cheapest speaker made in the last 10 year that can beat any speaker made before 1970?

but it is technology, isn’ it? like computer, right? no?

Physics are a huge part of speaker design and function, and that has not evolved.

The technology has evolved, but there haven’t been many "breakthrough" advancements that changed the game dramatically. It’s more like many marketable baby steps. Emphasis on "marketable", because in many cases, sales and profit trump sound improvement. The majority of speakers are profit boxes that typically don’t represent state of the art from their era.

I’d be surprised if there weren’t several great speakers from the 60’s and 70s that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow or two (assuming any age-related degradation was addressed)

Does that include speakers I would buy at Walmart for $39?

In my opinion, can't be done.  Once you get into "hi-fi", too much comes down to taste.  My speakers were built in 1958 and sound better than most of what I have ever heard, at least to me.  Then you get into age of design verses manufacture date.  I do like the sound of a Tannoy Westminster, but that is actually old tech.  I was just at a store in California last week and listened to the Wilson top of the line, driven by the top of the line D'Agostino amps.  Yep, everything was there and better just comes down to taste.  It could definitely get louder than what I have.  I walked away knowing that I like what I have better.  They also had some Boenicke speakers that, for the money, were much more toe curling for me than the Wilson.  From there you also have some unbelievable "other" items to beat if you are going after everything pre-1970.  Take a tour of Oswalds Mill or listen to some ginourmous old Western Electrics. 

Ain't gonna happen.  There are camps that feel the Quad ESLs and the Klipsch Khorns are some of the  finest still today.  

I dont know for sure for  speakers...( my Tannoy were more than good and i bought them 50 years ago)

But my headphone from 40 years ago can beat most headphone of today.... :)

If not on all acoustic factors at least on many...

Old technology dont means outdated...

The AKG K340 was terminated for many reasons, not because it was not a great flagship for AKG .... It is the best they ever designed...

It was terminated because his too complex technology coupling tuned array of 5 resonators with two cells with a cross-over transformer , electroacoustic one and dynamical one at 4,000 hertz cross- over point was too costly to improve and too costly to design to made good profit out of it , and too complex for the average customer to figure out how to work right with it to reach his optimal S.Q. and too hard to drive with the beginning of headphone amplifier...

A Russian headphone designer well known company even said to me that they tried for years with no succees to create a real hybrid as the K340... Too complex research and too costly to made....

The Dharma enigma is only a dynamic cell with the addition of an electrostatic cell which act as a super tweeter at 12,000 hertz only and without any tuned resonators inside the shell to tame the bass/mids as Helmholtz resonators did it in my room /speakers installation ... No comparison with the Dharma then ... In the K340 the electroacoustic cell work beginning at 4,000 hertz and do in a way half the job with the dynamic cell.... 4,000 hertz is where piano and voice presence are located...

Then i dont know for speakers, but vintage dont means outdated in headphone, not with my K340 at all... Out of the head 3-D volume immersiveness beating my speakers/dedicated room on many counts...Heaven exist for me ... But beware, i dont recommend the K340 to beginners because it takes me 6 months of listening experiments to optimize them...This is the reason why some very well known reviewers criticized them whitout thinking that their negative impressions reflected their ignorance...Some component ask much from us and ask to be understood before being used rightfully... One thing is sure all my other headphones are trash compared to them... Dr Gorike of AKG was a physicist, a genius in acoustic and i read his patent to understand his headphone...

Then vintage dont means outdated... And perceived sound quality is perceived, not computed...