Speakers: Anything really new under the sun?

@hilde45 I think that we are probably more in alignment than not.

Distortion
Those pistonic drivers, the Accutons, and various beryllium tweeter are covering cone break up.
(But we don’t see them on many low end systems.)

The new Purifi motors, as well as the ScanSpeak motors address more linear motors assemblies.
(And we do not see them on low end systems)

There are also some baskets which are stiller and reflect less energy forwards.

 

Resonance

There were great cabinets in the 80s and 90s which lacked resonances. And even better ones now.
But many singing cabinet boxes exist still.

 

Diffraction:

Diffraction is better known and accounted for now, but maybe not 100%

 

And that is only the mechanical part. There is also the cross over parts, etc.
The lion’s share of innovation has been in the active speaker space.

So yeah we are chipping away at it, but as the market is a driver, low cost usually results in things being cut so the technology is replaced with “good enough”.

Ideally we get really good speakers and they last a life time.
More often it is, “These will do for now.”

 

I’ll take a deep breath and you sir, have a nice evening.

@hilde45 Or, making your old speakers sound better is another option for some models if you don’t like new speakers. Can be fun. Wimslow, Troel’s Gravesen, Madisound, GR Research, others out there just to name a few.  

Wimslow:

https://wilmslowaudio.co.uk (UK)

Troels:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm#Up-Grade_Kits_For_Vintage_Speakers) (DEN)

Madisound:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/madisound (USA)

Referrals/Upgrades:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/speaker-repair (USA)

GR Research,upgrades:

https://gr-research.com/speaker-upgrades/

Neals:

 

Simply Speakers:

 

 

 

@holmz  Thanks for going into more detail, and I was being earnest when I said I wasn't really able to make a judgment. If you say that not much advance has been made in materials for the last twenty years, I can only just say "I don't really know how to judge that statement" and will leave others the happy chore of either affirming or denying your claim with evidence they find salient. I'm here to learn, and you're contributing to that, so thank you!

@hilde45 I am not an expert, it is just my perspective.

So yeah there is new stuff happening. Just it is not happening at $2000/pair.
(IMO)
Or it is limited to a bit here and a bit there.

 

My 35 year old speaker were great in the 80s. And they are still pretty good.

To get really very good speakers is usually going to bring someone into the $5000+ range. (IMO)
 

But then how do we define good, really good, great, and exceptional?
We need a way to do it.

I have offered my opinion that distortion, compression, directivity, impulse response and step response as metrics which can offer us some insight. Unless we have those metrics we can only imagine.

So I, like you, also do not know how to judge statements (nor how to judge subjective descriptions).

Unless a particular speaker has addressed some component of the above list then I can only guess that they made a change that may or may not be working towards something. But there is no easy way to understand what it means in terms of performance or sound quality.

So yeah I am not sure that my perception is true, it is just the description of what I perceive from my filtered view.

I am unable to evaluate speakers by reading some measures and i dont think what is published in the official specs is anyway all that matter...

Many great speakers were made in the past 50 years...I owned Tannoy dual concentric gold speakers and they can rival many other box speakers of today...Or even magneplanar BUT IN THE RIGHT ACOUSTICAL CONTROLLED ROOM...I know because i prefer my Mission in my dedicated room which are less sophisticated than my Tannoy to big magnepan in a bad room which i listened to with a friend...An no question that big magnepan in a dedicated room are top, even over the Tannoy probably...

Speakers is one thing, but people must not forget the room importance...Speakers EXIST in their room, not on a specs sheet or in a reviewer room... 😁😊 A room must be dedicated to a speaker and acoustically treated and specifically controlled for it only...it is what i learned how to do in the last 2 years and this is not very well known in audio circle by the way....

Not surprizing because it is complex and impossible to do in a living room...And it takes me months for the mechanical tuning non stop ...I am retired... 😁😊 But trust me for any speakers there will be no relation between the sound quality BEFORE and AFTER the mechanical control in place ... Passive material treatment is good but not enough...

Acoustic is NO LESS important than even speakers design...For now....

I choose my actual speakers Mission Cyrus 781 because they were a deal at 50 bucks and anyway the top of the Mission brand....

 

No doubts in my mind because speakers are very complex and of various type and materials there is always continuous innovation around the world... But the time between an innovation and the necessary publicity to make them well known is calculated in years not in months...

Then i am sure that there exist many revolutionary design unknown of most of us all around the world in small companies..,They come and they go...But they can stay a legendary well designed product at relatively low cost and be replaced in the public favor by other good products...

Think about the SPICA speakers... Who remember them now?

i am sure they are not less good now like in the years  80 where they were very well reviewed...I look for some before the Mission Cyrus deal i take.... 😁😊

To be frank i dream to buy one pair some day, not to upgrade because i am satisfied with the Mission Cyrus but now i know how to dedicate a room acoustically around any type of speakers, i want to try a new type of speakers and dress the room for them....A kind of acoustical challenge...

https://spicaspeakers.com/specifications/spica-reviews.php

 

 

Anyway i will not upgrade my Mission speakers.... It will be mission impossible because of the high price i will pay for upgrading this 30 years design with a wonderful bass...And cabinet design well done for sure...

With heavy damping and 2 set of springs on each one of them i am in heaven...

I am anyway very curious about new technology for speakers and i dont doubt that some new technology exist already unknown to us....Anyway we must listen to a speaker to evaluate it... A new technology CANNOT be known by many people in his first years.....Except for very well known design with ton of reviewers like Tannoy or Mission which we can buy without listening them before like i did with total confidence......By the way it is me who redacted this short impression of the Mission which was confirmed by another audiophile... 😁😊 Take it with a grain of salt, reviews means something in great numbers...And even if positive can put you on a bad track anyway....