I suspect the more appropriate (and possibly his intent) way to say what he was expressing is that the manufacturers who are willing to say to themselves, "damn, that shouldn't sound better, but it does and so that's what I'm going to do" make the best gear.

Nobody is trashing engineers, just the ones who think they know everything and that have closed their minds to learning anything from practical application.

Amen to that! Listen and you shall hear.

"I have never assumed a negative except for the fact that Stereophile never uses double-ended comparative, tightly controlled testing."

Since when has a subjective DBT test been proven accurate and tightly controlled? Can you provide an example?

Since when can an administrator of such a test been able to read minds, to know that the subjects are not affected by outside or inside influences affecting the results?

Who decides whether a test is valid or not valid?

How can one prove the physical hearing mechanism and the brain's interpretation are accurate and NOT affected by the procedures such as repeated playings, time intervals between playings. Can intervals between repeated playings be too short or long. What is the most accurate time interval?

What effect does loudness have with the physical and mental processes? What loudness level in DB is considered optimum?

What about physical and mental fatigue, whether from the loudness or other? What role do they play?

What affect(s) do room acoustics play in the accuracy of the subjective testing?

Is the administrator making assumptions during the testing procedure?

Can you provide one example that an administrator states/concludes in his test, that subjective DB test is factual and accurate?