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Loudspeakers have we really made that much progress since the 1930s?

Since I have a slight grasp on the history or loudspeaker design. And what is possible with modern. I do wonder if we have really made that much progress. I have access to some of the most modern transducers and design equipment. I also have  large collection of vintage.  I tend to spend the most time listening to my 1930 Shearer horns. For they do most things a good bit better than even the most advanced loudspeakers available. And I am not the only one to think so I have had a good num of designers retailers etc give them a listen. Sure weak points of the past are audible. These designs were meant to cover frequency ranges at the time. So adding a tweeter moves them up to modern performance. To me the tweeter has shown the most advancement in transducers but not so much the rest. Sure things are smaller but they really do not sound close to the Shearer.  http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/lmco/shearer.htm
128x128johnk
mmakshak
583 posts
 
Lansche uses the plasma tweeter, and it might be the best tweeter around(from what I heard at the California Audio Show).
mikewerner
93 posts
 
Great topic. I have been thinking about (and listening to) speakers recently. The diversity of opinions is colorful!
My observations are:
- Expectations play a large role in preferences.
- There are more ways to get it wrong than right. (Same applies to brewing beer). If someone says they like something, listen. If someone says they don't, it doesn't mean much.
- Compression sucks!
- Garbage in, even more garbage out. (It's very unlikely a non-linearity or distortion will be canceled by another non-linearity or distortion.)
- Technology marches forward (usually).
- Marketing, marketing, marketing (see first point).

johnk's avatar
johnk OP
1,490 posts
 
Have run vintage systems with all matching gear that I tried to get as orignal as possible and I have used modern as well as combinations of both taking the best of both worlds. That being said a all orignal restored WE RCA Klangfilm etc 1930-40s system would shock most audiophiles and a few times at shows such systems get very high praise. Taking the best of both worlds to me is the best approach if ultimate sound quality is your goal and also if you find this style of system to be acceptable. Many do not we all have our personal tastes biases experiences and since costly one has to get hands on- they are mostly large  and not veneered since meant for  commercial use  greatly limits appeal. But if wanting to try many newer theater pulls available many cheap that with a few mods do great service in a home. Some of the monitors RCA and WE made between 1930-40s are compact and would be fairly easy to get in most homes since cool artdeco style but those are costly and rare indeed.
larryi
1,972 posts
 

Johnk,

I am so much in agreement with you on how good the old WE, Shearer, etc. systems (or modern systems built around old drivers/parts) can sound.  Most listeners have not had the opportunity to hear such systems at all, much less at their best.  Yes, the compact, art deco WE 753 is quite a nice system, but, it is quite expensive these days and it is hard to find all of the drivers in good working order (a friend just bought one which, unfortunately, had a bad 713 driver).  I heard a fantastic open baffle system that utilized a cabinet that is a replica of the 753 but housed a Jensen M10 field coil driver plus a tweeter (probably a 302); this was a fantastic speaker (I am thinking about a similar speaker utilizing the Jensen M10 and a WE 597 tweeter or a Japanese 597 replica).   

I agree with your earlier comment about Tungar power supplies for field coils.  I have heard both vintage Tungars and Tungars with hand-wound rebuilt transformers and I have heard them in comparison to some very nice modern solid state power supplies.  I happen to like the Tungars more, a result I was not really expecting.  The rebuilt Tungar I heard was dead quiet--no hum from the speaker or mechanical hum from the Tungar at all.

These vintage systems are certainly not for everyone's taste, particularly if extremely loud and deep bass is a priority, but, from the upper bass on up, these speakers can be magical.

213runnin
562 posts
 
Taste comes into play here, certainly, as does vintage bias and the "they-don't-make-'em-like-they-used-to" bias, or the "China sucks" bias.  

Technology has advanced to such an extent that the '30's can realistically be seen as the cave man days, in many respects.  Certainly with computer testing and engineering, what can be purchased today for say a week's wages versus the 1930's would be worlds apart.  The modern cabinet, drivers, and crossover all benefit greatly from new discoveries, techniques and a body of knowledge WRT making a good speaker that the 1930's can only dream of.

Now one may prefer a speaker from the 1930's era, but that doesn't really prove anything except that there is no accounting for taste.
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