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Have speakers really improved within the last 20 years??

Question:

  • If there is one measurement that would prove that speakers have indeed got better over the last 20 years, what would it be? 

I dont just want one example of a speaker from today that has a better measurement than another speaker from 20 years ago because that could just be a coincidence. I want to see IRREFUTABLE PROOF that most speakers today have a measured performance in at least one area that is better than most speakers 20 years ago.

When I look at a typical bookshelf speaker from 20 years ago versus one from today i see little difference. All i see is a wooden box, typically mdf with a pair of drivers in 'em. There would be a small crossover circuit inside and a bit of foam inside the box and that would be the end of the story. I would like to believe that speakers have gotten better but I see no reason to believe it. All I see is that speakers may have gotten brighter and brighter with time to dupe us into thinking we are hearing more detail. 

This challenge is open to any audiophile or speaker designer reading this.
kenjit
bluemoodriver
193 posts
 
Ok I’ll bite.
Your obsession with objective measurement over subjective satisfaction is the problem here. As if you were an oscilloscope rather than a human.
In almost all objective measures, vinyl records can’t compete with high resolution digital files as a storage medium. Yet the emotional and subjective nature of being a human means a lot of people (but not all) prefer to use vinyl. For them vinyl sounds better. There is nothing the oscilloscope can say or do to change that. 
So, are speakers now better at meeting the subjective preferences of a listener? 
Yes. 
Simply because nothing that was available 20 years ago is no longer available. All those designs, materials, and engineering solutions are still around. Nothing has been banned, nothing has been made obsolete by “the man”. All the choices of 20 years ago are still yours to make today.

But new choices have been added in the last 20 years. If you want to listen to a material or a design that is novel, you can.  Just like we now have vinyl and digital storage formats to chose from. 
So, yes, by definition, if nothing has got worse then any change is an improvement. Now, all you need to do is work out if your oscilloscope is up to the job of helping you make those choices. 
ptss
1,964 posts
 
You should register for philosophy 101 with a young uneducated class. You would probably enjoy the bafflegab. Silly.
bryhifi's avatar
bryhifi
373 posts
 
“Because I am not the one who wants audiophiles to be persuaded that progress is being made in speaker design and that speakers are getting better.”

No, you’re the one trying to persuade the opposite.  Prove it.  You’ve provided nothing but observations with no graphs, charts or measurements to the contrary.  
Clowns be Clowning on Barnum Street 
dill
2,461 posts
 
" The holy grail of every audiophile is BETTER SOUND QUALITY."

Actually, if this is true there can be no best, as there will always be something, one perceives as better. So, you are starting with unachievable goal. You are making measurements the ultimate qualifier, where in reality, it isn't. The satisfaction of the sound of the end user is. This is a dog chasing his tail argument.
earthtones
104 posts
 
We didn’t have the super low distortion from dynamic drivers that is now available: https://www.vandersteen.com/news/the-truth-about-pistonic-driver-cones
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