Improvements in Speaker Audio Quality in the Last 30 Years

[shkumar4963]

Yesterday I was talking with a group of speaker designers and audio engineers. They had worked in companies like Allison, Acoustics research and had designed speakers like IC-20 (from Allison). I had asked the same question to them. According to them the improvements have not been much in the spund quality. Speaker being a mechanical device, they were pretty mature 30 years back. However introduction of wave guide has improved dispersion. Characteristics of tweeters. In addition there have been improvements in testing and reliability. The cost has also come down somewhat although there is more hype now than 30 years back and most of the hype is not based on speaker quality improvements but edorsement from paid review magazines like Stereophile, what HiFi and others. In these reviews, reviewer almost provide measurement that show significant improvement over other speakers but says that these speakers were the best he had ever heard and gives them 5 stars.

I would like to hear what you guys abd gals think. Do you hear much quality improvements from PSB, KEF, etc over the last few years.

 

[Hari Iyer]

IMO PSB stratus silver speakers that i have heard more than 15 years ago was far more superior to the current models that they sell.

 

[sunilj]

You're right, no improvements were made from a technical point.

The improvements over the years are as good as those that were used to record your favourite music.

During the 70s and 80s JBL was 'the' big name for studio speakers. Music mastered using the speaker 'curve' at that time will sound very different on a speaker made today.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Speakers actually sell not because they are awesome and mind blowing, but they sell because of "The Hype" associated with it. More the hype greater the sale even if does not sound good it's okay. Classic example are Bose speakers.

 

[venkatcr]

It is incorrect to say there have been no technical or technological improvements. Let me show briefly how changes have been impacted on all parts of the loudspeaker.

A. At a very broad level the original horns has competition from dynamic loudspeakers, flat panel speakers, diaphragm speakers, plasma arc speakers, and piezo electric speakers.

B. As early as 1957, electrostatic speakers started becoming popular with the advent of Polyethylene Terephalate (PET) which made it possible to have massless moving diaphragms.

C. The introduction of ribbon tweeters. In the recent past tweeters have been made stiffer using magnesium and beryllium. Research is going on now on ceramic domes.

D. Woofer and mid range cones have improved significantly. The original paper has been replaced with silk and more recently with kevlar, and carbon-fibre loaded plastics. In my mind B&W, has made the most significant R&D in cone material.

E. Significant advances have been made in magnets with such as neodymium-iron-boron magnets.

F.The very design of the box has seen vast improvements. Originally, infinite baffles, bass-reflex boxes, and folded rear horns were quite popular but had crude designs. This was replaced by acoustics suspension design that allowed you to place a woofer in a small closed box.

G.Cross over networks have improved considerably. The Linkwitz-Reily has become the standard to develop cross over with nearly zero distortion and interference.

H.The magnetic planar speaker was invented by Jim Winey in 1969, and this has introduced a completely different and highly successful speaker design. Nearly a quarter of million pieces of these have been sold.

The basic science of producing sound has not changed. But scientists and companies have altered the materials that are used and the way speakers are manufactured. These are significant steps.

And, not to forget, today's speakers can handle vast amounts of power and a wider frequency range that were not possible before.

Cheers

 

[greenhorn]

let me add the fact that CAD, FEA etc should have helped design/model drivers, crossovers and enclosures much better than the old days when it was more or less skill/hit and miss.

 

[sunilj]

DIY something with the best drivers you can afford. It will comfortably sound better than most, if not anything, you can buy at TWICE the price.

Good drivers, mated with sound building technique and a thoroughly matured crossover ( read as 'time spent to design' ) is all that is required.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Like someone said - Best speakers are the one that are always made and not the one bought.

 

[shkumar4963]

Hari. You are correct about the hype. It is created by audio reviewers, Internet blogs and Internet forums. Direct advertising by the manufacturer is a smaller part of the hype. But you are incorrect about Bose. At least I have not seen any Bose reviews by major magazines like Stereophile, WhatHiFi in 20 years. Did you see any blogs or forums devoted to praising Bose?

