Very interesting thread. About the social conflict between those who listen and those who measure, and the differences between what measurements suggest, and what people hear, John Atkinson wrote an extremely sharp article a long time ago in Stereophile "A matter of dimensions". That is as current now as it was the day it was published:
http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/572/
Another great read in this same subject is "The Role of Critical Listening in Evaluating Audio Equipment Quality" by Robert Hartley. It also appeared as "The Listeners' Manifesto" in Stereophile:
http://www.stereophile.com/features/20/
Also appeared featured in "The Absolute Sound", issue 128:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/back_issues_128.html