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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
128x128johnk
salectric
755 posts
 
Larry,

Yes, there is something about the old school paper cone woofers.  The Jensens may not go as deep as modern woofers or have the same impact, at least in my bass reflex cabinets, but they somehow are able to blend seamlessly with the 32 horn and compression driver to create a coherent sound source. 

Coherency is one of my top criteria for judging speakers.  I want a speaker to sound like a single full-range speaker, not a 2-way or 3-way.  If this means giving up some extension in the bass or the highs, that's an acceptable tradeoff for me.   
timlub
2,040 posts
 

"The plasma driver can be traced to 1900 and William Duddles singing arc"

Hi John,  this is the quote from Wikipedia that you supplied when I commented about Plasma drivers... As I had said,  I've heard the Plasmatronics, but didn't know when they originated...

I looked up your William Duddles singing arc....

The singing Arc was a short created between two carbon filaments,  this arc was used as lighting and was poorly done.  It did have an effect of a tone output and was named the singing arc....its frequency was controlled by voltage. Duddles added an LC network trying to filter out the noise so that it would be accepted as a Lamp. With the LC networkvOn this Lamp Duddles found that he could somewhat control frequency.  It did not produce plasma in any way.  As far as they could get with this is that it could re produce the frequency matching of a keyboard and it was done by modulating the voltage of an Electronic arc supply... Fascinating read, but It had nothing to do with how Plasma has been used in a speaker in anyway and certainly did not require a Helium tank to operate.  The Hill Plasmatronics actually used a Helium tank to produce Plasma to play music....

When ever this was first produced,  I do consider this a "Break Through"

Of course, you may still show that it happened in 1906 or something.  I have no idea there.

Tim


213runnin
914 posts
 
Comparing speakers from the 1930's and today is like comparing fighter planes from the 1930's and today.  I really don't understand the comparison.  
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
Certainly gains have been made in speaker design equipment and the parts used to implement ever more refined designs. However, as the owner of a horn hybrid system, I have to agree that the fundamentals of design have not experienced a paradigm shift at all. 
Listen to Atmasphere. Ralph has devoted his life to these matters and has a well-deserved reputation as a straight shooter. 

johnk's avatar
johnk OP
1,975 posts
 
atmasphere EVs, Klipsch, Altec and JBL all are not 1930s. The Altec A7 you use as a example of poor bass its again not a 1930s design but is a affordable down sized design so expecting that to have deep bass and to be a example of design faults from the 1930s is very off. And you say this- Most older speakers simply can’t reproduce it right- certainly nothing from the 30s can- again since you admit no experience with 1930s how can you say such a all encompassing thing. Your argument about old wiring well I see cloths back in and costly as all heck and noted more than a few modern builders that are using screw type connections and bakelite. And you mention a 98db loudspeaker that good to 20hz I would like to see that since Hoffmans iron law it would have to be giant. So thanks for replying etc but you haven't changed my mind.
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