initially, i was thinking that the wheel build would have
quite a bit of affect on the results, but, according to
DR, loosening a few spokes multiple turns had negligible
affect. Is this correct, or is the entire premise of the
test not really relatable to *actual* stiffness? He says
himself that this tests only one parameter? Any thoughts?

What i'm getting at is, in the real world, if i build a wheel
with heavier spokes and more of them, surely i'm going to
end up with a stiffer (if this is the right word?) wheel than
the exact build, but with fewer and lighter spokes, right????

And for the purpose of my question, the hyper-technical new
wheels are really--to me, an apple and an orange, since
what i'm looking for is an 'old fashioned' traditional build.