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Owning the speakers you dreamed of 20 years ago

Does speaker technology really change that much?  As I'm listening to my Klipsch Heresy's in a bedroom setup, I decided to look up to see what $3k or so could buy me today used and was shocked to see the speakers I used to drool over, when I was done looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition ;), were available for a quarter or less of the money.

Revel Ultima
Sonus Faber
JM Lab Mezzo 

And more, are all available to buy used.

Seriously these were speakers I would daydream about.  How do they sound today compared to a speaker that you would spend $3k on new or even a few years old?  How could these $10k speakers from a time I can still remember, really sound like a $3k speaker?  My Klipsch's remind me that speakers even older and cheaper are irreplaceable to me, so why wouldn't I spend $3k for one of my old heroes?

What am I missing here?



blkwrxwgn
james633
904 posts
 
No speaker tech has not changed much imo. These old speakers are just as good as they were. Watch the foam surround and ferrofluid in the tweeters as it can dry up.
Honestly bass might have gotten worse in the quest for smaller “nicer” looking speakers. I feel like the current tweeter tech is the main difference. Tweeters seem much better to me at least in the old and new speakers I have heard.
Brands that use computer modeling have gotten flatter Frequency responses and advanced crossovers… but there are brands that are tuned by hear and are great too.

A handful of brands have pushed driver tech but I am not sure it has translated to better sound. Impulse response of the driver is always improved and appreciated but the latest wiz-bang material still gets competition from good old paper imo.
redwoodaudio
413 posts
 
What am I missing here?

Planned obsolescence.  Take your droolworthy $3k Sonus Fabers and run… heck of a deal.
ghdprentice
6,398 posts
 
Interesting way of looking at it. Speaker purchases for me have always been big purchases, So I have probably owned only 5 pair in the last 50 years. Each represented a significant jump in cost and performance. Most were new, I guess when doing such an infrequent purchase I wanted the best performance available at the time.

I have noticed over this period was movement from big huge flabby inarticulate bass / drivers… to clear, clean, articulate bass (small long throw drivers) where individual bass lines became clearly defined. The treble has gone from primarily sizzling white distortion to (with good electronics) the highly detailed shimmering brass of real instruments. 

So the difference has been huge… but gradual so it doesn’t seem any few years made much of a difference.


blkwrxwgn OP
240 posts
 
Not to pick on Tekton, which seems to be the punching bag around here ;) but would you spend $3k on DI's from the or $3k for a pair of JM Lab Mezzo's? 

My Klipsch Heresy sound better than any other $500 speaker I've heard, and these are quite a bit older than 20 years.
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