Jay... classic.
Whatever the terminology, there are difficult to quantify (or simply unquantifiable) qualities that a number of Pentax lenses seem to possess that can only be proven by the results.
I have gone through a number of Pentax lenses, but not the Takumars, and notice a striking 'wow' factor in the results I see from the DAs 10-17 and 12-24, DA*s 16-50, 50-135, 200, 300 and 60-250, the DA 15 and 35 ltds, the FA ltd trio, the A* 85/1.4 and even the FA* 250-600. I'm probably missing a number of older generation lenses in the list, but these stand out in the images they produce. A few of the Tamrons come pretty close to this status, but not quite IMO.
Whatever it is about them, it's indeed phenomenal.
But to be frank, this thread is useless without photos:
DA 12-24
FA 77 ltd
DA 10-17
DA* 16-50