Speaker Design

I would suspect that they would not sound the same IF,

I would expect Dennis Murphy's system to be slightly forward and more "detailed and airy" due to his musician background. His designs tend to be "closer" in feel than other commercial type designs.

I think Joe D's would be the medium of the two other designers with the level of neutrality and midrange accuracy that would shine above the rest of his design.

Albert's would likely have the best bass, this is his fundamental requirement for all of his speakers, I think his might be the least refined in the mids but may be the easiest to like for the widest audience.

All this is purely speculation but if you had an iron chef type format where they had little time to perfect every aspect and had to focus on their prioroties I believe this is what you would get.

If given a long time to design I think the sound of each speaker would get closer and closer to each other. All three know what "it's" supposed to soundlike and "it" does exist and given enough time they will get "it" right.

No what I mean vern?

Because they have different ears and different brains, they would not use the same cabinets and drivers and crossovers. They would have to choose their own to achieve what they consider to be the "best" sound. That's what makes them the best in their field.

I'd want Richard Vandersteen designing my speakers.....

http://www.vandersteen.com

Interesing acticle about what he believes is important in speaker design.

3 french chefs making cream of carrot soup,with the exact same ingredients...would it taste the same???????Life ,like sciences are variable....there is no absolute.

I would guess no. More effort will be put into voicing the speaker than the mathematics of the xover design for a given box and drivers would suggest. Since each of the three designers are just like the rest of us with different tastes, perceptions and prejudices, the final product will most likely reflect that. That's why, IMO, different products sound different.

Nrchy, you jest?!

Nice to see George Short given mention.

I had him hand wire custom crossover networks for a DIY project using his top line parts. The improvement has been nothing less than phenomenal.

Brought the point home to me that crossover assembly and parts quality, as an independent variable from network design, can make a huge performance difference.

jb

I don't know any of the three you mentioned,but I suspect they might say they would not restrict themselves with two constants(cabinet and drivers)and one variable(crossovers),that the three are interrelated.

http://www.northcreekmusic.com

has interesting(to me) information about how a designer(George Short) approaches speaker design.

It's impossible to answer this question with any degree of accuracy. The speakers should not sound the same. Crossovers make a huge difference. In this context we don't know if they are going to be shooting for a state-of-the-art, or meeting a pricepoint. I would guess the one Albert von Schweikert does would sound like crap, just like the rest of his products!

The materials used in the crossover will have a huge impact on the sound, and the crossover points and slope will affect the sound as well.

BUT since all amps sound the same, I guess all speakers should too...