Tech That Flopped!

Whew...Erik...buddy. I hate to say it but you are a good bit off on your statements about time-aligned speakers.

You are welcome at my place anytime. Really.

Dave

Hi Erik,

Camry’s sell far better than Teslas. Bigger impact? Depends on your point of view.

I was keying on your remarks about the sound not being anything special or similar. Time-aligned speakers require extreme attention to detail in setup and carefully matched ancillary equipment/cabling to do their magic. My holding is that few have heard Thiels set up properly and your remarks lead me to believe you may not yet be one of them, so I offered to change that. :)

Best to you Erik,
Dave

Erik,

There are hybrid Camry's. Teslas are much more than just electric cars. Few will own them. Does that make them any less fine automobiles or less significant?

I just can't grab the significance of the argument. Sorry.

Dave

That’s what I was trying to say Doug.

One reason that there are not more time-aligned speakers is that there are not many designers (one?) left alive that can master the technological challenges of successfully implementing the first-order crossover in a real-world, full range loudspeaker, although it is a simpler crossover at a basic level. Drivers have to exceed "typical performance" in reproducing cleanly and accurately outside of the standard frequency range limitations for each size/type.

Another is that it is expensive to do this well and recent threads here show that a big chunk of today’s marketplace prefers good/very good sound at a (relatively) low price as their primary buying criteria. Makes sense yet (smart?) compromises are made to keep prices low. Hard to overcome that reality despite the promise of other more expensive designs, regardless of their merit.

Dave

Re: liquid filled cables, I assume Randy means the Purist Audio Design cables. Bought two pair in the 1990’s (nicknamed "Texas Water Cables" by Stereophile).and they still sound very good. PAD is very much alive some 25 years later and continues to make and sell excellent sounding cables and power cords, albeit with different substances now inside the jacket.

Dave