Todays Speakers vs Vintage Speakers

The High End continues to be dominated by planar speakers? Really? What is that observation based upon - other than wishful thinking that is. Maggies - which I call Magoos - are all DOA - no life, highly colored, homogenize all signal to sound the same, no bass, and NO dynamics. The darn things cannot image - no matter how they are setup - a really cheap speaker that sounds really cheap.

Electrostatic speakers? Can be quite nice - but again they struggle with producing bass - unless one uses a hybrid approach such as Martin Logan - and while the BIG SOUND LABS can produce bass they darn things are as large as a barn door - and really visually are over powering. Hardly worth having - unless you live in a barn of a room. Then when you consider the rising impedance of a 'stat you have a situation that can end up with highly colored sound - as though the tweeter is at times dead - and at other times somewhat working. Good midrange, acceptable imaging, nice soundstage - but the rest? Missing in Action.

For the record - planar speakers don't dominate anything - they are niche product at best and their adherents are all zealots with very selective hearing.

To each his own .... did a planar blow up on you ??
All components have their advantages, disadvantages, and sonic signatures ..
My point is and was that older speakers are as desirable as newer speakers to people who care about what they are listening to ..
 
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I am absolutely a lover of Planar drivers, from my Magnepans to my Infinitys.

the best speakers I've ever heard were all or partial planars, either magnetic or electrostatic.


Ditto .. I've always thought that it's probably speed that they have over cones .. they're really light and quick ..and a coherent plane .. I know that I for one, appreciate their accuracy in the middle ranges !!

A truly accurate speaker is hard to find .. and just when you think that maybe your speaker is colored, you put on a truly well recorded piece. The music comes alive, and you realize that what you've been hearing are colorations in the recording process ..
 
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Ditto .. I've always thought that it's probably speed that they have over cones .. they're really light and quick ..and a coherent plane .. I know that I for one, appreciate their accuracy in the middle ranges !!

A truly accurate speaker is hard to find .. and just when you think that maybe your speaker is colored, you put on a truly well recorded piece. The music comes alive, and you realize that what you've been hearing are colorations in the recording process ..
Are these suggested colorations in the recording process intentional or unintentional? Can you listen to a piece of music and know definitely if the coloration was done on purpose or accidentally?

I think a truly accurate speaker reveals the recording as is without the speaker or the playback chain adding any coloration. If the recording is shite, it will sound like shite thru accurate speakers. If the recording is excellent or mediocre, then the accurate speaker will make it sound accordingly.
 
A lot of what speaker we prefer is based on what we listen to.
I know for jazz, its hard to beat a good set of smaller two ways and a
50 wpc tube amp. Try that with 70's rock, and you have a massive
FAIL. Pick a good all rounder, and you find things that fall short
on many recordings. A $$$ speaker might handle the duty better,
OR may not. I had 7 sets of speakers at one time. I now have 1 set
And am trying not to go nuts again. I do however still have 4 sets of
Headphones (go figure) . There is no perfect speaker, just ones we can live
with within the budget.
 
A lot of what speaker we prefer is based on what we listen to.
I know for jazz, its hard to beat a good set of smaller two ways and a
50 wpc tube amp. Try that with 70's rock, and you have a massive
FAIL. Pick a good all rounder, and you find things that fall short
on many recordings. A $$$ speaker might handle the duty better,
OR may not. I had 7 sets of speakers at one time. I now have 1 set
And am trying not to go nuts again. I do however still have 4 sets of
Headphones (go figure) . There is no perfect speaker, just ones we can live
with within the budget.
I disagree. My speakers do all of genres of music equally well as doing HT equally well. I don't want to own a speaker that only excels in a couple of genres. This tells me that the speaker designer did not perform due diligence in their design of the speaker.
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The problem is the average person does not know or care about accurate sound reproduction with good imaging with a wide soundstage to them all they care about is loud thumping bass . They most likely think that MP3 files sound as good as a CD and you'll never convince them that vinyl sounds better than CD's and a complete system in a box is all they need. Then there are people whose hearing has been ruined by too many loud concerts ,noises or cranked up earbuds that when we hear detail they hear ringing, I know many people who fit somewhere above and think I was nuts for spending $795 for Ohm WALSH 2's some 30+ years ago and I'm happy I did as they still sound great with all kinds of music from classical to classic rock to metal and electronic.
 
