Pleasurably better, not measurably better

I think culture, background and training are at play here. Those deeply engrained in the scientific and engineering communities are disciplined to defend their positions with hard data. It’s part of the culture and for valid reasons, when the goal is to prevent airplanes from falling out of the sky, for example. Those among us who have developed highly sensitive "antennas" to various audio phenomena and emassed a farily extensive vocabulary to relate those observations to others are quite comfortable sans data. Attempts to minimize the attachment of data to subjective audio experiences often frustrates data-driven individuals. It’s understandable. You can’t blame a compass for pointing north.

There are no "good guys" or "bad guys" here. A little intellectual humility is a great way to begin (and, end) a conversation.

Good post, Erik. It’s been a pleasure reading the comments.

@erik_squires 

"I think there are a lot of people who want to play at being scientists or engineers when they defend their technocratic positions on audio."

I believe that there are many who are unwilling to acknowledge that there may be gaps in their knowledge base, as well as having a low risk tolerance for being proven wrong.  

Then, there's the "SGR" thing.  I became familiar with this term back in my home automation days when a gathering of really smart guys would occupy the same room and quickly attempt to establish who is the "Smartest Guy in the Room."  Audio forums provide a somewhat less confrontational venue, but can be rather energetic at times.

It's all pretty harmless in this enviromment.  Some other situations, not so much.