It is sad that this generation of engineering expertise will die out. In the same way as the original DGG analog classical recording catalog from the 60's and 70's is still regarded as the epitome of recording excellence, the reasons for that have disappeared into history -- together with the recording engineers who made them.

I have designed speakers from scratch. Magnets, cones, voice coils and all, and it is very much a 'black art.' A designer has to be guided by their own ability. Books or podcasts cannot possibly convey a lifetime of engineering experience. When I look at today's HiFi shops I am appalled by not only the lack of fidelity of today's equipment -- which is invariably a step backwards from the technology of 20 years ago -- but also by the basic rules which are being broken, basic rules which, 20 years ago, used to be well-understood and sacrosanct.

Let me point out just one of them. This podcast is being broadcast in monophonic sound. There is no sense of image of the interviewer or interviewee. Subtleties of nuance are missing -- head turning, lowering of gaze, etc. Yes, video would have helped communicate this but, for Heaven's sake, why can't a broadcast about perceptual audio be conducted by somebody who understands enough about human communication to be using a stereo audio feed....

And Floyd is entitled to his opinion. As am I. As are you. But, before framing your own opinion, have you heard or seen what he and I have heard? The early Quad electrostatics, for example? Celestion Dittons? The early SEAS? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_Electrostatics

Wharfedale and Celestion speakers have disappeared now, swallowed by Chinese suitors, but they helped set the standard which allowed the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft engineers to master all those wonderful recordings in the 60's and 70's.

These days I see too much emphasis (in my opinion) on the large array, and too little attention to the basics. True, I have an array of Wharfedales in my living room, but the system designed for my workroom would never sell in any HiFi shop. Small and unobtrusive omnidirectionals, they don't attract attention. But they do their job superbly. Unobtrusively. Which is for me the way a speaker should be. Unobtrusive. Creating a sound field without distracting from the source content :) http://trevormarshall.com/ground-effect-omni/

Oh, and 'on topic' again -- it is the owner's ears which need to be broken in, not the speaker cones. Every new set of speakers needs to be assimilated, or rejected, by the unique psychoacoustical model sitting in each of our heads. That model has been shaped by the Vienna Philharmonic or by AC/DC. Or by both :)

"If you don't have problems with ears or hearing no such thing as "unique psychoacoustical model" exist"

When one comes home from a rock concert, one usually seeks to listen to carefully manicured recordings of that concert, or to a studio recording. Your brain can equate what you experienced in the concert arena with what you are listening to on a stereo, even though an oscilloscope or a spectrum analyzer would tell you they are totally different. An innate psychoacoustical model allows your mind to interpret the differences and equate the similarities.

"I check experts and facts about such things, instead of forum opinions"

Oh, I see. I am sorry. Experts don't post in forums do they? I forgot that... Silly me...

"Audio forums are mostly trash with ultra low S/N ratio."

so true!