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Research on speaker aesthetics; looking for volunteers to fill in my questionnaire

PepijnG

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Hello!

My name is Pepijn and I am currently working on my graduation project to obtain a master's degree in Integrated Product Design. I am a student at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands and for this research project I am designing an active high-end speaker. I will be focussing on acoustics, materials&production and the looks of the speaker. Aesthetic preferences are very personal and it would make no sense to create a design based on just my personal preferences, that's why I would like to know more about the preferences of forum members here!

I want the aesthetics of the speaker to match my intended user and to do this I would like to get a better understanding of how people perceive different design choices regarding aesthetics and materials. I have made a questionnaire to help me get these insights. The questionnaire includes a small general part with questions about how you listen to music, the rest of the questions will be be about the looks of seven specific speakers. If you feel like helping me out with this research, I would be very grateful if you could fill in the Google Forms I made. Total time needed is probably around 5 to 10 minutes. Everyone is welcome to join!

This is the link to the questionnaire:
https://forms.gle/kT8QnFBXDv458R777


Thanks in advance!

Speaker brands in the questionnaire: B&W,B&O, Kii Audio, Grimm Audio, Dutch & Dutch, Wilson
 

Frgirard

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Your questions on the sound quality / esthetic and the place domestic studio / living room:

The one can have no answer.
The second can have two answers or no answer.
 
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PepijnG

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Thanks for filling in the questionnaire and noticing, I will take a look at it and try to fix it.
 

sq225917

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Seems like you're trying to tie in an assumption of sound quality based on appearance. Anyone looking at any of the active monitors in your survey who already knows how they measure can't split what they already know of its performance based on the question you ask.

Maybe throw a cheap looking little known active monitor in there as an alternative reference point?

The survey seems biased towards driving an answer that you want, 'good visual design equals good sound quality', for anyone who knows what to look for the cues are in the basic design, not the quality of fit n finish. You can have a scrappy looking design that includes all the right functional design choices to sound good.
 

sarumbear

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Hello!

My name is Pepijn and I am currently working on my graduation project to obtain a master's degree in Integrated Product Design. I am a student at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands and for this research project I am designing an active high-end speaker. I will be focussing on acoustics, materials&production and the looks of the speaker. Aesthetic preferences are very personal and it would make no sense to create a design based on just my personal preferences, that's why I would like to know more about the preferences of forum members here!

I want the aesthetics of the speaker to match my intended user and to do this I would like to get a better understanding of how people perceive different design choices regarding aesthetics and materials. I have made a questionnaire to help me get these insights. The questionnaire includes a small general part with questions about how you listen to music, the rest of the questions will be be about the looks of seven specific speakers. If you feel like helping me out with this research, I would be very grateful if you could fill in the Google Forms I made. Total time needed is probably around 5 to 10 minutes. Everyone is welcome to join!

This is the link to the questionnaire:
https://forms.gle/kT8QnFBXDv458R777


Thanks in advance!

Speaker brands in the questionnaire: B&W,B&O, Kii Audio, Grimm Audio, Dutch & Dutch, Wilson
I think you should only ask aesthetic questions. How a speaker is liked according to how it looks is against objective sound quality judgement of an audiophile.
 

PierreV

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I think you should only ask aesthetic questions. How a speaker is liked according to how it looks is against objective sound quality judgement of an audiophile.

I took those questions as "how does the look subjectively suggests audio quality". The average non technically interested audiophile probably thinks that BWs are the epitome of Hifi and look the part while Grimms looks like the DIY project of a madman :)
 

Axo1989

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I think you should only ask aesthetic questions. How a speaker is liked according to how it looks is against objective sound quality judgement of an audiophile.
I imagine one function of the survey is to garner responses revealing assumptions about sound quality based on aesthetic preferences.
 

Axo1989

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Seems like you're trying to tie in an assumption of sound quality based on appearance. Anyone looking at any of the active monitors in your survey who already knows how they measure can't split what they already know of its performance based on the question you ask.

Maybe throw a cheap looking little known active monitor in there as an alternative reference point?

The survey seems biased towards driving an answer that you want, 'good visual design equals good sound quality', for anyone who knows what to look for the cues are in the basic design, not the quality of fit n finish. You can have a scrappy looking design that includes all the right functional design choices to sound good.
Assuming the survey is circulated more widely (beyond audiophile/anti-audiophile fora) the regression analysis on Q2 may obviate your issues. That said @sarumbear's speaker would be an interesting counterpoint (it looks like aesthetics weren't a design consideration, contrary to all the survey examples).
 
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radix

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It seems odd to me that you ask people to rank between "traditional" and "modern" but you have no examples of a traditional looking speaker.

Likewise, I didn't think any of the example speakers looked like a "warm" sounding speaker.
 

sarumbear

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That said @sarumbear's speaker would be an interesting counterpoint (it looks like aesthetics weren't a design consideration, contrary to all the survey examples).
You are correct. They were designed as speakers for professionals with no attention to domestic aesthetics. However, later on we learned that our distributor had been selling them to Selfridge’s in London and El Corte Ingles in Madrid.
 

Chrispy

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Found it a bit strange myself but then I'm not much into the aesthetic of a speaker, they're just not all that interesting in general and I don't gaze upon them or stuff like that....nor do I have to worry about WAF type decorating things.
 

Slayer

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Well, Since I am identifying as a 3yr old horse today living in Antartica, I couldn't get past page 2 to finish the survey. :facepalm:
 

Axo1989

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You are correct. They were designed as speakers for professionals with no attention to domestic aesthetics. However, later on we learned that our distributor had been selling them to Selfridge’s in London and El Corte Ingles in Madrid.
Haha, there's no aesthetic like an anti-aesthetic.
 

Kal Rubinson

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How a speaker is liked according to how it looks is against objective sound quality judgement of an audiophile.
How a speaker is liked according to how it looks is against objective sound quality judgement of an audiophile.
 
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