without having the lights side-by-side.
That said, I can very clearly see a difference between a 70 and 90 CRI flashlight by eye, even when not compared side-by-side. Case-in-point, I ordered a Zebralight SC64c that was supposed to have a 90+ CRI LH351D, but I received a 70+ CRI LH351D instead. As soon as I turned on the light it was immediately apparent to me. This was actually a factor in my decision to invest in a spectrometer (so I could confirm my suspicions). See my thread here if you’d like to read about that saga.
I remember a while ago there was also some question as to whether the XHP35 HI 4000K in Simon’s shop were actually 90+ CRI bins. I purchased some and after reflowing one into a light, I could immediately tell it was low CRI (which I later confirmed with my spectrometer). So yes, there are noticeable visual differences, and whether these matter to you is really just a personal preference.
After all, why would someone go through all the trouble of creating a CRI system and later greatly expanding on it with the newer TLCI standard if it didn’t matter at all? 