If I remember right "Brandt" something or other a pro wheel builder, wrote a book I have a copy of some book on wheel building, somewhere out on loan, the arthur said that and I loosely quote " I used to tension by ear, until I used a tensionometer, and realized how far off that method was"
Not intended to be a real quote, if you want the real quote I will have to get the book back. The point he made was, dispite the fact that he was an accomplished wheel builder, he realized that a tension meter was far better.