"The New York City study also showed that listeners' preferences correlated with their assessment of projection, suggesting the loudness of an instrument may be

"The New York City study also showed that listeners' preferences correlated with their assessment of projection, suggesting the loudness of an instrument may be a primary factor in the quality of its sound." Do the timbres of these instruments vary? It may be that "manufactured" instruments sound plain, boring, or untextured. Basically the same reason that modern production techniques make songs sound "better" but also worse in the sense that it sounds artificial.