I guess there will always be wars between those who prefer to hew to what the numbers say and those who prefer to believe what their ears say. To me, though, you're not buying stereo gear to better perform heart surgery. As worthwhile as an objective/numbers assessment might be, you're looking for emotional satisfaction from audio playback and thus it's a reviewer's subjective analysis that should rule the roost. Should a movie reviewer only talk about a film's color balance, or should they be delving into such esoterics as whether the actors convincingly flesh out their characters...and whether those characters are worth spending time with in the first place?
Audio gear may be the work of scientists but it exists to exalt the work of artists.
Finally, yes, Audio was marginally more subjective in their judgments than was Stereo Review, but TAS and Stereophile were/are in an entirely 'nother league.
Audio gear may be the work of scientists but it exists to exalt the work of artists.
Finally, yes, Audio was marginally more subjective in their judgments than was Stereo Review, but TAS and Stereophile were/are in an entirely 'nother league.