I may as well comment since i am also a scientist who holds a PhD....which sometimes for some people means "pretty horribly dumb" since often some forget to look at the big picture and get too focused on the minutia...
Hi Chess -- I've always heard "Piled Higher & Deeper".
Although the AVS post is well thought out, the very remark made near the start in paragraph 6 " I am not a golden-eared audiophile, although I know good sound when I hear it" says to me that this scientist hasn't done basic research in pychoacoustics regarding the published material and the fact that the concept of golden eared people is a fallacy (no personal offence intended, maybe he is aware).
You might be reading a bit over-literally there. If there had been scare-quotes around "golden eared" it might have scanned a bit closer to my meaning. Nevertheless, the implied confession that their are many members here and at AVS with a substantially more refined level of critical listening experience is sincere. I'm aware of the principle, for example, that listeners somewhat universally (regardless of experience) prefer flatter frequency response curves. Nevertheless, it is certainly true that some training in critical listening can allow an individual to better differentiate and identify sound reproduction characteristics that may be challenging to realize from an engineering perspective (the sharpness of percussive attack, for example). You are anyway correct that I have no special expertise in psycho-acoustics (beyond a very minimal quantity of reading). I'm guessing that maybe you do have direct research experience in this field? Sounds Cool.
Cheers-
DSQ
