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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
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unsound
7,329 posts
 
johnk (OP) ..."He also was marketing product so had a bit of bias towards his own work."...
salectric
755 posts
 
@Shadorne, 

I am glad you enjoy your modern speakers with 30 do less distortion.  The last thing we need is anyone else driving up the cost of "inferior" vintage gear.  
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@salectric


No wish from me to rain on anyone’s parade. Horns can and do sound fantastic - it is all about the quality of drivers and the design - 2nd harmonic changes the timbre (more euphonic) but it is not bad sounding like odd harmonics. Magico’s most expensive design is a horn. It is just that this thread says claims "not much progress" since 1930’s. So I was just trying to show how there has been progress.


realthing
45 posts
 
A look at some of the recently posted ancient Lansing and Altec advertising literature on audioheritage tells a good story. The answer is of course yes, things have advanced, but the quantum leaps took place then. Today's biggest advantage is in affordability (despite the puny looking prices in the old catalogs, non-inflation adjusted). Since the 50s certainly, it's just been a matter of cost reduction, miniaturization and refinement. One of the clearest and best symphonic recordings I have (from an RCA cd) is Rubinstein recorded by RCA in 1956 and, of course, mastered and monitored using contemporary equipment. So at the top end at least, things have clearly been pretty darn good for a long time.

And BTW horns are nonpariel when used properly, something challenging to do.
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