In general, speakers are going to be a lot different.
The tonal balance is different, the 2.4 kHz drop is going to be absent, and the ability to consistently find outstanding tweeter performance for cheap is a lot better. Fast tweeters with limited energy storage flat past 20 kHz are now the norm.
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The answer is easy. It depends. |
The roughly $4k Moabs I just bought are way better than the $16k speakers from the 90's they replaced. Not even close.
Bear in mind the Tekton MTM speakers are exceptional value. But I would be shocked if even average $4k speakers today aren't much better than the best from back then. You are after all talking 30 years. It would be incredible if they haven't gotten a lot better. |
Inflation!
The U.S. dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 2.09% per year during this period, causing the real value of a dollar to decrease. In other words, $4,000 in 2000 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $6,045.99 in 2020, a difference of $2,045.99 over 20 years. The 2000 inflation rate was 3.36%.
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Specifically to B&W I’d unequivocally say buy the newer speakers. I find their newest tweeter and midrange drivers to be far superior to those of 90s vintage.
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Here is something interesting. In the last ten years i have owned Devore, Audio Note, Harbeth, B&W, KEF, Tekton DI`s and Magico speakers with prices ranging from 4k to 19k and while all were good to very good i was never 100% happy. Recently i came across a nice pair of Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1`s for 4k and i will tell you in my home and paired to my system the 20 year old 4k(todays used price) Wilsons out perform all of the above mentioned speakers.
I know 20 years ago the Wilsons were something like 17k but at todays used prices they are out performing some of todays new 17k speakers. |
@soix ,
Have you read the latest Stereophile review of the B&W 705?
There are some interesting comments regarding old and new BandW's.
B |
speaker design has advanced a lot, materials got better but i feel that in many modern cases tuning is missing.
G |
I like this^^^^. I did start buying up class A speakers from the 90's since they're finally affordable and reviewers of that time could really write a story. The more exotic the speakers get the more finicky they get regarding amplification so it's very possible a properly matched system from the 90's could out perform a state of the art speaker from today unless you're able to keep working to find the right components. The amp I bought that transformed the Salon 1 didn't perform the same magic on the salon 2 so even though the reviewer said the salon 2 was better in every way, in my system, n ot so much. Have fun and buy used. |
thanks all, great comments to let sink in for a while. i'm sure it does depend, but i'm also pretty sure that design, approach, materials have gotten a lot better. throwing price in there can mux it up. that 705 review did have a lot of interesting comments! some sad but who knows.
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Metal dome tweeters seem to sound less harsh but no less precise in current speakers than what I remember from speakers in the 90s. |
@gdnrbob — I’m just going by what I hear. I never liked the metal dome tweets and yellow Kevlar drivers used by B&W in the 90’s and beyond, and I find the Diamond tweeters and Continuum drivers to sound much cleaner and better as implemented in the current D3 models. I’m not really a B&W fan, but I could live with the current 804 D3 and could definitely not say the same of the earlier 804N models. Likewise, and as per the OP’s original question, I’d absolutely take a pair of 805 D3s over a 90’s era 803N. That’s kinda where I was coming from FWIW, but to each his own.
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Old speakers would have gone through some extent of deterioration such as foam surrounds or internal, capacitors in the crossover etc. Personally I wouldn't consider speakers that are more than 20 years old.
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My kef r105/3 circa 1990 listed for $3500. Played flat 50-15k 3” Thick front baffle, 93 dB eff, excellent dispursion and went LOUD. Detail, soundstage and imaging still benchmark. I would have to spend 4 times as much for the same product today and the only difference would be automotive finish instead of walnut. |
No. $4000 speakers from a quarter century ago would be about seven grand today. |
Yes without a doubt...... |
