So...more vendors + more rental system customers + more opportunities to rent and install full bandwidth, concert quality systems means a growing Industry. The whole world wants better sound, and more of it.

Tucci: How important is education to a person's resume now, as compared to "back in the day?"

David Scheirman: Education, now that is an interesting topic. "Formal" education is hard to get in ways that will benefit you "on the road". As a young person, you have to know your goals and stick to them.

I would say that if you are in school...make sure you don't skip math class. Understand basic physics. And get into the music program, as well. Playing an instrument and learning the basics of ensemble performance, and participating in music creation as a team player...this is invaluable background for anyone considering Sound Reinforement as a career.

Tucci: Do you still see room in the marketplace for independent thinkers? Guys who want to design their own speakers, rather than take advantage of the huge R&D budgets spent by manufacturers such as yourself. With a big enough checkbook, you can be in the business in minutes. This somehow parallels the dribble of home brewed rap music I fear.

David Scheirman: The market will always have room for independent thinkers. Look at Tom Danley, and his ServoDrive subwoofers. Those helped show folks what "real" VLF (Very Low Frequency) performance was.

Look at Christian Heil...his evangelistic efforts on behalf of line array technology have influenced the direction of loudspeaker system design. The benefits of Line Array technology are now understood by a whole new generation of audio folks.

“Home brewed rap music"...(and a big enough checkbook)...yes, anybody can do anything. But when it comes to designing speaker systems, there are some fundamental acoustical physics to consider. As has been said before, "there is nothing new under the sun". Much of what we have...and will continue to have...for speaker system technology was researched and described by acoustical pioneers in the 1930's.

I would also hazard the opinion that some of the 'huge R&D budgets' such as you describe (and such as many people imagine exist at major companies like EV, JBL, Bose, etc.) are NOT always targeted at the unique needs of Concert Sound and particularly the touring side of things.

That is what gives room for innovations...for independent thinkers.

Anyone who is bored, sitting on a tour bus watching a Spinal Tap video for the zillionth time, can just as well be sketching out designs for "a better mousetrap" on a pad of graph paper.

Remember, the key innovations (like Clair's S4 system, which has enjoyed a reign of over 25 years for major-venue artist service) was, indeed, sketched out just like that. Ron Borthwick, Bruce Jackson, Roy Clair...they had no "huge R&D budget". Rather, they had customers, and they had a need for a better solution.

Moderator: Some feel that JBL is more accepted in the many proprietary designs they are used in than the company’s factory boxes. What are your thoughts on this?

David Scheirman: JBL has enjoyed excellent acceptance at the high end of the market. It was JBL components that Clair chose for those S4 boxes. It was JBL components that A1 Audio and Concert Sound UK chose when they ordered those first big systems of EAW KF850's. It was JBL components that were loaded into the first large Turbo TMS3 system to hit North America for touring work (on the Styx tour) in about 1983.