Speaker Technology over the last 10 years

>Technically speaking, the near field ends at the critical distance where direct sound and reverberant field are equal. With conventional speakers in a domestic environment that point is at 2-4 feet from the speaker. By the time you get a comfortable 8' out the sound you're hearing from your speakers is 6-12dB below the direct sound.

The last direct should read "reverberant".

>>04-14-09: Mrtennis
you can blindfold me and i will<<

I think a gag is a better idea than a blindfold

And really, who cares if you can do this? It proves nothing.

Give it a rest.

To audiofeil's point - it is all about preferences in this hobby.

No real breakthroughs or advancements apart from capacitors with lower harmonics and slightly faster settling woofers. Some manufacturers finally decided the shape of the cabinet was important enough to dictate design and that was known in the 1950s.

The new diamond tweeters have low harmonics but slow rise and settling time. JM Labs Beryllium now have higher frequency extension but no other improvements or differences over previous Yamaha beryllium designs of the 1970s, as the measurements reflect in addition to listening.

To audiofeil's point - it is all about preferences in this hobby.

Exactly - the hobby is nothing more than fashion or fad.