Sound quality of Newer versus Older speakers

The very best example of imagery that I ever heard was during an audition of a Quad ESL. The baritone sounded palpably three dimensional between the speakers.

So of course I had to buy them.

However my experiences at home were not so good (I later learned on here that my Naim amps were not the best match - the seller was using Quad amps, valve I think).

Still, I have to admit that no speaker that I’ve heard since (>25 years ago) has been able to recreate such ’reach out and touch’ imagery as those Quads did.

I think that your experience with the Quad was probably less caused by the pairing with your amplifier than  room acoustic....

I own average good speakers Mission Cyrus 781 and what you described i never have it with my speakers BEFORE my acoustical controls installation...

After that their imaging,3-d holography and listener envelopment factor by 100%...

Acoustic controls  is the most powerful upgrade anyone could do...

In my experience it’s the evolution of amplification that has driven speaker design.  In the 60 and early 70s even 35 watts of solid state was considered high power.  Horn midrange or 12 inch woofers were common because of their efficiencies.  This led to broad cabinets that brought attention to themselves as the sound source and deep bass that by today’s standards would be called muffled or wooly.   Cheaper watts and high current have freed speaker designers to experiment with cabinet designs, drivers and crossovers.

Spendor BC-1.

indeed ...  ❤❤❤

I have Vandersteen 1Bs, about 25 years old.  I took them to Miller Sound assuming they should be re furbished but was told they were fine. Mr. Miller stated that as long as speakers have not been exposed to dampness, or other harsh conditions, they'll last a very long time. I think he was right. They do sound great.  

Hi @tennisdoc56 

Cheap watts leaded us to wrong direction - low sensitive speakers.
low sensitive = compression!
You can do nothing with low of physics. Hight power heats voice coil and cause thermal distortion including compression.
You can use nuclear plant power for amplification it wouldn't fix compression of low sensitive speakers.