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

tomcy6 --

Thanks for your reply.

As 213runnin pointed out, we could go back to the moon today but we couldn’t do most of what’s being done today in the 60s. Go to Space.com or the Hubble Telescope website to see some awe inspiring pictures. People were excited about going to the moon because no one had ever done it before. I doubt it would cause much excitement today and would instead be considered a colossal waste of money, something else our government is much better at today. :)

Think of the audiophile as a space voyager. Would he or she be more excited about working on a space station circling the earth in close orbit for 90 days, or walking on the moon for a few hours? Walking on the moon has been done before, yes, but for the man or woman to actually walk on its powdery surface, to take in the vista of being outside in space (albeit in a spacesuit), looking at the earth hanging out there in the darkness as something that can supposedly be hidden behind the thumb of a stretched out arm (so it has been told), really walking on another celestial body - this is most definitely an Experience that is bound to change a person, or so I believe. With limited tech they took a giant leap (sorry for the pun), a pioneering spirit I’d like to see re-invigorated with todays technology.

I don’t know what you mean by "I’d aim higher than that" but let me guess and rephrase my point.

Todays speakers create a greater sense of awe and are more practical and attractive to the vast majority of listeners than 30s speakers would be if they were widely available. People talking in movies inspired awe in people in the 20s, but it no longer does, even though the soundtracks of current movies are far more sophisticated.

There are a few systems around using 30s speakers that may sound very good and are the "best" sounding to the people that own them, but, given the choice, the vast majority of people would prefer a system using current technology. This is a matter of taste and anyone who prefers 30s speakers will get no argument from me on whether they are the "best" FOR THEM. I fully acknowledge that 30s speakers are the "best" to the people that love them and would not try to convince them that they could get better sound from modern speakers.

There’s a lot to comment on here. "Aiming a little higher" would, in effect, be questioning your claim that "the vast majority of people would prefer a system using current technology," insofar we’re talking typically newer designs. Most people haven’t even heard 30’s speakers (or their kind), so where’s the reference other than speculation? And let’s not get too fixated on whether speakers are from the 30’s or 60’s, or even build today based on older designs but refined with contemporary technology. The main point I feel is the type of speaker being addressed, and this involves primarily bigger size and higher efficiency (and, in effect, the use of horns). Practical issues at present often involves technology to work around size (and price) constrains, among other things, and this is rarely about achieving the best sound quality in absolute terms, but more how to minimize and work around the effects of a variety of practical limitations. I also fully acknowledge taste and whatever’s "best for me," just as well as many won’t be able to house a pair of very large speakers, but let’s not forget that "practical and attractive" is no measure into achieving the best in sound quality.

However, I would put my money on the best current systems sounding better than the best 30s systems to, say, 90% of listeners.

That’s a bold claim, and one difficult to test. I wouldn’t bet on it :)

No doubt, there a great sounding current designs. A week ago I listened to a pair of Peak Consult Typhoeus Momentum at the factory in Denmark (retail price: over €100,000/pair) with Chord preamp and CD-player + Gryphon Antelion poweramp, and their sound boggled my mind. Absolutely amazing. And yet, a great sounding horn system can do something different; adding a sense of tactility, presence and even more ease that ultimately blurs the distinction between what’s reproduced and live to a fuller extent. But that’s just me.

So much for using moon travel as an analogy :) Sorry if it caused a derailment of the thread..

Well, on sound quality, I guess we'll have to disagree and leave it at that. I intend to look for better sound in new products and I hope that someday you'll find a pair of antique theater speakers to enjoy.

Didn't mean for above reply of mine to stop the discussion. Hell, my own speakers are almost brand new (~half a year), with modern (i.e.: new) components all around, though based on a design that originates over 50 years ago; the 15" bass drivers are more or less replicas of the ones developed for the earlier Klipsch La Scala/Belle bass horns, meaning light and stiff paper cones with treated cloth surrounds, lightweight voice coils, and high compliance (Fs: 26Hz) - a type of unit rarely built today due to its limited use, the closest design-"siblings" perhaps being the GPA 515 units (replicas of Altec's 515) and the hellishly expensive Vitavox 151/152 drivers. The midrange compression driver is, apart from the neodymium magnet, almost a clone of RCA's MI-1428B field coil driver, which was built in the 30's - highly regarded units in use even today.  So, while there are certainly vintage elements in my speakers, the componentry is all-new. Shearer horns would simply be too imposing in the room-space afforded in my case (and would totally block my 127" fixed projector screen ;)).

The sad part, as I see it, is that we rarely see a fusing of modern day technology with old-school, physically larger and high efficiency designs. I understand the practical limitations that large-size speakers causes, but if there's really a tendency of people generally having bigger rooms at their disposal today, it seems a mere priority to allow for such speakers to take up more space and let them act as furniture.

What a waist. Listening to a great pair of speakers with cd player instead of turntable or reel to reel deck. At the very least they could've done full Gryphon electronics, why Chord and Gryphon in one chain?