What's wrong with Doug Self? It is not because he acts like the pope of
objectivism that suddenly the majority of his notions and ideas are wrong.
His books are mandatory lecture for anyone with more than a passing
interest in analogue audio electronics engineering.
I didn't say there was anything wrong with Doug Self. I am all for an objectivist approach and feel that one of the critical tasks in hi fi design today is to bridge the gap between objectivism and subjectivism - not least to undo much of the unscientific damage done over the past 25 years or so. I think he is perfectly right to take pot shots at the subjectivist crowd dismissing measurements as 'irrelevant' by comparison to their ears.
But, by the same token, objectivists can be remarkably dismissive. Examples of this from the past include dismissing interconnects, speaker cables and now mains cables as making no possible difference. Indeed, there was a time when the prevailing view was that amplifiers were effectively identical. And the upshot of this was a retaliation with wild-eyed 'theories' about why this should not be so.
I have my own views on the preferences of the subjectivist camp which often boil down to what they are used to or what they felt comfortable with. So, for instance, the advent of CD was dismissed as being far worse than analogue because the preferred systems at that time, particularly speakers, had been balanced to make up for the deficiencies in vinyl and this was glaringly exposed by the new format. But play some of the CD players that were supposed to be not as good today - a good example would be early Meridians - and we find that they really were rather good. But the subjectivists have also contributed, and forced manufacturers to take more care (I hope) and have put the focus back on the purpose of hi fi being to bring greater enjoyment of music. Having said that, it has not been without a colossal price in the destruction of the better part of the UK hi fi industry as we bowed down to new false Gods. Unfortunately, the majority of those companies killed off were those who actually had the technical expertise that was so sadly lacking in the new wave: KEF, Quad, IMF, Celestion, Wharfedale, Rogers, Radford, Leak ... Is the UK hi fi industry better off for having Laurie Fincham and Andy Jones working in California? Absolutely not!
Doug Self can fall into this dismissive camp. For instance over the need for regulated supplies. But in his small signals book we find him wondering why he isn't getting the rejection he expects in his output stage (and says so without conclusion - though it ought to be clear to him why, as it is to me). But does this change his stance on regulation - not one jot. I fall short of your view that he is a 'must read' contributor (though I mostly do read) for this reason and because much of what he writes is not to teach but perhaps for other reasons. There is also the commercial imperative which means he withholds many of his conclusions. In this respect I would contrast him with Bob Cordell who genuinely is trying to get as much of his knowledge out there as possible, or at least get everyone up to a certain standard. But in general I concur with what a friend of mine said of Doug Self which is that the world is a better place with him in it than without him.