What you describe could happen, but I think that designers also look at measurements which would alert them to their worsening hearing and its effect on their designs.
HiFi legends ageing and going deaf
I must admit, the subject of the post is highly provocative and should not be read literally.
As we get older we hear less of the high frequencies. The first sign of losing the hearing we once used to have as young people is a problem with high frequencies.
As much as I'm not talking of any serious loss to perception, I was wondering if the older age of manufactures affects the tone of the equipment they produce, especially if they have always depended on their listening impressions rather than measurements.
Examples:
Franco Serblin, before he died, produced Accordo speakers (which I own personally and I love them), and many people say it's a much more modern-sounding speaker but, perhaps, it is because the midrange is still beautiful but there is a little bump in the higher frequencies... It is a deviation from what he did before. Is it a question of aging hearing, or more a matter of going with the times?
Another example:
Harmonix/Hijiri: Some people say the recent Hijiri are too bright. The manufacturer's cables used to be more focused on the midrange. I have recently bought a Hijiri Million digital link and I'm surprised how bright, relatively, it sounds. I still love it all the same.
But I may be all wrong. Perhaps it's just progress.
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