The first part is true - but Toole made the connection between that part of what he documents under "the wisdom of the ancients" (quoting references back to 1936), and controlled subjective tests. And he (and his team) did a lot more which seems to get overlooked.
However I fear we may now be in a world where product differentiation sometimes trumps good technical practice.
For example, from John Atkinson in the
Stereophile review of the B&W 804d (my emphasis):
"In 2004, I visited Bowers & Wilkins' Research Center, in the village of Steyning, West Sussex, nestling in the shadow of England's South Downs, north of Worthing. I was impressed by both the depth and the breadth of the engineering talent and resources I found there. There is no doubt in my mind that B&W's engineers can design a loudspeaker to have any response they desire. That the 804 Diamond does not have a flat on-axis response is thus a mystery. …"
And there are other manufacturers whose loudspeakers I have listened to which seem to make music sound striking and euphonic rather than reproduce it as neutrally as possible.