Sound quality of Newer versus Older speakers

There was no need for subwoofers with the older speakers, unless they were bookshelf type.  Even some of them did a reasonable job. 
There was a push for "clarity" in the late 70's and onward for mids and highs to be extended. Now, even with floor standers you need a sub to cover the low end frequency. I understand the need to cut back on the low frequency to get clarity but the pendulum has swing too far imo.  But it has created a new market for subs that didn't exist before the great push for midrange.

@artemus_5 ,

Loudspeaker design seems no more immune to the vagaries of fashion than anything else.

Huge boxes, big boxes, smaller boxes, thin tall boxes, sealed boxes, ported boxes, horned boxes, backless boxes, paper cones, plastic cones, metal cones, hemp cones, kevlar cones, ribbons, panels, 1 way, 2 way, 3 way, multi drivers etc etc.

Perhaps we should ask whether any loudspeaker ever managed to surpass the 1957 Quad ESL?

Or are we still just going around in circles sampling different dishes off the same menu?

Fish or steak sir? With wine or port?

I think the vast majority of improvements have been in materials development. Some very high tech and some not so much. I worked for AR back in the late 80's and we did a HUGE business replacing drive units who's foam surrounds deteriorated. This is mostly due to UV, heat, and humidity. And it wasn't just production speakers. We supplied Mark Levinson's Cello Amati with the same bass driver from the AR 9. We literally were sending container loads directly from the driver manufacturer in Japan (Culver Tonnegen) to our Asian and European distributors. In addition, the electrolytic caps were long term time bombs and film caps were only put in high-end models back then. We were just getting into light metal domes back then (Ti mostly) and quite frankly, they sounded wretched to my ears. Today the designers have so many more affordable options. 

@cd318


I believe Solomon said it best, "There is Nothing New under the sun". But marketers won’t say that nor will the built in obsolescence allow it. Perhaps the Paradox of life is that "the more that things change, the more they stay the same".

20 years ago (or even 10 years ago) many people wanted a Hi-Fi system in their homes. People back then were more discerning and picky about audio equipment. For this reason, separates systems with amps, CD players, tuners and even cassette players were the norm. 

in the late 1990s and early 2000s, that norm started to change. Audio as an industry became synonymous with convenience. iPods and other mp3 players started to take over. Some manufacturers of Hi-Fi gear shifted their focus based on market research. Some stayed the course as well,  but if you wanted better audio quality there would a price to pay.

The same is true today. Vintage speakers can provide better overall sound quality vs. basic speakers today because they were originally made for a completely different audience. Not all, look for flagship speakers.