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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
timlub
1,649 posts
 

This whole thread has gotten out of hand to me... I can accept that something very old can still sound good,  but to put the idea forward that things have not progressed since 1930 is crazy!

You know,  I can still talk on my cell phone,  I guess phones aren't any better either.... Oh wait.  My phone is a better music source than anything that existed in 1930.... Nice computer too, oh and I love the camera on my phone, I don't think they had electronic calculators like this in 1930, gps on my phone is cool, did they have that in 1930? ....

yes, it is a fair analogy.  Phones existed then, but the technology innovations have been huge,  just like in Audio. 

tbg
5,263 posts
 
I have owned 28 different speakers in 55 years as an audiophile with most, if not all available drivers and tiny to very large boxes. I  had concluded that one must expect that every speaker included compromises and that had two or three years before ones present speakers drove you crazy. Then at the RMAF I heard  the Tidal Contriva SEs powered by a prototype tube Ypsilanti amp.
I bought the speakers but not the amps, buying instead the BMC M2 amps and the DAC1 PRE. Not very long after I got the amps, I heard the BMC Arcadia speakers that had the most realistic base I had ever heard, thanks in part to the BMC M2 amps. I have no temptation  to seek another set of speakers.

I have enjoyed each new speaker that have given me improved realism and thrill of the music and performance.
larryi
1,972 posts
 

No one has suggested that there has been no progress since 1930s.  The BIG deal is that very good sound is now affordable and practical.  The stuff from the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's that deliver good sound were meant for theaters and would not fit in any normal living room and was extremely expensive given wages at that time.  Even theaters could not afford the Western Electric systems and most of these were leased.

There is no doubt that, given advancements in technology and knowledge, it would be possible to make similar sounding gear that is better.  There are companies that intend to do just that--make gear that sounds like old Western Electric, Lansing, Klanghorn, etc. gear--but actually improve on performance (e.g., ALE, Cogent, Goto).  There are current manufacturers that attempt to make close replicas of such gear (e.g., Line Magnetic and G.I.P. Laboratories).  Whether any such gear is actually "better" is purely a subjective judgment.  In any case, the sound of these followers of old school sound is quite different from mainstream gear and it is pointless to argue which sound is "better."  If you like that sound there really hasn't been that much progress, and it is largely an academic exercise arguing that advanced technology "could" make that kind of sound better because there are so few companies working in that area. 

Have all of those who have been arguing that modern gear MUST be superior actually heard a Shearer system or a system with a WE 15A horn or any of the other 1930's contenders? 

johnk's avatar
johnk OP
1,490 posts
 
You can easily add a part or 2 and bring a 1930s loudspeaker system into modern times but you cant make a 1930s phone a smart phone can you? Never said we made no progress just very little. And if tomcy6 would look about google he would see complete loudspeakers available I know nothing I can post to change a close mind. So enjoy your opinion on what these things sound like I will enjoy the real things. I also will enjoy and advance the best of modern. Happy listening.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 

I just looked up the links that you provided, johnk.

I have no problem at all with people listening to speakers from the 30s and saying that they prefer that sound above all other.

I simply disagreed with what you appear to believe, that there has been little or no progress in speaker technology since the 30s and that we should all own 30s speakers. Sorry, but I still think you’re wrong.

I think that speaker technology has improved significantly since the 30s and that everyone should listen to as many speakers as they can and buy the one that works best for them. That can be homemade speakers, speakers from the 30s, huge speakers, tiny monitors made in the 90s, the most recent Wilsons or Magnepans, Bose speakers, whatever one prefers.

I don’t even have a problem with people listening to speakers they don’t really like but they have to own because they can’t afford what they really want or their significant other won’t let them bring what they really want into the house.

So johnk, Enjoy your vintage speakers and believe in your heart that they are the best speakers in the world with my blessings. But if you try to tell me that they are the best speakers for me or that there has been no real advancement in speaker technology since the 30s, I will disagree.

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