Roughly 75 percent of people have sufficiently normal hearing to make reliable loudspeaker judgments

Evidence

Throughout, hundreds of listeners in hundreds of double-blind multiple-comparison tests have shown a remarkably reliable preference for the most timbrally neutral, resonance-free loudspeakers. The correlation between what is measured and what is heard is truly impressive (see Chapter 11). — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1958 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Trained and naive listeners agree on audio quality within ten percent.; Hearing-impaired professionals give confident but unreliable sound quality judgments.; Measurable and audible sound qualities can be shown to correlate reliably (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Blind listener tests reliably favor the most neutral loudspeakers #corroborates (0.80) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1958
• Trained and naive listeners agree on audio quality within ten percent. #corroborates (0.75)
• Subjective audio opinions can behave like facts when gathered under controlled conditions #corroborates (0.75)
• Hearing-impaired professionals give confident but unreliable sound quality judgments. #complicates (0.72)
• Measurable and audible sound qualities can be shown to correlate reliably #corroborates (0.72)
• Loudness judgments at a fixed level vary probabilistically across categories #expands (0.72) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2512