Tech That Flopped!


Every few months someone releases technology that seems to be revolutionary, but goes nowhere a couple of years later. Some tech gets acceptance and even imitation. Some goes wildly successful.

Ideas that are a huge success:
  • Acoustic suspension
  • Bass Reflex
  • Soft dome tweeters
Some ideas, well, it's not so clear:
  • Perfectly time aligned speakers ilke Thiel/Vandersteen
  • ESL
  • Line Arrays
  • Plasma tweeters
  • Transmission line
What tech have you seen come and go, was it worthwhile?

Best,

E
erik_squires
The Vandersteen 2 has probably the highest sales of any audiophile loudspeaker since it's introduction, so why wouldn't time aligned loudspeakers fall into the success category? 

Sometimes the case is not that a technology was bad, but that it has been eclipsed by a better or more practical technology.  The 24-track tape recorder was the world wide standard for recording studios, but multi-track hard drive based recording technology has supplanted it.

Whatever happen to the BGS Signal Completion processors?  Are Kimber Iso/Mike recordings still being made?
Polk Audio - Stereo Dimension Array- interesting technology.  Bad timing.  Came out in the early 80’s I believe.  Eliminated intermodulation crosstalk to create true stereo imaging so the left ear hears the left speaker first and so on.... The speakers were huge and retailers were reluctant to devote the space as the industry was moving towards smaller footprint speakers.  Plus, they needed near front wall placement but lots of space to the sides for the SDA technology to work.

Ultra Tweeters. Even quantum mechanics couldn't save them from anonymity. Ditto the original Intelligent Chip. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. 🐭