Unlike computer equipment (new generations every year) it seems like amazing speakers from the 90s are still amazing speakers today. They might not have the right inputs, but in terms of sound I don't think they've improved much. Am I totally wrong about this?
Have speakers actually gotten better since the 90s?
- Thread starter enwar3
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BassBomb
Diamond Member
- Nov 25, 2005
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You are on the ball, there has not been that much progression in terms of speakers. Companys bring out new lines every few years with small improvement (usually power/freq)
Overall the change from 90's to now is really minor and in some cases purely aesthetic
Overall the change from 90's to now is really minor and in some cases purely aesthetic
Yes and no.
For consumer level speakers, there is always cost cutting issues, and they very well may sound worse. But for several companies, there have been technological advances in the ability to sound stage. I can certainly tell a difference from version 1 to version 4 in the Paradigm monitor line when it comes to sound imaging/staging.
But things like materials quality and workmanship usually doesn't improve over the years...
For consumer level speakers, there is always cost cutting issues, and they very well may sound worse. But for several companies, there have been technological advances in the ability to sound stage. I can certainly tell a difference from version 1 to version 4 in the Paradigm monitor line when it comes to sound imaging/staging.
But things like materials quality and workmanship usually doesn't improve over the years...
Fads comes and goes in cycles, some of the old technoligies/designs are resurfacing now although they are mixed with other trends from other time periods...so nothing is ever really the same but nothing really new either.
Computer design has helped some QA issues...I would think some things have improved with computer models such as more consistent dispersion.
Computer design has helped some QA issues...I would think some things have improved with computer models such as more consistent dispersion.
There's been some really good advancements with planar and electrostatic speakers. Light weight diaphragm materials = faster driver and better tone.
An awesome set of speakers from ten years ago are still awesome today. I don't know about low-end stuff, but mid and high end stuff is still of the same quality as it always was, IMO.
Speaker sound quality is sort of the like the "how well does xxx TV do blacks?" argument....once it's black, how much better can it get?
Once a speaker is reproducing the sound of the source like it was intended to sound, it can't get any better. And at least high-end speakers were doing just that a long time ago.
Speaker sound quality is sort of the like the "how well does xxx TV do blacks?" argument....once it's black, how much better can it get?
Once a speaker is reproducing the sound of the source like it was intended to sound, it can't get any better. And at least high-end speakers were doing just that a long time ago.
Speaker design has changed though. Now 2 way designs are the very common and 3 way very rare(bookshelf) due to, as you said, the popularity of the separate subwoofer.
I second the subwoofer segment. HT subwoofers have gotten significantly better year by year since it's such a competitive market...The margins are getting smaller, the design and tuning are getting more complex as companies try to get the deepest sounding, most linear subs possible while minimizing cycle delay.
As far as yesterday's speakers vs today's speakers...a $1000/pair speaker in 1990 would be over $2000/pair in today's dollars. You have to compare apples to apples. I'd say at the same real price levels cosmetics have gone up and there's more focus on linearity and dispersion which is arguably the real biggest design "improvements" from the 90s. The materials for the most part are the same, no more foam surrounds...
In my opinion speakers have improved in some areas while trading off power handling and dynamics--a tradeoff I personally have no problems with.
As far as 3-ways, I think they aren't popular because it's so hard to properly design them...they tend to have very poor dispersion, there's more chance of crossover noise, and you have to worry about the midrange and tweeter interacting...a 3-way that minimizes tradeoffs costs a lot of money...and in the 90s they were stacking 3-ways, 4-ways (just look at Sony floorstanders, they still throw all kinds of drivers in a box) without coherent deisgn. In this case, KISS is the best (Keep it simple, stupid) since you can focus more on performance in other areas instead of making a half-assed effort for a 3-way.
As far as yesterday's speakers vs today's speakers...a $1000/pair speaker in 1990 would be over $2000/pair in today's dollars. You have to compare apples to apples. I'd say at the same real price levels cosmetics have gone up and there's more focus on linearity and dispersion which is arguably the real biggest design "improvements" from the 90s. The materials for the most part are the same, no more foam surrounds...
In my opinion speakers have improved in some areas while trading off power handling and dynamics--a tradeoff I personally have no problems with.
