vintage versus modern speakers

Wow, that was quite a post!

I did a comparison of my own with a higher end Denon avr(3801) in 2 channel mode. I compared some 80's -90's speakers from Paradigm, polk audio, Mission, Boston Acoustics and Mirage. These were all just popular speakers that retailed for under 1000 except the Missions.

I've also got some almost new Tannoy DC 4 with the dual concentric drivers, mind you in a 4" version. They sounded better than all of them in the mids and highs reproduction. The Bostons sounded best with 80's rock, but with all of them the inner detail, the finer resolution was not there. The Missions were simply too bright for me.

I would submit that maybe you could get speakers back in the day with equivalent sound reproduction of today's better speakers. But now you can get that for a lot less money due to better manufacturing technology and materials.

And a 20-30 yr old speaker is going to develop issues with foam rot or crossovers. Most people are not speaker repair technicians.

Let me understand everyone's argument here. You are saying that If I spent $1500 on the used top of the line speakers from the seventies that were priced at tens of thousands of dollars then, but I can get for $1500 used now (in perfect working order!!) that new speakers that costs $1500 today are better sounding??? I'm not sure I agree with that assessment. Maybe, but I'm not sure.

If I found a pair of top of the line Infinity Kappa speakers that costs about $20,000 in the seventies, vs new speakers today that retail for $1500, I'm pretty sure the Infinities would be better sounding. Assuming that parts are all in good shape.

That would be my concern. Are the crossovers and drivers in good to excellent condition? The surrounds are probably dried out and cracked.

But, straight up, a NOS pair of excellent condition seventies top of the line speakers that I can buy now for $1500 vs brand new $1500 speakers today? Hmmmmmmm.

enjoy

But now you can get that for a lot less money due to better manufacturing technology and materials.

I disagree! Runnin, that's what I'm trying to say - today's newer materials have not necessarily translated into better sonics. For 99% of the speakers in today's market, that's an emphatic 'no' from my experience.

02-09-15: Runnin
Wow, that was quite a post!

LOL! :-) glad you "liked" it, Runnin....

one more point to the OP - make sure that the speakers you select are suitable for the Voltage Paradigm (as opposed to the Power Paradigm) since you will be using a solid-state power amp.
You can search the Audiogon archives for Power Paradigm & you'll find that Ralph from Atma-sphere has very generously given us a lot of info on this subject. Good topic to be versed in. Now, most of the speakers are voltage paradigm but not all of them are. If the speaker is currently manuf, the manuf will be able to shed light on what sort of amp works the best. If it's an out-of-production speaker, troll Google to get as much info you can on that speaker....
Probably more info than you bargained for but IMO important info to make a wise/educated selection. FWIW.

I'll guess we'll have to disagree then. The modern woofer/driver has long throw movement that wasn't possible in the 70's. Expensive designs have become cheap to manufacture, and improvements have trickled down to budget lines. The cone materials today can be stiffer, lighter, and therefore faster. Cabinets can be engineered by computer with programming that's done faster and better than any old school methods.

How long are the caps in a 30 yr old speaker going to last? Is it still even running within spec? In the 30 years, how often has it been abused? I've refoamed several speakers and it's not the easiest to do. Like I said, most people are not speaker technicians.

I think some are simply used, familiar and accustomed to the sound characteristics of their old school speakers. Anything new will of course be different, and immediately viewed as inferior.