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The best changes have been in the quality of the drivers and crossovers. One could take an older top end model and redo the crossover and blow any new speaker away. The reason is That with few exceptions. .the quality of the materials used for the drivers were better back when rare earth materials were more readily available. There are several excellent company's offering the ability to redo the speakers. The difference is astonishing.
 
Yes Ohm says I can upgrade my speakers to the latest version for $1.400 if I replace the parts myself and that will get me lower bass and higher highs and to be honest a few times I wished for lower lows like for Rick Wakemans organ pedals but for a fraction of that I could get a subwoofer that goes even lower. Mabe a used Sunfire true subwoofer that goes down to 16 HZ.
 
Try a call to Vertek/ XTC...The Guy is a genius. He could set you up with better parts and more intelligent crossover design. He has been in the business for almost fifty years and there no one better in the business . His name is Guy Veralrud and is in Grass Valley Calif. He has designed the best speakers in the world OEM. Fact!
 
The best changes have been in the quality of the drivers and crossovers. One could take an older top end model and redo the crossover and blow any new speaker away. The reason is That with few exceptions. .the quality of the materials used for the drivers were better back when rare earth materials were more readily available. There are several excellent company's offering the ability to redo the speakers. The difference is astonishing.
I disagree with your assessment. Tolerances have become much tighter, advancement in materials have ushered in better quality drivers with far less variance in their production runs than were possible back then.
 
I'm pretty sure it would take a pretty good sized pile of cash to better the sound of the nearly 40 year old Allison Twos in my main system. As it stands I'm perfectly happy to save the money and just enjoy them. When I want to hear something different I fire up one of the other systems for a little while. They're nice too, and already paid for.
 
It's not a 7 but while not imaged like the seven the 10s knock the 7 off their nich. If these are used where the room is large enough with long wall speaker placement. They image well. I prefer these where music recordings are mixed studio later technology.
The other speakers in the space 50 yr old Klipsch Cornwall. The Cornwalls are my preferred speaker for pre DAC music.I owned a pair of klf-30s from early 2000s I picked up out of a pawn shop. i sold them. I get what you referring as 2 smaller active drivers moving at a higher pressure I didnt care that they were far "more accurate " than the older more refined sibling who was reproducing live recorded music at where a great deal of the laying tracks down many went out night after night and nailed it. that music sounds sweet on a period correct speaker it I dont know why its like that but my gut has a theory. If I am in doubt I have a pair of Ohm2x0s. As good as new ? Its all good if you like it. Its all what works. For the ear that ya still can hear outa..
 
I'm human I probably dont hear well to discern many things some one else may. I like what sounded best than. I think whats best now isnt best for analog music.and vice versa. Stubborn not so much. Options thats the ticket. Run what ya brung...:)
 
As I read through this thread, I don't at all get a feeling of deja vu - it is stronger than that. Copy and paste is a phrase that comes to mind. However, I missed the part about this being a contest to see who can make the greatest number of sweeping generalizations in one post, that some obviously noticed somewhere. I could say I favor the new, but love, respect and use some of the old, too, and be near the truth. However, there would be so many exceptions in either direction when it comes down to cases that my stance would appear inconsistent.
 
@ BMWCCA :
Yer obviously a huge BMW enthusiast, and I've known quite a few. But being a huge enthusiast in anything is like wearing blinders.
And from some of your comments, it kinda sounds like you've never ridden a real sports bike. Not a dig, just an observation.

Happy riding, all.
 
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