Do my ears deceive me??

@mofojo 

In what way have speakers had a tremendous advancement in the last 20 years? Revel Salon 2 are over 15 years old and are still considered better than most anything according to plenty. Your Sonus Fabers are all paper driver… nothing new. I’m sure they sound fabulous but it’s quality and voicing not necessarily new tech that is groundbreaking.

My perspective as well. I realize it’s a matter of opinion but I don’t hear any “tremendous “ improvement in speakers over the past 20 years timeframe. I will concede that there’s been a turn toward the direction of pursuing and extraction of greater detail.

This can result in a different sonic presentation and signature and yet not necessarily sounding better in an overall sense. For some listeners the hyper detailed sound will be considered a “tremendous “ improvement. For other listeners, not so.

Charles
 

There are people saying that Focal drivers aren't built to the same standard as they used to. i.e. They're cheaping out on the parts. Maybe it's worth looking at driver quality and cabinet construction over the years. But why bother? 

You might like Monitor Audio...

Also I agree about Goldenear. They make some killer stuff.

I’ve only read about Monitor audio, and from the reviews, think I would love them. But don’t have a close by place to demo them GoldenEar will be on the audition list in the next couple weeks. I need the clarify from my 1st post. The B and W’s I liked the most at Best Buy were the 702 S 3’s. About $7,000 for the pair. They really sounded a lot brighter than the others, and I seem to like that. Not sibilant, but clear. Will need to demo for much longer time to see if they get fatiguing. Although, many consider Focal fatiguing, I listen to my 836 for hours each day and never get tired from them. Stilll waiting to find out the repair bill on my 836’s. Maybe I just have to be content with them for a few more years. I will admit, I’m just kind of bored, and since I’ve owned my gear for so long, maybe I’m looking for that new toy. Maybe I’m expecting things have gotten better, when there is not much difference. I will say, it is kind of amazing how much bass they can get out of small speakers now That seems like the biggest technological advancement I’ve seen. But not necessarily better sound overall 

      I know there are diminishing returns the higher up the food chain we go, but I really want to make sure I don't spend $4,000 to $8,000 for something that's maybe 20% better.