As far as 3-ways, I think they aren't popular because it's so hard to properly design them...they tend to have very poor dispersion, there's more chance of crossover noise, and you have to worry about the midrange and tweeter interacting...a 3-way that minimizes tradeoffs costs a lot of money...and in the 90s they were stacking 3-ways, 4-ways (just look at Sony floorstanders, they still throw all kinds of drivers in a box) without coherent deisgn. In this case, KISS is the best (Keep it simple, stupid) since you can focus more on performance in other areas instead of making a half-assed effort for a 3-way.
I think you can get a lot more speaker for your money, especially at the low end, because of computer aided design and that national acoustic sound design studio up in Canada.
Look at the complex baffles and assymmetrical cabinet walls even seen in big box store speakers as another trickle down design and manufacturing feature that started on much more expensive designs like B & W Nautilus.
Look at the complex baffles and assymmetrical cabinet walls even seen in big box store speakers as another trickle down design and manufacturing feature that started on much more expensive designs like B & W Nautilus.
Simply put, yes. I don't understand some of the nostalgic nonsense I see in the audio realm. Speakers have never been so good for for so little $$$ (note I DIY, so i am mainly referring to the speaker drivers themselves).
Again, its also the drivers themselves that are much improved (look at the progression in driver tech with SVS from the early TC drivers to their in-house PB13 driver) and now you have companies like Epik using quality high excursion drivers and offering them at great price points. Such performance/dollar would have been impossible in the 90s because the drivers just weren't there yet (in quantity anyway). The design aspect of the story is true though. But 10+ years ago, 25mm+ xmax subs were considered extreme. Now one can purchase 33mm xmax 18" drivers for $350. A single one of those would demolish virtually any sub 7years old or older.
And speaker design has improved as well, or rather, the techniques that go into speaker design. Not that its easy to design a speaker from the ground up, but I believe it has never been so easy. That combined with great value in drivers = better sound than ever.
Again, its also the drivers themselves that are much improved (look at the progression in driver tech with SVS from the early TC drivers to their in-house PB13 driver) and now you have companies like Epik using quality high excursion drivers and offering them at great price points. Such performance/dollar would have been impossible in the 90s because the drivers just weren't there yet (in quantity anyway). The design aspect of the story is true though. But 10+ years ago, 25mm+ xmax subs were considered extreme. Now one can purchase 33mm xmax 18" drivers for $350. A single one of those would demolish virtually any sub 7years old or older.
And speaker design has improved as well, or rather, the techniques that go into speaker design. Not that its easy to design a speaker from the ground up, but I believe it has never been so easy. That combined with great value in drivers = better sound than ever.
I agree that good speakers are good speakers, regardless of how, when, or where it was made. However, I disagree with it being the same quality as ever.
Here's how I see it in the audio world today. If you stick with the mass produced brands (Sony for instance) you're probably going to end up getting really cheap junk (as in worse than what you used to get for the same price), overpriced listenable (but still not great) stuff, or aesthetically pleasing but poor performing expensive stuff. If you research, you can end up getting what was high end sound less than a decade ago at mid range if not lower pricing. And not only that, but even though it too is made in China the quality and aesthetics of it is actually probably as good or better than that same former high end stuff.
Look at something like headphone amps. When the Chinese started out a lot of their stuff was complete junk just a few years back. Now look at them, they're making much better quality, much better looking, but most of all better sounding stuff for sometimes less than the stuff they were making before.
When you reach a certain point, it becomes less about getting neutral/accurate sound and more about getting a pleasing sound. Of course the higher you go it's the combination of the two (which is the really difficult part) is what the goal is. There's still room for improvement in speaker development (when widely affordable plasma speakers are available let me know). I will say that I think speaker quality and development is further along than some other aspects of the audio world. For instance, recording quality has actually taken a step back (which is part of the reason for the move to vintage stuff, since quite a few are delving into vinyl and digging up older stuff that way) in that the average quality of them has gone down. I'm a headphone guy, so them actually making binaural recordings/mixes would go a long way to improving sound without needing to improve equipment. In fact, if a band made binaural album right now, it'd probably sell like hotcakes due to the iPod crowd who would be completely blown away by it.
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