There are discussions about lots of things on the net... more
piffle than is conceivable. I picked a topic like this that I have a basic interest in not so much because I can do a lot of building
but because I have an interest in the design process-- as art
and creativity. Sort of like kustom kars or motorcycles. These
last two are 'guy things' I have no personal experience with at all.
But the low rider thing fascinates me as an artistic expression.

Something similar in the way of a group build is being done
on the Full Range Driver forum with a cnc operator using the
designs of an audio engineer.

Women would like this stuff more if you took out of context
and put it on display in an art gallery. I sort of had this
experience at a show at the Calatrava-designed new space for
the Milwaukee Art Museum. We saw a display of craftsman projects
in wood and at that point I could expound on the work of
James Krenov and sound like a big shot.

So Why does it mean that because you are not hearing out to 18k you can't tell what sounds good? It may just be that what sounds good will sound good to everyone regardless of what their hearing is physically capable of.

What are those ringing sounds that computer processors make?
I can't keep a tube here because I will hear it _going_ all
the time. And more than I few folks are insufferable to
listen to on the talk radio-- things I never used to listen
to but now that streaming audio is available I have been able to find
more quality discussion

OTOH I can listen to a table radio and be, you know, _happy_
if something good is playing.

You have to take what I say with a dose of salt. I've had mine since 1966. I always wanted a pair of model 19's until I talked to a man who has lots of Altec speakers and he said "keep the Vals. They sound better than 19's" Maybe he's right I don't know.

If you like the sound of them than none of the newer tower looking things can compare sound wise. They'll be more "accurate" for sure but not anywhere near as musical. I did dampen my horns with automotive dampening material so I can run the attenuation knobs closer to null

This is not to offend any of the speaker builders here. I'm just relating what I like and it doen't make a pinch of difference in the overall scheme of things.

Somewhat related is the fact that I started to follow the
building forums closely (after having done kits previously
over a period of 20-30 years) was because I was looking for
low poer designs that would make the digital music I had
found (concert jazz band and and other things) sound...
_adequate_ over what is is normally sold as computer speakers.
I've never owned any computer speakers. I build from scratch
so I followed the directions for hooking up the sound card
to a small receiver I had which was a Nakamichi at the time.
The Nak was very small and had it;s own set of mini 2 way
speakers which-- like all 2 way minispeakers-- weren't much
count.

The first advice I got with this arrangement was to
cut out the backs of the minis-- something that wouldn't
occur to me. Talk about the Fostex line was going pretty
well then as it still does and Madisound is not very far away
for shipping so I got a pair of FE127e's. My first mod was
dropping in the Fostex to the mini cabs with the backs cut off.
A happy coincidence was that I could put the fronts back on
and the molded plastic formed a wave guide for the single
Fostex on the box. I used a cork to plug up the port
and left the 25 cent tweeter in there for seal. That
setup lasted me quite while.