Unbeknownst to me my wife subscribed me to Stereophile and I got my first
issue yesterday.

What I can't figure out is how can so many of their reviews of speakers,
praise so many speakers that have sizeable bass humps.

Case in point, the Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage. According to SP's
measurements there is considerable elevation in the bass response beginning
at about 300 Hz and continuing until it falls back to the reference at about
30 Hz.

Are the speakers not measured in the room that the reviewer has them set up
in?

Are their measurements done badly?

Or do their reviewers just like over accentuated bass response.

Clearly there are speakers they have reviewed that are much flatter, if not
as pretty, such as the Merlin VSM, or the Hales Revelation 3, both of which
also received favorable reviews.