That's a very generic question. Does it really matter?
Fact is there are more choices to make more people happy today than ever, plus sites like this make good sound more affordable to more people who might care than ever.
I would say that other than better and more efficient amp designs (class D) and expansion in sources and means of delivery of digital music, there is not too much radically new or significant happening in audio design these days in terms of just better sound.
I suppose overall, speaker and perhaps amp designs are more refined and detailed sounding as a whole, but I consider this more refinements to an already fairly mature set of products.
An exception could be products that rely more on digital processing for better sound, like the Emerald Physics line.
Fact is there are more choices to make more people happy today than ever, plus sites like this make good sound more affordable to more people who might care than ever.
I would say that other than better and more efficient amp designs (class D) and expansion in sources and means of delivery of digital music, there is not too much radically new or significant happening in audio design these days in terms of just better sound.
I suppose overall, speaker and perhaps amp designs are more refined and detailed sounding as a whole, but I consider this more refinements to an already fairly mature set of products.
An exception could be products that rely more on digital processing for better sound, like the Emerald Physics line.