Speaker Technology over the last 10 years

04-20-09: Unsound
Johnny, perhaps I was thinking beyond budget speakers, I'm not at all convinced that "more efficient" speaker designs sound better. I can give you examples of some of todays speakers that are harder to drive, and have less bass response and cost much money than their predecessors.

I've had low sensitivity speakers and higher sensitivity speakers, and all other things being equal, I'll take the more sensitive ones. It's like quadrupling your amp power and doubling your dynamic range.

But you raise a really important point: If some manufacturers' speakers perform worse and cost more money, they're ripping their customers off or have a bad business model.

But there are upscale speakers that are improving as well, perhaps at high cost, but are improved just the same. The Wilson Maxx 3 and latest version of the Alexandria are stunning, and are more coherent than their predecessors.

I also like what Sonus Faber is doing as well as JM Labs.

BTW, you have no idea as to where I go and how often I do.

Ahh, I was just goofing off, and had a goofy emoticon to prove it: :-0

Johnnyb53, while I tend to agree with you re: "some manufactures' speakers perform worse and cost more money..." In all fairness I suspect that sometimes some of those manufactuers' might have been working towards different priorities or market considerations. Never the less I find the higher prices of todays products not necessarily in line with higher performance, again value.
Perhaps I goofed, the "emoticon" went over my head.

Well, Unsound, why not name some names? Who's making speakers that perform worse and cost more? I don't doubt your word that they exist; I just don't know anything about them.

What I've been amazed at is how the entry-level and mid-level of audiophile speakers is performing at levels previously held only by the most expensive gear. I already mentioned the $479 PSB Image B25. The PSBs continue to improve in dynamics and bass extension (while retaining that flat, smooth frequency response) as you move up their price/quality scale into the $4K-$6K range.

Hell, a recent Absolute Sound had a gush review over the Cerwin-Vega CLS-215 speakers, some floorstanding 3-ways with two 15" woofers that weigh about 115 lbs each. are 92dB efficient at 1KHz, and can absorb up to 500 watts. And they sound good, scale down, and do human voice particularly well. The ultimate frat-house speaker for about $1K/pair. The review mentioned that these speakers are not only *very* listenable for acoustic and small group music, they also have the kind of dynamic range you usually have to pay very big bucks to get.

Ten years ago, when someone came to me for a sub<$1K speaker recommendation, I had to scour the internet to find them a deal. Now there are so many decent $1K speakers I don't know where to start--PSB, Paradigm, Mirage, Revel, Infinity, Totem Rainmaker, JM Labs, B&W, Magnepan..., stand-mounted, columns, panels...

Johnny,

Lots of folks have blamed David Wilson for a "premium pricing war" that has surely escalated over the last decade. There are tons of >$10,000 speakers out there and many that cost more than 10X that. Even adjusted for inflation, I don't think there were many speakers carrying this type of price tag 1 or 2 decades ago. Each of these mega-bux models has, I'm sure, it's fans, and each, in its own way may (or may not) advance the state of the art, but I also believe that, as a group, they represent deterioration in value.

So, to name names:

Choose from Wilson, Magico, Cabasse, German Physics, MBL,YG, & many others at the 6 figure level.
Focal, Verity, Snell, Canton, Sonus Faber, Hansen, Burmester, etc at the mid to high 5 figure level.

I name so many because I don't want to "slam" any single manufacturer. Any one of this group may represent great value to a given listener. As a group, I have my doubts.

Marty

I have a question on distortion. I've read several times that box speakers have much higher distortion than panels (ESL's)? The box itself is apparently the culprit with measured distortion of 4% or more not being uncommon. In comparison distortion on panels has been found in some instances to be almost unmeasurable.

I have also read that because the radiating surface of panels is so large and because their forward energy is so great that the room vs. speaker interface (or the impact of the room) is less problematic than small box speakers with cones. Any comment on this?