Audio industry product sign-offs relied on executive taste, not blind testing

Evidence

When I joined Harman International, listening tests were casual affairs. In fact, a widespread practice in the industry has been that a senior executive would have to sign off on a new product, whether they were good listeners or not. Simply sounding “different” on a showroom floor was considered to be an advantage, and sounding louder was a real advantage given that few stores did equal-loudness comparisons. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1051

Categorization

• CANDY: Salty industry anecdote: senior executives with no listening skill signed off on products, and louder simply sounded better.