Which speaker did B&W make that was time and phase correct? I am not saying they didn't, I just don't recall it.
Also, there are others stepping in to fill the niche left by Thiel. However, they are not in the traditional sense like Thiel or Vandersteen in that they are using digital to achieve the phase coherence. Kii Audio, the newest line of Meadowlark Audio speakers, and the new Eikon Audio speakers shown at Axpona are examples of it. I spoke with another manufacturer at the show and was told that they would do a custom, fully active, digitally controlled speaker. The problem with the old sloped baffle, first order speakers is that very few drivers made were up to the task without use of notch filters, etc. and the cabinets can be complex to build. The advantage with digital is that steep filters can be used and out of band behavior can be controlled without messing up the phase. Room correction and equalization are all done in the digital domain, again without messing up phase. Drivers can be used in their linear band and system power handling will go up. That makes the selection of drivers that can be used much, much larger. Plus, the crappy passive filters are out of the signal path. However, there are trade offs. A 3 way would use 3 stereo amps or have the amps built into the speaker. That would be a tough sell with most audiophiles as they all have their own favorite amplifier and wouldn't want to not have the ability to change amplifiers from what the manufacturer chose. That or they wouldn't want the complexity of having multiple amplifiers of their own choosing. It is intriguing thought to have only a digital source, an I-pad and a speaker system and have first rate, fully adjustable, phase correct sound in your room. Change is tough because it is human nature to resist it. With the advances in digital processing, these systems appear to have a lot of promise.
Also, there are others stepping in to fill the niche left by Thiel. However, they are not in the traditional sense like Thiel or Vandersteen in that they are using digital to achieve the phase coherence. Kii Audio, the newest line of Meadowlark Audio speakers, and the new Eikon Audio speakers shown at Axpona are examples of it. I spoke with another manufacturer at the show and was told that they would do a custom, fully active, digitally controlled speaker. The problem with the old sloped baffle, first order speakers is that very few drivers made were up to the task without use of notch filters, etc. and the cabinets can be complex to build. The advantage with digital is that steep filters can be used and out of band behavior can be controlled without messing up the phase. Room correction and equalization are all done in the digital domain, again without messing up phase. Drivers can be used in their linear band and system power handling will go up. That makes the selection of drivers that can be used much, much larger. Plus, the crappy passive filters are out of the signal path. However, there are trade offs. A 3 way would use 3 stereo amps or have the amps built into the speaker. That would be a tough sell with most audiophiles as they all have their own favorite amplifier and wouldn't want to not have the ability to change amplifiers from what the manufacturer chose. That or they wouldn't want the complexity of having multiple amplifiers of their own choosing. It is intriguing thought to have only a digital source, an I-pad and a speaker system and have first rate, fully adjustable, phase correct sound in your room. Change is tough because it is human nature to resist it. With the advances in digital processing, these systems appear to have a lot of promise.