Who are your top loudspeaker designers?

[RGA]

So no one from Audio Note?

Audio Note hires different experts for different things. Peter Snell would be the guy who designed part of the speaker - the wave-launch approach - but L.L. Beranek designed the cabinet shape as "perfect" boxes for the reproduction of an acoustic signal - and being one of the world's best acousticians (every speaker maker references him and every book on loudspeaker design references him) and he's world famous as an opera house designer. The guys at Bell Labs also played an important role in the speaker.

You can generally tell if it's something good:
1) it lasts and lasts with very few to little changes. The same model sells consistently well for 15+ years without 7 MarkII, Mark III, Mark VII or other versions being applied merely to have the product kept in a perpetual review cycle

2) if it goes out of business - another company buys up the rights and makes it under their own name (Snells Systemdecks voyds or LS-3/5a). Lots of people blather on about 30 year old speakers - and yet no one bothers to say "gee that would actually sound good and would compete today - I think I'll make it and put my own name on it." If they were REALLY good someone would. (exception might be appearance or saleability projections) - and possibly unique parts that can't be reproduced today.