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
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.
OK- so 50s tech is out- the gist I'm getting here is that for you the 1930s was the pinnacle of loudspeaker technology? Is that a fair statement?

Could you point out the spot where I admit to no experience with 30's loudspeakers? I don't think that is correct. Like Al, I've done lots of restoration of older pre-war radios, some of which were rather sophisticated, in particular several large Zeniths (our Novacron amp takes its design aesthetic from a pre-war Zenith) and an Allwave Scott. I've also had exposure to older Western Electric- the large 'Ramhorn' system (there's a set here in the Twin Cities), and at the Munich show there has been for several years a Western Electric system running in a large room that featured 13A horns. I thought it was one of the better sounding rooms at the show- when it was working (one day when I auditioned it one channel was weak).

But one thing that system simple could not do (despite the very large Altec subs) was play deep bass, although the Altec did sound quite nice.

If you want to see the speakers that go to 20Hz, the speaker I have is a custom T-3 made by Classic Audio Loudspeakers. Normally they cut off at 22Hz but I had my cabinets made a bit larger so they would go to 20Hz. They are the size of a mid-sized refrigerator, about 5 1/2 feet high and employ a pair of 15" high-excursion woofers port-loaded. 

That speaker employs a field-coil powered midrange that uses a 3" beryllium diaphragm which in turn has a Kapton surround. This technology did not exist even 30 years ago let alone the 1930s (although field coils were the only game in town back then)! The Kapton surround keeps the diaphragm from cracking and failing and reduces artifacts brought on by low frequencies. The speaker uses a 6db slope crossed over at 500Hz so this is rather important! Because the diaphragm is lighter and has no breakups, it is smoother and more detailed than compression drivers that don't use the same technology, which is to say: all drivers made in the 1930s.   Since the field coil has to be powered by a power supply, the power supply is thus part of the improvement: technology that simply didn't exist back in the 1930s. I know these days a lot of people go for Tungar rectifiers (which by all accounts seem to introduce hum). I have a box of them sitting in my office. The hum comes from the simple fact that the power supply can't be properly bypassed (without damaging the Tungar). This means that a certain amount of intermodulation with the hum frequency is impossible to avoid. That's a coloration. You might like it, but there is no way its more accurate!
No discussion. Stronger frames, magnets, cones, and flat wound voice coils rule, unless you are using the power of a 1930's amp. 
My tungars on my WE 13A dont hum again saying all tungars hum is simply not true. Also the classic audio reproduction is using 1930s tech its just using modern materials.  A speaker like your CAR is a very good example of 1930s tech modernized. My point is that today we are basically building modernized versions of the pasts work. Your example of a BE dome doesnt negate the fact that its a dome FC compression driver and that is 1920s tech. Other comments about better materials or computer aided design forget that they are all still dynamic ribbon planar estat comp etc all early inventions that we use modern material science to supposedly improve. We dont have the innovation today and that is something I truly believe we dont take chances our design is limited by the power of computer software not the unlimited power of the human mind. Thus my statement was have-we-really-made-that-much-progress-since-the-1930s and I still think we have not.
Speaking of old School and builds the Cabinet is at least 1/2 responsible  for the Loudspeakers fidelity . I found a great cabinet builder in TN that uses what myself and many the finest Birch ply made in Apple ply they use only1/16 th thick  laminate sheets  up to 1 inch and the best plays are from cold climate Ruseia and east Poland the grain is tighter and more dense but $$ . 
I am using a never advertised but very Good Audio Nirvana 15 inch Alnico driver 
with Whizzer. In the 5.6 cubic ft driver a Bass reflex with 6 inch port 
where the 13 Cubic foot is their top. At least Audio Nirvana will provide you with 
cabinet building plans when you buy from them.i have owned a audio store for years in the UK and many others . I now have a SE pass labs F6 clone amp 
and Masterpiece 300b preamp Schiit Audio Gungnir Multibit 
and this system is truly engaging and puts realism in the room .
what many people donot realize is that most recordings are lucky yo get under 
40 HZ. My speakers will cleanly go to under a True 35 HZ not on paper 
like most speakers and for only one short burst tuneful articulste standup 
Double Bass or Tympany . For $3k delivered I wasted years avoiding 
single dtiver done right ,Driver,and proper built cabinet  work in synergy .
give it a shot  and if you don't build ask Dave for a quality cabinet builder .
the 5.6 CI  cabinet was $1350'stained and sealed with magnetic grill s for $1500
plus shipping the 15 inch Alnico drivers $1100 a pr.  Don't knock it unless you 
have heard them  using the exact loudspeaker geometry for size driver
and Driver that best suits your room .