Speaker Technology over the last 10 years

I read Entrope's response above with a smile. I just rebuilt my 32 year old New Large Advents I bought new in '77 - crossovers and refoam. I was suprised at how good they sound. I hear a little less coherence than on more expensive speakers but, ya know, the thing is, I believe it's mostly the 1/2" mdf cabinets that are really their only weakness. From my experience with the rebuild, I would say nearly all the improvements in speakers are in the cabinetry. I bet those Advents would sound real good with solid, well-braced cabinets. I knew a dealer who said he could tell how good a speaker was by rapping his knuckles on the cabinet and nothing more. I tend to believe think there's something to that.

I am not sure speaker tech has advanced exponentially like sources for instance.I would say the incredible prices are mostly cosmetic like stuff any cabinet maker can duplicate.The quality oldies are still covering 90% of what you can hear,YMMV,Bob

I definitely agree with the above. Most of the focus these days is on the cosmetic. Bookmatched veneers, piano gloss finish, and jewel-like binding posts are what seems to attract too many buyers.

The best drivers have improved, but a lot of that has been negated by the fading away of folks who understand crossovers, which are more important than the actual drivers themselves.

I have a few friends who build speakers, and in all honesty, their knowledge of crossovers is almost nonexistent. One has a design that was given to him, and despite making other changes to the speaker, he steadfastly refuses to change the crossover, as he simply doesn't understand them. Sadly, most folks are afraid of mathematics these days, and that holds things back.

From a technical standpoint, we've more or less returned to a long ago time. Gone are the days when the likes of designs like Quad, Magneplanar, Apogee, and Ohm are on the horizon.

Trelja, All that you say may be true and probably is, and I just came late to the party, but I have been astonished by the clarity brought to some boxes by introduction of tweeters like a properly integrated Dynaudio Esotar. I must admit I don't miss my Quads much anymore (I've still got them in the closet in case I get angst ridden). :-)

Even if speaker design were to stand still, there are so many designs out there now it would take more than one lifetime to explore them all in your own room. If you could manage to do that, then just change the room and start all over again.