Hey Spacetaste, great question, there was a scientific study recently that analysed the bud with and without flush and it says that there's no difference in the mineral and nutrient make up with or without flush. So these scientists then say "therefore flush is not important". However this is wrong , that just means that , the minerals and nutrients dont affect the smoothness of the taste as much as something else they haven't measured. Many growers, i would say most growers agree that a two week flush in soil does have a pretty big and pretty good impact on the final taste and smoothness of the smoke. I dont really see what you mean about the "potential loss of quality", there's no risk of losing quality by watering with plain water. I do recommend a two week flush minimum, but i dont flush the plants more like just watering until run off with plain water - no need to go overboard and stress or hurt the plant with a flush. So to answer your question : yes there's a pretty big difference in taste and quality of the final product. Hope this helps ! 🚀