Room acoustics were the one loudspeaker variable manufacturers could not control without EQ

Evidence

As happens from time to time, politicians change the emphasis on how taxpayers’ money is spent, and the NRCC is a government organization. At a point, scientists were encouraged to seek funding from the industrial sector to help support their research. Fortunately, by then the loudspeaker research had strong connections to several Canadian audio companies, a few of which were doing quite well. I arranged a meeting of manufacturers to consider a proposal: a government-subsidized collaboration between a non-profit Canadian Audio Research Consortium of manufacturers and my NRCC research group. The proposal was accepted, and the Athena project was launched. It was the first such alliance between the NRCC and industry. The work focused on low-frequency sound reproduction in small rooms, the one aspect of sound reproduction that loudspeaker manufacturers cannot control without electronic equalization capability. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 197

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to how modern room correction systems (Audyssey, Dirac, ARC Genesis) descend from this research lineage.
• SEED: Article angle: how government funding politics quietly shaped consumer audio technology via the NRCC-Athena project.