Do Physicists Or Musicians Design Better Speakers?


While looking at and listening to various speakers, I notice that the designers behind the speakers often fall into two distinct camps: They either have impressive academic credentials, usually in physics or mathematics and design speakers from a technical perspective. Or, they are musicians, or have a musical backround, and design from an artistic standpoint. I've heard speakers designed by scientists that sounded great and not so great and by musicians also with divergent results. Wondering which backround consistently results in great speakers.
steinway57
Morel? You gotta be joking, right?
Nope. The EgglestonWorks Andra II happens to be a damn fine speaker, and uses two Morel drivers, in fact.

We've owned (and heard) speakers with SEAS drivers. I find them to be less focused than the Dynaudio, but they have a warmth and roundedness that others don't. When it comes to preferences, there is NO inarguable, as all choices are valid. Well, maybe not Chuck E. Cheese for their pizza. :-)
Evita the Egg speaker looks like one of those big speakers from the 1970's era.
Remember those?
Guess before your time.
Anyway I'm not impressed by a high number of drivers in a cabinet.
I make exceptions to that rule with the interesting Tyler designes, but only when he uses the Seas, not with the cheap Scan Speak tweet.
Alos I see Ty incorporates the W22 Seas in a few of his designs for added depth to bass.
Yet how he has that 3 3 crossed, I'm not sure, I really should take a trip to Kentucky to hear them. Which i plan to do in about 2 yrs.
Also Ty uses the super Seas W26 in a design, a 3 way.
Most of his big designs are way out my budget and way too big for what I need. Thou I do have a very big cathedreal room, now that katrina pushed into baton rouge.
Still his big boys are too much for the size tube amp I plan to upgrade with.
I'm keeping to these Thors, "my last speaker"
I listen to all classical so the MTM offers me much more than one of the 3 way Ty offers. I do not need the 8 inch, 10 inch woofer for bass, the W17's offers sufficient, + the 2 7 inch mids deliver a cleaner midrange and fuller mids , excellent for all the winds/brass/strings in orch/piano solo/chamber.
The Thor IMHO is the ideal speaker for classical, even jazz.

btw I see the Egg's want $2800+ ship JUST to upgrade the 1's to the 11's model.
Don't even tell me the asking price.
The Thors with upgrade xover cost me...$2K includes ship if I recall. $2K for the pair.
Not bad
Seas world's best drivers for the $.
Period.
The Skannings of course are like $700/each. I believe those are Seas as well. I've heard the Seas's are better than the Skann's. That I doubt as far as bass goes, but in the low mids the copper center design in the Seas are "as good as it gets"

Paul
Baton Rouge
I don't believe that it really matters who designs a speaker, i.e., a physicist or a musician. Wonderful speaker designs are created by all sorts of human beings, some of whom happen to be musicians and physicists who appreciate fine sound reproduction. Conversely, terrible speakers are sometimes designed by all sorts of human beings, including, but not inclusive of, physicists and musicians.
With the Thors you get to see the guts of the thing. And let me tell you the xover is a real beauty. Dr Appolito was a genius in speaker xover design. Nothing like his work.
btw the picture of the Seas' Excel drivers do not do justice to the actual product.
You need to hold one in your hand to realize the tech craftwork it truly is.
Then to hear it.
If I can desribe it, I would use say, pure neutrality.
Another way to describe the image, high fidelity. (as my old Philips were called, 1980)

Paul
Baton Rouge
The Thors with upgrade xover cost me...$2K includes ship if I recall. $2K for the pair
The Thor design is free for the diy community.
Also, disabuse yourself: it's not the drive units alone that make the spkr. There are good units from many manufacturers -- it all depends on the application.