One of Paul's Posts readers, Mark S, asks the question of why we manufacturers seem to work so hard at building kit that serves all music and all tastes equally well. I think it's a good question and one worth thinking about.
In most fields a "one size fits all" mentality isn't optimal. Sports equipment, musical instruments, cameras, cars - just about everything you can think of has focused products that are designed to enhance a particular aspect of the task - but not necessarily audio.
Certainly there are loudspeakers that are better suited to a particular style of music - classical, rock, jazz - but these seem to come across as weak because they don't work for all music types - as opposed to coming from a position of strength.
Rarely does a loudspeaker or electronics manufacturer go to great lengths to design a classical music speaker, for example, because it limits the market and what the heck does one do if she has varied tastes in music as do most of us.
But it is an interesting idea and one that needs more thought.
Comments?
