Yes, I am well aware of Olive's research with regard to the preference rating. I have worked with ex-Harman engineers who shared different opinions and I as well as many other engineers I know do not agree with this preference rating. In many ways, it is like trying to determine what food someone will like best over another based on the ingredients used.
Harman's groundbreaking spinorama research was developed using listening tests back in the early 80's, where the majority of speakers available to the public measured quite poorly and many of the listeners were specifically trained what to listen for. Things are different these days - most quality speakers measure quite well, some exceptionally well and transducer technology, in general, has greatly improved since then.
Amir assigned a listening preference rating to the 340SE center (placed vertically) being 6.6 and this speaker is not even designed for this type of placement. It actually "scored" higher than our Sierra-2. I can definitively tell you that does not correspond with listener preferences, not even close - and we have had significantly more listeners compare these two speakers (some blind, some sighted, in customer's homes - in our listening room etc) compared to the number of listeners that participated in those Harman listening tests back in the 80's, the data of which was used to develop that rating.
Clearly not the same scale:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...46191&slide=0/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...t52240&slide=0
And when I click on the 340SE center on the link you provided, it shows the measurements of the Polk T15, not the 340SE center. That is highly unprofessional if you ask me, those are horrible measurements. I just hope there is no agenda here.
Look, as I stated - I applaud what Amir is trying to do and while posting measurements is great, provided they are consistent from one to another as to how they were taken, following a speaker manufacturer's guidelines as to "preference" and sharing his own opinion (subjective) is not only wrong, but going to cause issues and very likely lead inexperienced consumers to make wrong choices.
Amir should post measurements only - no opinions, no preference rating. If he did that, more speaker manufacturers might be willing to send him speakers rather than him getting used speakers loaned to him from various owners that could possibly have been abused, defective or even modified without Amir having any possible way of knowing. I know I would be more open to sending a speaker to him but not until that absurd preference rating is taken down and reviews & measurements are kept purely objective...
As I clearly indicated, that preference rating does not correlate to real world listening these days. I have listened to the Pioneer BS-22 dozens of times, it was assigned a very high preference rating, I found the speaker unlistenable and have corresponded with countless consumers who felt the same....