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

Not possible r even close , you had the Big  infinity irs  speakers, 

Klipsch K horns , Maggi ,sound labs , kLH, Bozak this is just a sample of older technologies that still hold their ground very well in the U.S Europe too had a bunch of classic speakers.

@knotscott you mean no genius of speaker designer on this era?no? 

@mahgister that mean technology no advanced in speaker design , right?

....the object that gets 'outdated' in whatever chain we weave...is Us.

We age, our ears fade, our minds vague, perceptions harden, taste goes stale... 

'Rage against the dying of the light', all that and miserably more....entropy is part of all equations, mortal and mechanical, psyche' and dielectric-ly...

Speakers break-in...and begin the break-down...*git down...* 😏

Even the electronics age, and not just the technology aspect...

Oh, 'shure... things ("NEW, and ) improve...duh"

But....how much can one sharpen Occam's razor before the blade is gone?

...pun intended....