Eric, first let me say that despite what might appear to be a pattern of antagonistic responses from me to your posts, I really do look forward to your contributions and respect your opinions, whether I fully agree with them or not. :-)
Dammit.
As hwy61 had already mentioned in this thread; can one dismiss a product like Vandersteens venerable model 2 as niche’ product? I suspect that speakers like Dunlavy, Thiel and Vandersteen ( include Quad 63’s ?) have had sizable high end market shares for a considerable length of time.
Hmmm, by overall sales, how many high end speakers do you think sitting in people’s homes are "time aligned?" Vandersteen and Thiel are clearly successful brands, but even if we combine them, have they revolutionized speaker manufacturing?
Again, this is not meant to be a judgement of quality. Just overall market acceptance of the design principles. Clearly Vandersteen and Thiel have kept the lights on as well as any boutique makers can. But first order filters, time alignment and minimum baffle designs are the technology which I’m honing in on.
As a counter example, AMT drivers were a niche, which has now, post patent, exploded. All sorts of good and poor implementations are upon us. It is well past "niche" status.
Best,
E