Montreal Audio Show - anyone hear the FR30’s?

What is new technology in speakers these days?  I don't know of any major driver type that wasn't around since the 1970's or much earlier.  Even something "exotic" like a plasma tweeter was something invented in the 1930's.  The only more recent development is DSP applied to room analysis and speaker equalization/control, and the most innovative example of that is the B&O speaker that utilizes multiple drivers and wave cancellation based on DSP analysis of the room to control the dispersion pattern of its drivers.  It, by the way, costs way more than $30k.  

The bottom line is performance as compared to peers.  It has nothing to do with technology employed or the cost of components and manufacture.  If someone can use cheap parts and build something great sounding, more power to them (and profit) and one would be a fool to get something that sounds less satisfactory just because of an analysis of cost of manufacture.  

I have not heard the speaker so I cannot comment on its sound, much less its worth.  How many criticizing it here have actually heard it in a reasonable setup?  

Perhaps it is not that easy to build a high efficiency speaker without incurring some other compromises or added cost.  A lot of the efficiency loss is in the complex networks that are used in some crossovers.  But, all those added elements are there for a purpose--smoothing out response, accounting for anomalies around the crossover point, accounting for baffle-step loss and diffraction, accounting for floor bounce interference, etc.  I once saw an advertisement for a YG Acoustic two-way that showed the crossover and it blew my mind--way more than a dozen capacitors, something like eight inductors, and I don't know how many resistors; their is a lot of power being burned off there (but, I sort of like the sound of that YG speaker).

From the speaker builder's perspective, it is easier to disregard efficiency when balancing other considerations because that is someone else's problem.  It is up to the amplifier manufacturers to supply the goods that can play these speakers.

I agree with you, by the way, but, I personally want WAY more than 90 db/w efficiency.  Something closer to 100 and 7-16 ohm nominal impedance would be nice for the kinds of amps I own.