Ahh yeah…
That would be Barry of KFG, right? If so, he’s a great guy, though I can’t speak to his presentation abilities.
If you really want to work on your own suspension, so be it. I’ve actually found that, given the amount of time I want to put into it, it’s too dangerous to try messing with it myself. There are so many variables in setting suspension that, even with a solid understanding of theory and a clear sense of what the bike is doing “wrong,” I’ve only ever managed to make things worse. Ha! For people like me, a $40 set-up from Barry is waaaaaaaay better an investment that hours and hours screwing up your suspension.
I guess it’s worth noting that if by adjusting your suspension you just meant setting your sag, that’s a deterministic process you can obviously do without paying anybody. Beyond that, it gets real tricky real fast.
Like you suggest, if you really want to figure suspension out (not that I have), the pros tell me you just have to spend hours and hours riding, then tweaking, then riding, then tweaking, then riding, all to develop a good sense of exactly what a given combination of settings means on your bike.