Are modern speakers better than old speakers?

It seems hugely variable. Some companies have done some serious cost cutting to appeal to larger markets and have definately undermined their product. Sound may be similar, but materials and build quality are just not the same. My foray into the world of B&W taught me this, while others, like totem, sound the same today as they did 5 years ago.

More often than not, modern speakers look better than old speakers.

Shadorne, yes, good clarification, MDF with a wood veneer.

Hello All,

I had a very illuminating and thought provoking experience today: I auditioned a pair of B&W 802D speakers. I had advised the dealer that I was an analogue fanatic and that I would appear with my LPs. I arrived at the dealer who knew nothing about this arrangement - the message had not been passed on. He quickly rustled up a entry level turntable and preamp and hooked it up to the 802D speakers, played a couple of tracks from my LPs and they sounded terrible. He then hooked up a Cd system to the speakers and they sounded a bit better but not as good as my vinyl. Needless to say I did not purchase the speakers but revelled in the jewels I have at home and reflected a bit.

The dealers was not set up for music buffs, it was set up for surround sound home theatre. and I think the answer to the question of old speakers versus new speakers lies there.

Today speakers are made with the home theatre market in view while the old speakers were made for solely the music lover and sounded so.

I have a pair of 1980 B&W 801 which sound phenomenally musical compared to what I heard today. A home audition would have been a fairer comparison but that wasn't on the cards. If there was an improvement it would have been minimal and not worth the $12,000.00 price tag.

I'm sorry for such a heterodox opinion but that's how I see it. I guess it's what you want from your speakers but I think we are all audio?

I am a Merlin speaker fan. Now I haven't personally auditioned speaker's produced 15-20 years ago by them, but I'm going to bet from reading forum enteries that my modern units are substantially improved. BTW, I use these for 2 channel only.