Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

One can easily see that this support model is very different for large public companies with strict product plans and clear cut departments that operate the business vs small engineer owned private companies that pursue new ideas and build what might look risky to the large corporation.

The different responses in this thread make sense with different scales of business. What amazes me is the level of intelligence expressed in this thread - starting all the way back to a baseline of Kenjit all the way to engineers and operators of consumer audio businesses. An excellent discussion overall that should help users understand that engineering and science drive most audio innovation and the day of the freewheeling entrepreneur who just experiments in his garage are over. Bullshit may still sell but not for long. 

What amazes me is the level of intelligence expressed in this thread 

Agreed, I gave out prizes earlier in the thread 😁

@donavabdear the Dutch and Dutch 8C is just like the microphone with vents and all (and some DSP), the Kii (Bruno) does it with electronics. Sky is the limit.

@thespeakerdude I'm amazed I've never told anyone about that idea but Bruno did it, so neat. There are problems with interference tube designs, there are spurs in the rear polar patterns that are very hard to tame. Also off axis coloration is worse when the directionality is longest. 

I also had designs of an optical digital laser microphone that could listen from miles away. Hope no one figures out that one. 

I also had designs of an optical digital laser microphone that could listen from miles away. Hope no one figures out that one. 

I hate to break your bubble on this one. Those have been around since the 80's probably earlier. I don't know if they were initially designed as a surveillance tool, but that was one application. They can pick up the vibrations on window glass. Now they are a common industrial tool as well.