The “Off The Shelf” Lie

Richard Vandersteen's drivers (made in house) are certainly"better" than most drivers available off the shelf.

Quite a few speaker designers/manufactures specify the performance characteristics of the drivers they buy from the major manufactures, those drivers being made in accordance with the designer's demands. Amongst them are the likes of John DeVore, Danny Richie (GR Research), and Wilson Audio.

Of course they are not always better...but there do seem to be possible advantages to design all parts of a product...

@easystreamer 

Your 'terms' made your point, except 'Gluten Free', it is a statement of difference, omission, not better. I have two friends who have Celiac Disease, the most severe allergy to gluten, it's serious, and several others, including myself and many family members that have digestive issues (not serious, but not pleasant) resulting from Gluten. It seems Wheat has changed over millenniums, that is why it is a 'new' problem. I was tested many years ago, but I seem to remember there are two DNA markers for sensitivity to Gluten, I have both.

I'll get off my cardboard cereal box now.

Some parts are better than others but parts and even components  are useless until a smart person puts them together.

To the OP’s point:

I agree, implying ’better’ is an art form. However:

It certainly seems that makers can design and make a part or assembly of parts designed for specific parameters that don’t exist on the shelf, there are soooo many attributes of speaker’s performance for instance.

DACs, Resistors, Capacitors, Volume Controls .... good, better, best have and will always exist, so why cannot a maker push the line of best further down the road?

Knowing what to believe is a hard job.

My first wife Nancy used to write ADs for Real Estate. She came up with some Doosies. Reading ADs in the Paper, she would sometimes bust out laughing, knowing 'nearby burbling brook' meant 'water in the basement'.