I have owned a lot of speakers over the years and wanted to try something "new" and different and bought the Tekton Double Impact Monitors for $2,200. I absolutely love them.
Speakers: Anything really new under the sun?
After a 20-year hiatus (kids, braces, college, a couple of new roofs, etc.) I'm slowly getting back into hi-fi. My question: is there really anything significantly new in speakers design/development/materials? I'm a bit surprised that the majority of what I see continues to be some variation of a 2- or 3-way design -- many using off-the-shelf drivers -- in a box (usually MDF at it core) with a crossover consisting of a handful of very common, relatively inexpensive components. I'm asking in all sincerity so please don't bash me. I'm not trying to provoke or prove anything, I'm just genuinely curious. What, if anything, has really changed? Would love to hear from some speaker companies/builders here. Also, before one of you kindly tells me I shouldn't worry about new technologies or processes and just go listen for myself -- I get it -- I'll always let my ear be my guide. However, after 20 years, I'm hoping there's been some progress I may be missing. Also, I unfortunately live in a hifi-challenged part of the country -- the closest decent hifi dealer is nearly 3 hours away -- so I can't just run out and listen to a bunch of new speakers. Would appreciate your insights.
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I've been an audio nutjob since the 1980s. In the last ~15 years, all the audio that mattered to me had to fit in a 13' x 13' home office. Now I have 2 systems here: the main one is speakers + amp + sub + DAC + 2 headphone amplifiers; side-system is headphones only (2 headphone amps). As you can tell from this paragraph, high end headphones have become a big thing for me. But I've also had 6 or 7 pairs of speakers, powered & passive, through this system over the years. Along with all the headphones, some consider SOTA/TOTL, I've concluded that what matters most (and always did) is IMPLEMENTATION. That's a combination of ingenious design, careful parts selection, great construction, and listening/listening/listening to one's own product. Sure certain parts (mainly capacitors, resistors, air chokes, transformers) have reached new theoretical heights. But a bad designer can make a bad speaker out of spectacular parts; and the inverse. Right now I'm auditioning a headphone mfr's loaner (ZMF Atrium) of a model that will do a wide launch in a week. The owner/designer is gifted: for this headphone he patented a new damping architecture for each earcup, and damned if it doesn't work totally & completely. This sound is spectacular, something completely different. It's all about IMPLEMENTATION... |
@jaybird5619 - since you are in the Atlanta, GA area, I'd suggest joining the Atlanta Audio Club. They are a great bunch of folks, and being a member will enable you to meet and attend listening sessions at a number of member's homes. This will give you direct experience with a range of speaker systems, many fairly current in their design. The club is also starting to have in-person events that may give you additional exposure.For my own journey, I'm starting to explore single-driver speaker systems with no crossovers. There are significant physical limitations to such designs, but remarkable progress has been made in driver technology to minimize the effect of compromises here. Examples include Audience, Omega, and Pearl, but there are many others. Welcome back! |
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