Riff,
I'm very passionate about science and the people in my profession and i'm not keen on seeing it put down so often especially when it is the very science principles which invented our home audio systems. Many professions get bashed constantly (e.g. lawyer jokes galore) but the scientists are a struggling lot who have a ton on their plates, who get little recognition for it and even less money to do it with although the cost of research is probably greater than any other single profession. Did everyone know there is no Nobel Prize (let alone ANY reasonably distinguished prize) for Biology?
Did anyone know that i can buy a marble pestle and mortar for our lab through a typical equipment supplier like Fisher Scientific for $300 and yet get the same thing from Walmart for about twelve bucks!!??
Oh science equipment is damn pricey and unfortunately Walmart does not sell 1.2% Deactivated Florisil and toxaphene standards.
Science cannot explain everything, at least not yet, maybe it will never get there, but as BBIBH stated, "To take Chess' point, if you define the what it is you enjoy in the sound, there is an explanation to be put forth."
The Axiom research has taken ordinary people and i imagine some extraordinary ppl as well and run science tests to see what generally folks prefer.This information is not new and at least from Ian's point of view, goes back to the early 1980s equating to nearly 25 years of experience and research to this date. From such information they can say that a majority of listeners seem to select a more neutral speaker as opposed to one which is, well, not neutral as a preferred sound. Such conclusions can only come from analysis of things like waveforms as Bren described.
Folks should not be so quick to dismiss the data that science can generate even if it does pigeonhole people into profiles. Everyone is unique and has their own preferences but i dare say there are alot more common preferences in many regards than people realize. Honestly i don't know anyone that likes to hear a speaker with 10dB spikes in the 4kHz and higher range. There must be something to that.
Go Team Metric.
