Are advances in technology making speakers better?

Ok guys. I get all the thinking going on here… but have you guys listened to speakers over the five decades? The difference in sound quality is just jaw dropping. The detail, articulation of bass, sound stage. Sure the woofer size has decreased phenomenally as the magnet size increases allowing sooo much more detail. Treble has gone from shrill trebly distortion to natural realistic brass sounding (cymbals and bells).

There is simply no comparison to what my 18” Altec Voice of the Theater speakers could do in the 1970’s and, for instance, my current Sonus Faber Amati Traditional of today. Unless, you are into only nostalgia the sound quality is astronomically better.

My Triangle 3 way CELIUS SE speakers are Stereophile Class A at $3000.....They are 15 years old... bright, VERY detailed and have a heavy bass. My Heresy IV’s are horn speakers and 15 years newer technology. They have a nice tight snappy bass....A beautiful silky smooth but detailed midrange.and crystal clear highs that are easy on the ears but are true to the music recording....You just want to listen to music.....I feel like I’m part of the show..NO Klipsch honkiness on the new cross-overs and Tracktrix horns ..that’s all gone now.The newer Klipsch models are Much improved over the older Klipsch models....Technology marches on !

@grislybutter ah yes. I keep my phones for at least 5 years before moving on, even though others may chuckle at me. The only reason to upgrade is when it can't run the apps you want or because the new versions of software simply aren't written well enough (too much bloat) to not require a new, screaming processor. 

As others note, when Andrew Jones or any other engineer sit down to design a speaker, the targeted size of that speaker, and the market they are shooting for of course limits what can be done. 

But I don't think MoFi would have been happy if Andrew had come up with a 24" concentric driver in a 250 lb. cabinet, even if he could have grabbed that lower octave.  At the end of the day they aren't a "boutique" manufacturer, but one that wants to sell a "reasonable" quantity of speakers to recoup their investment in Jones' salary, the tooling costs, setting up a factory, and make a little $$ in the process. 

I am concerned a bit about Steve Guttenberg's observation that maybe the new SP10 were on the "bright" side.  Did any of you hearing them think that? Of course set up might be the key. 

I don't know how much stock to put it in Steve Guttenberg's reviews, I rarely come away feeling more informed at the end. To me if's a mystery why he is multiple times more watched than e.g. NRD  

I am sure he has a lot of experience and knowledge but his eccentricity (which is cool and has entertainment value) shows in his reviews - again where NRD is always down to the numbers, measurements and facts, despite the jokes 

@grislybutter

To me it’s a mystery why he is multiple times more watched than e.g. NRD

... which is cool and has entertainment value

Most of not all of the popular YouTube channels put entertainment value first.

That’s the key point - entertainment.

Now if someone wanted to post videos of brain surgery online and they wanted high viewing figures then entertainment would no doubt be deemed far more important than pure surgical skill.

There seems to be something endemically difficult about the human condition that we need to put so much value on entertainment.

Maybe not just ’entertainment’, maybe it’s the personality that attracts us the most?

The feeling of not being isolated.

 

@moonwatcher

I am concerned a bit about Steve Guttenberg’s observation that maybe the new SP10 were on the "bright" side.

 

I noticed that. It’s often the case with reviewers that one subtle criticism tells you more than all of the flattery.

Of course, there’s no doubt that many will prefer a bright balance to a more neutral one.

I know I would have done some 30 years ago.

You’d think as people age that they’d prefer brighter speakers to compensate for the loss of higher frequencies, say above 12kHz, but then again a bright loudspeaker might have a boost between 7-10 kHz where they might be no hearing loss.

Such speakers tend to sound good in the showroom but maybe not so good long term.

 

@ghdprentice

but have you guys listened to speakers over the five decades? The difference in sound quality is just jaw dropping.

 

I’ve been into high performance audio playback for almost 4 decades and I can’t say I’ve noticed any jaw dropping sound quality difference.

For whatever reason I felt that there seemed to be an actual dip in loudspeaker performance during the 1990s and the early 2000s.

Some folks still hold the original Quad ESL and the BBC LS3/5 in the highest regard. If there was any jaw dropping improvements in sound quality I’m sure they’d be very interested.

I’ve yet to hear the highly regarded Revel Salon 2s which always seem to be up there with the very best when it comes to comparisons.

It’s interesting to note that they are now a 14 year old design.