Dirty little secret of Pedigreed, decades old Speaker line - no one will address


For decades ever since it was first launched, all high end competitors have made major revisions to their midrange drivers. Yet YG Acoustics has done so - zero times. It still has the dubious, aluminum cone tech they first introduced.on day one. Their rationale for their supposedly superior construction has been completely rejected by all other companies who have neverconsidered considering imitating it.  They almost seem to be aspiring to copy Paradigm's entry level models (a co. that has ditched them for Beryillium on anything more premium). All while improving the frequency extremes only.  It certainly looks like they're endlessly, dead set on proclaiming it's somehow a feature & not a bug & eternally racing down this dead end. Their U.S. distributor has hired their sales director away to sell a competing brand they ALSO distribute, Vivid - that does have a far more sophisticated midrange driver & does it eve outsell YG.  In one of the distributor's online videos sent out free in their newsletter, the former YG sales guru, proclaims he has never felt nearly so engaged with the music - a clear knock to his old co. YG.  The owner, of said distributor standing right beside him, agreeing & not saying a word to disagree.  YG's response is to update the frequency extremes only, yet again & move down market to create a less expensive line. Even B&W replaced & updated their midrange driver tech, with their continuum. One of the strangest, most determined, longest running, self sabotaging mrkting decisions I've seen in high end audio. There must be the most peculiar, Why animating this but I can't imagine what it would be that remotely serves them.  Can you?

john1

I've never heard a major high end speaker company not improve when they change their mr drivers. Including Rockport, Magico etc. To not even try bothers me. Yes, I have problems with most aluminum midranges, although Vivid was far, far better then most.  No one mentions my criticisms of Wilson which are at least philosophically related.  YG has done some very interesting things with improving silk domes to be sure.  Stuff Wilson won't even reach for.  YG has done a lot of work on improving their bass drivers too & their xovers were always their claim to fame.  To not do a single thing ever over decades to their mr drivers blows my mind but if it doesn't concern others on AG (even as other manufacturers haven't & won't go near it for decades) then G-d bless. Just because I see a lack of integrity applied here but exercised elsewhere, doesn't mean anyone else is necessarily bound to find it the least bit peculiar & worth noting.  I also notice almost all comments address the spirit of what I'm saying, rather then the technical letter of linguistic correctness - which speaks to the intrinsic integrity & honorableness of most AG contributors.  Worth noting.

I don't see how not changing their midrange driver (at least visibly) is an integrity issue by the company. They manufacture their drivers to meet their specifications and design goals for the speakers that they build. I think that actually shows more integrity, not less. They are sticking by what they believe to be the best for their business. If their choice is wrong, the market will sort it out and even potentially put them out of business. Why would that matter at all to any consumer unless one owns their product? All in all, this OP and follow up is a bad take on the situation IMO.

To csmgolf - Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

That & the market hardly sorts out all issues evenly or in every ones interest. Why it might matter to someone who values progress in the audio industry as much as audio journalists who write about just that on our behalf - is not I suggest, a question that should even be asked. All who engage in these forums, ipso facto care in just the way you question.

So I gather you have never listened to the speakers you are ranting about and as for improving drivers, just take a look at KEF. Their UniQ driver has been updated more than a dozen times and each time they also updated the crossovers as well.  Then came the Meta series and they upgraded the crossovers once again.  And they are just one example.

Why it might matter to someone who values progress in the audio industry as much as audio journalists who write about just that on our behalf - is not I suggest, a question that should even be asked. All who engage in these forums, ipso facto care in just the way you question.

 

There have been plenty that have asked that very same question on this thread, so what you just said is not true.  New technology guarantees nothing with respect to improvement. The overall design and end result is what tells the tale. When I have heard YG at shows, what they do well is even tonal balance and good imaging. Would I ever buy them, probably not. On the other hand, there are manufacturers utilizing new technology drivers that have the voicing completely screwed up. B&W comes to mind. Changing because everyone else is using new technology because you want to keep up with the trends and having the product be worse is what is truly foolish.