actually the airflow isnt the problem, the jetting is. take a carb from a 460 and drop it on a 289, and you have to change the fuel low curves, and that entails more than just the main jets and power valve to get teh fuel curve right.
understand that holleys have been a performance carb option since late 50s. as such they have a huge following, and many variants from companies, like barry grant, that started out as holley carb tuners.
when edelbrock got into the carb game, they jumped in with both feet and hit the ground running. they started by buying weber carbs and carter carbs, and combining the best of both carbs to create the edelbrock performer carb.
once again barry grant got into the act and started tuning edelbrock carbs, and now has his own line of demon carbs based on the edelbrock design.
but the reason these carbs are generally the ones recommended by enthusiasts is that;
1: they flat out work well out of the box generally
2: there is solid aftermarket support for these carbs
3: they are easy to tune
4: they are reliable