dasdoing
Major Contributor
That sentence sums up my general view of Toole's work - 'in the overall subjective ratings'.
Many (all?) his conclusions come from surveys of listeners (often very experienced it must be said) and are based on the most popular views. I think it's accepted that not everyone hears the same when listening, because of our history and ear/brain condition. In other words, if you don't hear the good sound that you should according to Toole it's not necessarily that you have got things wrong. It could simply be that you hear differently. His book is not a bible, just a good informative guide which you can stray from or ignore if it suits you.
People like me who have gone to more trouble then most (many bass traps, EQ, positioning in a dedicated room) to get something that sounds good may not meet the approval of Toole, or anyone else for that matter, but as long as I'm happy with my listening experience, what does it matter.
I'm not denigrating his work. I have the third edition and it has been very enlightening. I recommend it.
For this reason I find it hard to believe there will be much more that comes to light except in specialist research areas, like room treatment, DSP and of course speaker construction.
his approuch is problematic from a purist point of view. I would say it is the easiest approuch for a regular living room with all its compromises, and therefore valid for 99% (?) of so called audiophiles. The purist approach on the other hand doesn't require reasearch. it is as simple as taking as much room as possible out of the equation