Marcus,
Your Reply #39 makes no sense. Both machines are on hard floor not carpet. This test is for pure airflow without any carpet involved. It shows that the Royal moves more air period.
And as far as CRI tests go, the Royal got a Silver rating not because of cleaning ability, but because filtration was not as good as Kirby. The reason is that at the time of testing the Royal had a paper bag installed in it because the Royal cloth HEPA bags were not yet available at the time. The paper bag was the reason for the Silver rating. I read this somewhere online, but I don't remember where I read it.
Kevin,
If you expand that video in Reply #38 to full screen and look closely, you will see that both machines are at the same height. The distance between the nozzles and the floor is the same. Again, it clearly shows that The Royal moves more air.
Bill,
In your Reply 42, it looks to me that the Royal had a paper bag installed which may be why the Avalir won by a half of a point on the Baird. The Royal cloth HEPA bags are not only hard to find they are also expensive for a 2 pack of bags - about $15.00 for 2 bags.
Here is another airflow test this time a Sentria II with 7 amp motor and 11 blade fan against an early 90's Royal with 6 amp motor and 6 blade fan. As you can see the older Royal holds it's own against the newer more powerful Kirby: