Biomimetic,
Most of Earl's "Transducers" book is over my head, as it's pretty math-intensive. But he lapses into English often enough that it's still useful to the likes of me.
In my opinion the more accessible and in many cases more useful book of his would be "Premium Home Theater - Design and Construction". Don't let the title put you off - it has sections on small room acoustics, psychoacoustics, and loudspeakers that are well worth the price of admission.
Earl was working on a book specifically about loudspeakers aimed at hard-core hobbyists like you & me (okay I'm a dealer too, sometimes), but unfortunately it looks like that project is on hold due to lack of available time.
Earl does consulting work all over the world, and is an example of an audio rocket scientist who could be hired to design a pair of speakers for a company that couldn't begin to afford putting him on their payroll. Vance Dickason and Alan Hulsebus are others.
In your latest post, I think you have hit upon the central issue in loudspeaker design in noting all the myths that have arisen. In my opinion the core questions are: What really matters? And next, how does one best accomplish what really matters?
One of the things that makes loudspeakers so exciting (to me at least) is the wide range of opinion and product arising from differing answers to those two questions. By coming up with better answers, it's possible for a small company to do an end run around some of the big boys.
Duke
