The variety of loudspeaker sounds in the marketplace originates from uncontrolled subjective evaluations

Evidence

Every manufacturer evaluates loudspeakers for their potential appeal to customers. The results determine what product will be manufactured for sale, duplicated hundreds or thousands of times. Often these evaluations are informal affairs, almost always sighted, probably in stereo, probably including company officials. Stress levels are high, reputations and egos are challenged, and the decision makers may or may not be good listeners. I have witnessed a few of these uncontrolled sessions, and in one I recall seeing the expression on an engineer’s face when the brand manager, after listening to a few bars of music through his well-designed loudspeaker, pronounced “more bass, more treble”, and left. Often the choices are biased by the marketing philosophy of replicating what sold well last year, even a competitor’s product, not having confidence that something different might be better. The wide variety of sounds in the marketplace over the years had their origins in substantially uncontrolled subjective evaluations, not design engineers aiming at a particular version of non-flat frequency response or a specific collection of mechanical and acoustical resonances. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 82

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: how market pressure and informal listening sessions, not engineering targets, shaped the entire loudspeaker industry’s sound character — a history of design-by-vibe.