Vintage versus New

Does today's technology make these vintage speakers obsolete?

What technology?

You will find that there were people with technical acumen back in the day, and people now with it.
You will not find cheap speakers today that have all problems addressed, and compromises optimised. But you will at a higher price point.

Now if you are not talking about cabinets and diffraction… and hence not talking about “speakers” and then referring more to “drivers”… then yes, the drivers are generally getting better. But you will also not find state of the art drivers sneaking their way into cheaper boxes.

But if one had vintage speakers, and lost a driver, then replacing them makes sense. But changing out compression drivers in horns can be a bit of a complicated DIY adventure. It is not always just a screwdriver job.

Quad 57s are one of the few vintage speakers that I think is still relevant and competitive. Keep in mind that chances are good that you will need the 57s redone if they are untouched after purchase.. With few exceptions, speakers are much better today than in the past. I have no interest in horns and little knowledge so I cant comment on the old compression drivers and the like. 

@holmz I'm using the word 'speakers' in general terms. From my limited understanding, the crossovers used today are different, as are the woofers and tweeters. I believe the drivers on the Electrovoice speakers weighed about fifty pounds each. They only need one watt per 90 decibels of power. There are people who are restoring them and doing modifications but it seems like more of a novelty than anything.

@audition__audio yeah, I really like the 57's a lot but they are too lacking in bass. If I had 57's, I'd want to create a stack.

Don’t know anything about quads but the biggest difference I hear from vintage or even 20 years ago from today are the highs (tweeters).