Which SPEAKER for the 21ST century?

Hi tweekerman. Have you heard a Lowther driver or it's equivalent? From your statement "never heard a midrange cone that produced high fidelity sound" I would have to venture a guess that you have not, or that you've heard them in highly colored boxes. Of all the things you can say bad about these drivers, midrange is not a weak point. That is the very reason most people buy them. The midrange is world class.

Have you heard the pipedreams? They use cone drivers and sound exquisite? Very expensive, but they sound great.

My dream speaker, for the 21st century, would be extremely efficient (+100db), full range (goes down to 20hz), have a generous sweet spot, and be relatively compact (48x10x20). And, of course be musical, dynamic, and have an accurate tonal balance. One more thing it would cost less the $5k retail.

Now back to reality.

Currently, ribbons are too inefficient to be used full range, and would preclude SET amplification, but may have no peer when it comes to speed and producing a natural sound (Apogees were great but needed a lot of power). Single drivers (Lowther, TAD, Mits) do not have the extension (on the top and bottom), weight, and they beam. Also, they are too big if you want to get any bass out of them. Dynamic cones are cheaper and easier to manufacture and can move a lot of air, but give up the immediacy of ribbons, especially from the midrange up.

I actually do not care what drivers this new 21st century speaker uses so long as it all works well together. Extrapolating on the current technology this "speaker" would have to be some sort of hybrid with dynamic cones, possibly active and hopefully have a ribbon midrange and/or tweeter. I think some older designs with new technology might be viable. How about redesigning the Infinity RS-2bs (with their open baffle "ribbon" tweeter and midrange and sealed subwoofer) to become more efficient with an active subwoofer?

So far i have NOT received 1 response that answers any of the above questions satisfactorily. I'm sure this web site has more than 4 members. How can anybody be satisfied with the majority of speakers out there.

Tweekerman, perhaps my political correctness in protecting newer cone speaker designs was too much. I cannot imagine a better speaker than Soundlab, and only wonder how much better they can be in the next version.

If you could hear Ultimate One Soundlabs set up with analog and all tubes you would have no reservations about what ultimate performance can be.

Provided the room acoustics are engineered properly, and all the electrical is dedicated and grounded properly, there is less compromise in the musical performance than differences experienced from one performance hall and another.

The one reservation in my statement is DETAILS. Details are what make the difference in any system, and the higher end one strives for in performance, the narrower the margin for error. The art of making a music system as perfect as it can get is much greater than the sum of it's parts.

In short, even if a "perfect" speaker existed, and it never will, some owners will have worse sound than we have today, because they simply cannot get the rest of the system right.

Okay. Here goes:

1. Yes. Speakers are the most important component in our systems.

2. No. New materials are always being developed; lighter materials for cones, stronger magnets, etc.

3.,4.,5. Possibly. Electrostats may improve like any other technology, but there does not seem to be a whole lot of interest in this technology. Reducing size seems even more unlikely, as the panel vibrates so minutely that the only way to get bass volume would require large panels. Cost would be dictated by its market acceptance. Large panels in the living room have low WAF, so lower prices are unlikely.

6. The "new tech ribbons" if they exist have the best chance of succeeding if they can be efficient, but only when used with dynamic cones. Read my earlier post.

I think the bigger issue with regard to speaker design breakthroughs is that our best and brightest minds are not working on them. The suckout is probably due to computer technology and all its relatives. And also, the relative lack of profit potential, both on sole proprieter and big business levels. Think about it, over that last 18 years (the length of time I've been involved in audio) has there really been any major breakthroughs? Back then, there were some systems (all analog) that provided as much or even more emotional impact than any system I've heard today, even though it may not have been as refined or transparent.