The fact that I am not a fan of dendrobiums probably plays a role in my lack of diligence trying...

I grew with sh for a few years and found that some orchids love it and others don't. Phals have a hard time penetrating it with their roots. I also found that the surface of the balls would dry out too much before it ran out of water. I was always misting the surface. The other drawback I found is that if you happen to tip the container over, you are chasing balls all over the house!

I think you're painting with too broad of a brush, and are discounting how many factors affect one's success with any technique.

That may be your experience, but I see no issues with that whatsoever. I just spent an hour on the phone with a grower in Michigan who calls me every month or two to expound on how much better his phals do in S/H than they have ever done using other culture techniques.

In the first place, it is not particularly advisable to wait for the reservoir to dry between waterings, and that experience immediately points to poor humidity, which has absolutely nothing to do with the pot design or potting medium, which is what defines S/H. (It also may explain why the phal roots didn't penetrate the medium - it was simply too dry on top - under your conditions.)

I cannot argue with that, but cleaning up spilled bark-based mix ain't no picnic, either.