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Loudspeakers have we really made that much progress since the 1930s?

Since I have a slight grasp on the history or loudspeaker design. And what is possible with modern. I do wonder if we have really made that much progress. I have access to some of the most modern transducers and design equipment. I also have  large collection of vintage.  I tend to spend the most time listening to my 1930 Shearer horns. For they do most things a good bit better than even the most advanced loudspeakers available. And I am not the only one to think so I have had a good num of designers retailers etc give them a listen. Sure weak points of the past are audible. These designs were meant to cover frequency ranges at the time. So adding a tweeter moves them up to modern performance. To me the tweeter has shown the most advancement in transducers but not so much the rest. Sure things are smaller but they really do not sound close to the Shearer.  http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/lmco/shearer.htm
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johnk's avatar
johnk OP
1,976 posts
 
Electrostatics and planars are all 1930s inventions. And for others small to me that sounds worse than many 1930s designs isn't a advancement in sound quality but a advancement in convenience  and  cost cutting etc. Think a few have missed my point and keep pointing to what they think is a modern idea but was created in the 1920-30s 
johnk's avatar
johnk OP
1,976 posts
 
MBL are ribbons well designed ribbons but ribbon techs near a 100 years old
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,261 posts
 
Johnk, by that standard there has been no improvement in wireless communication since Marconi in 1895?  Just because something was invented doesn't mean it
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,502 posts
 
Walsh drivers were conceived and realized in the 1960s.   
timlub
2,042 posts
 

Hi John,

      Even though what you post is correct. The arguments that you make are really out of context compared to the title of the thread that you have created... Yes, there has been huge advancements.  Yes the dome was invented around 1925, most of the technologies that we use were created between 1925 and 1930.

The Rice and Kellogg patents for the dome that your reference do not show a rim-driven, direct-radiator device designed for high frequencies, it wasn't until the late 1950's that the dome anywhere near how we know it started being used.... Rice and Kellogg experimented widely with all types of transducers.

There are too many to name above, but some excellent points made about advancements.  Maybe I mis took the original point. 

One of the best speakers that I had ever heard ... at least in high frequencies was the Hill Plasmatronic.  Not sure is Hill designed the plasma driver or if it was from the early days,  but there is a technology that I personally haven't seen before or since.

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