Do Physicists Or Musicians Design Better Speakers?

Scientists can design things that will work, but eventually you want to choose among things that all work well, you want the one that "sound best". That is a problem of human brain, how it hears and interprets signals, and so far scientific instruments are helpless there, they can't make those fine and final calls.

Musicians are like diners who know good food but can't cook themselves. May not even recognize the ingredients let alone cook with them. So, a pianist can certainly tell when a speaker is doing it right and when nott, but he wouldn't know what to change where to tweak the sound in the desired direction.

And as Newbee said above, a musician who "merely" plays one instrument in a 100+ orchestra may not even have the basic judgment about how the whole thing sounds in the hall.

So, we need scientist types, and a listening panel with a few soloists and a few expereinced concertgoers. :-)

When are they ever in a position to judge what the music they are making sounds like to others who are not part of their group

The same could be said of non-musicians listening to music. Their preferences are unquestionably valid, but they are not going to have experienced listening to the music as a nuanced interplay in the same way that a musician does. First-hand experience changes one's perspective, so in the end the question becomes are you listening for fulfillment upon the design, musicality, or some combination of the two?

I would bet that no musician going into speaker building does so without scientific training as part of the process. So we're really only speaking here in theoretical absolutes.

A good topic.
Has anyone noticed that a lot of musicians have a real thing for old Luxman amplifiers.Most of the musicians I know own these.These certainly have a very sweet sound but I can't really hear anything unique or special about them.But maybe I am missing something that they are hearing.
There is also a rumour that a lot of musicians own Linn turntables and Naim amplifiers because of their emphasis on timing and rhythm.

JT

Evita,

I would agree that we're only speaking in theoretical absolutes, and would also say that the question itself begs an intelligent answer, but what the hell, its a slow day! :-)

"...fulfillment upon the design, musicality, or some combination of the two." I'm not sure what this means.

IMHO audio(philedom) is all about making equipment that succeeds at being able to replicate the sound of a 'live event' as determined by the recording engineer, in ones home.

The 'live event' is always determined by the recording engineer. For example, in the case of large orchestral programs, will it sound as if it were heard from row A, or Row H (etc) in the center (natural sound as it represents what you would hear as an audience member such as more hall resonance, deeper bass perhaps, more blending of instruments, flatter soundstage; or, will sound as if you were on it be the podium (great soundstaging effect); or, god forbid, there will be so much multimiking that it sounds like its coming from everywhere with each instrumented spotlighted. Ugh! He will also determine how much compression is needed because the dynamic's might well exceed the users equipment, and the list goes on.

The point is that none of the considerations of the recording engineer have anything to do with experience gained by virtue of being a musician, with the exception of his experience listening to live instruments gives him a leg up on being able to more closely replicate the sound of a live instrument, or performing group, in a recording.

None of the experience of a recording engineer, nor experience as a musician, is necessary for one to construct the equipment necessary to play recordings in the home. All one needs is the technical electrical expertise and craftsmanship necessary to make the devises and the 'good ears' to recognize when they have reached their goals. If they have reached their goals and you have the ability to set up the equipment to operate at its optimum, the only 'musicality' involved is in the pits or grooves. JMHO.

The 'live event' is always determined by the recording engineer.

With the input of the musicians, and this person is usually a musician him/herself. My husband played professionally for over ten years. I've seen the process at work.