Yes he is from an engineering standpoint and if you want to hear an exact reproduction of the sound. Now if you can hear the difference that's another story.
Most of this information I learned was from the link below and listening to them.
Phase correct (crossovers and setback tweeter from midrange and woofer), minimal baffles, individual enclosures, single order crossovers, minimizing the speaker structures distortion, and the cabinets distortion are all things Vandersteen did first, most in the 1970's. Others are adopting his approach, individual enclosures, minimal baffles, setback tweet, midrange, to woofer to create better phase correctness, and still enclosures to reduce distortion. All these Vandersteen has been doing for 1-2 decades before others. Only thing others haven't agreed to completely is phase correctness and "perfect piston". Though most speaker designers have agreed a stiff cone is important to prevent distortion; this would be accepting "prefect piston" as true. Sounds like they are agreeing with Vandersteen.
No, I don't work for the company, got most of my information from the below link and I listened to them, Vandersteen Quattro Wood CT. I consider these to be on similar price range and performance to that of the Wilson WATT Puppies (some thing I've loved and wanted for years). However, Vandersteen puts more into their speakers. I checked out the technical evaluation criteria and there test level performance is as good or better. I heard them and though what many would consider dark I thought was more realistic. Many designers make bright speakers because that's what draws us in; it did for me have a pair of B&W 802's and have wanted Wilson WATT Puppies for decades. It's always impressive to hear the symbol's, chimes, or other highs but in real life without electronics can you really hear that stuff? No. And with it, at a concert, do you hear that? Not often if at all.
It's all subjective but for me my next will be a pair of Vandersteen's.
