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Sound quality of Newer versus Older speakers

From a sound quality perspective, is there anything that newer speakers are doing better than older speakers. For reference, I have a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 300s which are amazing me with their ability to balance detail retrieval with an ability to avoid harshness (with the right ancillaries). My subjective perception is that this type of balance between resolution and refinement was more difficult to find in speakers from 20-30 years ago.
calvinandhobbes

Showing 2 responses by artemus_5

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artemus_5
1,914 posts
 
@cd318


I believe Solomon said it best, "There is Nothing New under the sun". But marketers won’t say that nor will the built in obsolescence allow it. Perhaps the Paradox of life is that "the more that things change, the more they stay the same".
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,914 posts
 
There was no need for subwoofers with the older speakers, unless they were bookshelf type.  Even some of them did a reasonable job. 
There was a push for "clarity" in the late 70's and onward for mids and highs to be extended. Now, even with floor standers you need a sub to cover the low end frequency. I understand the need to cut back on the low frequency to get clarity but the pendulum has swing too far imo.  But it has created a new market for subs that didn't exist before the great push for midrange.
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