 

[shkumar4963]

I agree with Preth. A lot of changes. not sure if they all resulted in improvements. In fact I see it a sign of stagnant changes when different people try a whole bunch of different things with no significant improvement in sound quality. I do agree that better understanding of speaker design has reduced the speaker size and use of computer modeling has allowed even the cheapest speakers to sound acceptable.

 

[shkumar4963]

Sunilj: DIY is good but not only with a good and modern speaker box design that hopefully has been modeled using a decent modeling software and tested extensively. Thirty years back you could make a solid box, fit them with a good drivers and you had a good speaker. Today box designs have improved that produce the same sound in much smaller boxes. Also good speakers have to be matched with the box design.

 

[shkumar4963]

I think wave guide designs have improved spund dispersion especially for high frequencies.

And let's not forget DRC. Who could have thought of DRC 30 years back.

 

[sunilj]

In my opinion, Bose is a successful marketing campaign example first, then,
oh ! what are we campaigning about - speakers, I see.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Size of the Box reduced, Material used for cone instead of traditional Paper cone,Magnets,Cabinet Designs ,Cross over improvement,Power handling has improved.

Low frequency response. I don't any old Speakers were good LF performers until they are Large.Eg:4 Inch Sub in my TV just gives a dept that i feel the older 8 Inch can give.

Just my observation.

Also i cant find the Warmness of a Vocal in New Speakers compared to the new once.Either its Accurate or Bright.

(PS:Observation are made at the basic level set-up i have listen)

 

[shkumar4963]

All good and valid points. These are all subtle improvements but in combination amount to a better product. Thanks to all for mentioning them.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Did you see any blogs or forums devoted to praising Bose?

Infact, in most forums Bose is the most hated speakers. But Bose customers are not the one who writes in forums. Bose customers are 95% general public who dont even know about the forums. For them Bose are the highest end speakers ever made. I call this as 'The Hype'.

In my own experience when some common friend talks about my speakers, he only question he ask me is - 'Are your speakers better than Bose'. I do not say anything and just give a smile and change the topic of discussion totally to something else as there is no point discussing further as it will be impossible for me to explain him based on his reference of high quality audio.

Most people who buy speakers may not even be a FM at all and mostly such buyers are Bose customers.

 

[sidvee]

In my own experience when some common friend talks about my speakers, he only question he ask me is - 'Are your speakers better than Bose'. I do not say anything and just give a smile and change the topic of discussion totally to something else as there is no point discussing further as it will be impossible for me to explain him based on his reference of high quality audio.

Other day I had the exact similar experience but instead of Bose it was Bang and Olufsen. I just smiled and told my friend that there are various other options as well, especially at that price. However I guess the reason why people consider B&O is because of their excellent designs.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[arj]

I do not say anything and just give a smile and change the topic of discussion totally to something else as there is no point discussing further as it will be impossible for me to explain him based on his reference of high quality audio.

.

Exactly and IMHO the the smart thing to do !.
I actually find Bose bashing pretty juvenile. everyone knows its not meant to the "discerning ear" but still want to go around bashing them up.

 

[asliarun]

When one talks about speaker tech in the last decade or so, one should also think about how this entire field has miniaturized. To me the most fascinating development has been speaker tech in headphones and IEMs. It is also a beautiful solution because it completely takes away the subjective factors of speaker placement, stands vs no stands, toe in, room size, room treatment, etc.

And for $1k you can buy headphones that are truly high end whereas you can buy entry level speakers.. At best.. For the price.. And even then you area not guaranteed good sound because of all these other factors.

And surprisingly enough,more and more youngsters are getting into HiFi only because of headphones and IEMs.

 

[venkatcr]

And surprisingly enough,more and more youngsters are getting into HiFi only because of headphones and IEMs.

And this is leading to a large set of people who are anti-social and becoming deaf by the age of 35-40. By anti-social, I mean a set of people who are hooked to their phones with headphones plugged to their ears. Doctors in the US and Europe are alarmed at the rising deafness of the younger generation.

In my office, I am the only one who does not wear headphones. Everyone else does. You really have to go and touch them or do a rain dance in front of them to get their attention. Crazy!!

Cheers