Sound is everything?

In this business if anywhere a man runs into people who truly believe that "sound is everything". When it so clearly isn't.

For example. I regularly meet loudspeaker manufacturers who think that their designs sound quasi-perfect. Then they wonder why there is no demand for their creations. The problem is not in the sound. On the contrary, those speakers often sound excellent and can do great job in reproducing music. The problem - if it's a problem - is that the sound is not everything. 

Some dealers believe that they're the ones for whom "sound is everything" as distinct from other dealers for whom the sound is just an excuse for more earthly goals. The surprise is big when the customers do not see things in the same light. For the latter, other things, beyond the sound quality, weigh in the customer/dealer relationship equally much.  

Because of my AGA Lansing project, I've been once again browsing old issues of Sound Practices. A great mag. In Summer 1993, Markwert & Tucker offer a bunch of mods for their Altec A7 "Voice of the Theater" speakers. The result, they write, is truly stunning with "explosive dynamics, wall-to-wall imaging, a seamless midrange that  just won't quit, incredibly low distortion, a sweet, airy top end, and all this without a hint of strain". A few years after they're fascinated by the new Edgar Tractrix horns. Then something else, and then something else. In 2005 Tucker seemed to be involved in a speaker project around the Altec 604 coax. If the sound (quality) had been everything they could have easily lived with the A7, I suppose. But it wasn't - "searching for a better sound" was. Not the love but the feeling of loving.

The same mistake by the DIY folks. They think they're 100 percent sound lovers. After all, they're the ones who put all their resources to the sound itself and nothing to less relevant objects. But that's not true. It's so obvious that they're mad about DIYing itself not the sound. Sound comes and goes, new projects wait ahead. And so on.

Here's my 30 percent rule. It states that sound is not everything. That the sound is only 30 percent of everything. The rest 70 is something else. That applies to speaker manufacturers, dealers, enthusiast, DIY folks etc. And that's OK. Of all the people we know best how wonderful (the feeling) it is when the sound excels in all its shades and colors, power and nuances and in million other ways. But if it doesn't, - it's not so serious.