Floyd Toole - Sound reproduction – art and science/opinions and facts

Why HN readers recommended it

HN recommends it as a crash course on audio reproduction science, especially the finding that listeners reliably prefer more accurate speakers in blind tests.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

CIRMMT

Topic

loudspeaker sound reproduction

Format

lecture

Level

intermediate

HN recommenders in dataset

4

HN mentions in dataset

6

Recommendation years in dataset

2019–2026

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• This is actually a common misconception. In blind testing, the average listener reliably prefers the more accurate speaker. There is a talk [1] by Dr. Floyd Toole that is an excellent crash course on the science of sound reproduction and listener preference. [1] [VIDEO]

• False. Rigorous double blind a/b/c/d tests using real listeners has been performed, and the research has been published in peer reviewed journals since the 80's. What has happened is that most of the audiophile community saw research as a threat to their revenue streams and …

• It's an article written by Floyd E. Toole, Ph.D., who was Vice President - Acoustical Engineering at Harman International from 1991 until he retired in 2007. "His research focused primarily on the acoustics and psychoacoustics of sound reproduction. Most notably, he established methods for subjective …