Amp scoring seems as objective as I've seen, so hopefully they measure more amps. I'm not sure if the scoring and measurements are pay to get listed at
http://www.thxstandard.com or not -likely as it could be great advertising for a less known brand. It seems safe to assume it is cheaper than THX certification (which was useless to me as an end user).
Keep in mind that THX Certification is totally different from getting listed on the THX Standards site:
"THX Certified status involves
additional testing and tuning, which is a collaborative process between THX and the product manufacturer. Products that achieve high scores on THX Standard may be good candidates for the THX certification process."
Also, I would assume Benchmark pays a license on a per unit basis as they are using THX's amp design (versus THX Certification which I thought was an upfront lump sum).
THX spent many years developing their amp design. A lot of background is discussed in the video below (which is actually how I found out about the Benchmark AHB2). I wish something like this would have been around 4 years ago, I would have skipped several brands I tried entirely.
I definitely agree THX is doing this to promote their THX AAA amp design, although they did measure a few TVs and are marketing their THX Standards site like this:
"Using industry standards and a proprietary testing methodology, THX engineers evaluate factors that influence the audio and visual fidelity of consumer electronics. THX then publishes data-driven scores on THX Standard to help consumers make an informed purchase decision- unbiased from an editorial perspective."
Their amp design is definitely revolutionary though. I now own a lot of Benchmark gear, but I purchased it solely based on specs and the ~40dB lower THD at 1 watt (versus what I had before) is 100% noticeable for me. I wish the Benchmark gear was cheaper because every time my friends hear it they love it, but none of them will spend $3k on an amp.
