I was reading an old Audio Critic magazine pdf recently. For those that aren’t familiar, it was run by notoriously critical and cranky editor Peter Aczel who was devoted to repudiating "audiophile myths" via appeal to sound engineering and science.
He would publish sometimes his "White Hat/Black Hat" list of those in the field of audio, distinguishing between the "good guys" who were solid no b.s. engineers (and writers) and the "bad guys" who peddled dubious technology, poor speaker designs, woo-woo and snake oil.
He put Jim Thiel in his select list of White Hats. A quote from the article:
Jim Thiel (Thiel Loudspeakers)
The high priest of the doctrine of coherence through first-order crossovers in loudspeaker systems. I do not even agree with his doctrine but nonetheless admire him for his engineering talent and uncompromising integrity. The man’s devotion to scientific design and quality construction cannot be questioned. On top of it he is a true gentleman.
