@holmz Good. We agree, then, that "there is new stuff happening." That makes sense to me, too. It's what others here have said regarding advances in materials in the speaker industry.
Speakers: Anything really new under the sun?
After a 20-year hiatus (kids, braces, college, a couple of new roofs, etc.) I'm slowly getting back into hi-fi. My question: is there really anything significantly new in speakers design/development/materials? I'm a bit surprised that the majority of what I see continues to be some variation of a 2- or 3-way design -- many using off-the-shelf drivers -- in a box (usually MDF at it core) with a crossover consisting of a handful of very common, relatively inexpensive components. I'm asking in all sincerity so please don't bash me. I'm not trying to provoke or prove anything, I'm just genuinely curious. What, if anything, has really changed? Would love to hear from some speaker companies/builders here. Also, before one of you kindly tells me I shouldn't worry about new technologies or processes and just go listen for myself -- I get it -- I'll always let my ear be my guide. However, after 20 years, I'm hoping there's been some progress I may be missing. Also, I unfortunately live in a hifi-challenged part of the country -- the closest decent hifi dealer is nearly 3 hours away -- so I can't just run out and listen to a bunch of new speakers. Would appreciate your insights.
- ...
- 129 posts total
Would be nice to know your budget. If you think the speaker industry has stood still over 20 years, well then go buy some vintage speakers or stay with what you have. Ignorance is bliss. That said, there have been meaningful developments in design, crossovers, drivers, and cabinets. Just a couple examples, I agree with a prior post about Spatial and would add Boenicke. Even If you’re serious you should travel to a show or two or to go to some dealers for speakers you’re interested in. If you’re serious about this, IMHO it’s well worth the effort/expense, and FUN. Best of luck. |
In the 1920s-30s, the world's largest corporations used nearly unlimited resources and the best engineers around to design almost all loudspeaker types we use today. Some from that era are still considered to be wonderful sounding and are highly desired today. http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/lmco/shearer.htm https://www.martinlogan.com/en/electrostatic-loudspeaker-history |
Very interesting fact for me.... I already knows that many type of speakers existed for a long time, but these articles express it clearly... Thanks... Fort sure there is innovations about all aspects of speakers design each year it is simple to verify... It is also simple to EXPERIMENT that acooustic of small room make all the difference in the world for ANY speakers type... Then nevermind your speakers choice the biggest improvement will come from the small room treatment and acoustical mechanical control...Simple to verify if you listen to the same speakers in a room well treated and under mechanical control, before and after, or if you listen the same speakers in any different room... Why? because the perception of ALL acoustic cues are completed and translated only wheen the interaction between the speakers and the room is coming to your ears/brain in two way because you have 2 ears and by 3 sources: two speakers and the room itself... Timbre, dynamic, imaging, soundstage,listener envelopment, etc, any acoustic cues result from the speakers/room relation to your ears...No acoustical cues is ACOUSTICALLY contained in the source, the acoustical cues in the source are an analog/digital information about the recorded acoustical original chosen cues who wait to be translated by the relation speakers drivers/room walls and acoustical content....Acoustic experience is not the analog/digital written information, this information need to be physically translated to reach your ears...It is described by two complementary science : physical acoustic and psycho-acoustic... The digital or analog MAP of waves in an album or cd is not a listened wave coming from a speaker/ room... You need wood and air to have fire, you need physical translation of wave phenomemon in air to have sound... What audio call material REPRODUCTION of sound in the analog/digital engineering perspective will be better described as an acoustical TRANSLATION between two environment modulo human ears...
|
Yep - new stuff is happening, and that is a general fact.
How would one be going about knowing whether any of the new tech is in the speakers he mentioned?
This whole thing is like like talking about transportation being improved and pointing to mag-lev trains and Virgin corp tourist space flights as proof. So the technology trickle down is more “hopeful” in the context of the OP’s $2000 speaker… than something factual on a different brand’s $10000 speaker set. We literally have no idea on these Mission Audio speakers other than their sales pitch, and reviews. Their website is somewhat thin on metrics, so how do we know what is happening and what tech entered into them? https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/product-ranges/silver-series-7g/silver-200-7g/ Being personally unable to point to any facts, I have to encourage the OP to continue being happy with their existing MA speakers, until they have a way to verify that the new ones are a worthwhile improvement. |
- 129 posts total