Yes, very subjective, especially the terms 'aggresive', 'neutral' & 'gentle'. In terms of options (number of eq settings & Q) and curves, I pretty much agree. As for coloration (harmonics, indutor modelling, etc), that is a trickier business. That is probably why musifalsk rated the Manley as both aggressive and gentle. The slopes are gentle, but the sound quality of the eq has a slightly aggressive tube quality if pushed, and the inductors are supposed to cause the frequency centers to drift depending on energy in the given frequency range. At least the hardware, though I think I hear the software doing it too.
I also notice a difference between the Neve 1073 / 1084 vs the 31102. To my ears, the 31102 is 'silkier'. It is my go to eq for cymbals, especially hi-hats. The main difference I hear between the 1073 & 1084, aside from more options, is the high end boost. The 1073 is slightly smoother to these ears. Maybe it's the 12 kHz that the 1084 doesn't have.
The API's - Holy S%*t; I had demo'd the Slate VCC, and I think the API's do a better job of getting that Console sound.
The new Pultecs - wow. Nice. Oddly, the cut curves seem to be 'looser' and the boost curves tighter than the 'Legacy' version; I tried it on a track yesterday and didn't get the results I expected. But the way it sounds.....
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I am kinda surprised with the Millenia, after all the ragging I've read on the Shadow Hills (which I am also demoing - the optical seems a little slow past .75 dB compression, esp. release). I find it (Millenia) is very useful for mastering and seems to have the quirks of Inductor eq circuits as well as the tube compression when set on Tube, and a hint of that JFET bite on JFET. I have a Demeter VTMP-2B pre (lush tubeness) and a Hamptone JFET pre w/ Greyhill stepped gains, and the Millenia topologies seem to match these, albeit more subtle. I think I'd use the Millenia more than the Manley in mastering work. Though I love the Manley, it's always been a b*tch to dial in on the kind of mixes I get these days (you know those M-B*x laptop mixes done on misplaced speakers that go down to 70 Hz).
I'd get the Sonnox, but the Cambridge is very close already; maybe a slight bit harsher, but the Brainworks covers that ultimate in neutral, smooth & fully controllable EQ. I think the Neve 88RS is also pretty neutral. And it has the only UAD compressor I can hit a sine wave with 3 dB compression and get a clean sine wave 3 dB down (in Studio One Pro at 64 bit double precision).
Sorry for the rant, but 'subjective' is a dangerous road w/ lots of twists and turns.
P.S. Never liked the CS1. Too brittle. Though I once read a mixbuss compressor shootout that included the CS/EX comp and..
