Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers
- Thread starter thomask
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They sound pretty well even in this set up in the middle of room.
And now imagine how much better they sound properly positioned, in the room corners
@PeterA can certainly tell you about the difference of corner speakers out in the room or correctly (as designed!) positioned in the corners
And then add the 075 tweeter! Or a Fostex...And now imagine how much better they sound properly positioned, in the room corners
@PeterA can certainly tell you about the difference of corner speakers out in the room or correctly (as designed!) positioned in the corners
Do Ian and Al and/or other listeners find your new system sounds more like or less like what they hear in the concert hall?
There is more than 'just' Western Electric vintage gear let's not forget Klangfilm or Cinemeccanica, some Lomo gear...I get that in the US and region around it Western electric is probably more common, or.... the other stuff I mentioned is likely even MORE rare.
In a few weeks I will be able to listen to a Klangfilm Euronor Junior setup, no it won't ever fit in the new living room ...
In a few weeks I will be able to listen to a Klangfilm Euronor Junior setup, no it won't ever fit in the new living room ...
Some might say that is what we also have with modern speakers, a distinct "house sound". I am curious about the better vintage speakers and better modern speakers abilities to reveal the character of different amplifiers. This would address transparency and whether or not the old or new speakers have a more general sound of their own. Of course, electronics have changed, and in general the older speakers are paired with low power tubes and the modern speakers with high power SS, though there are exceptions.
Form factor has also changed pretty dramatically. Some of the vintage speakers we are talking about were for large cinema spaces, and some of the modern speakers are designed for small urban apartments, though there are some pretty big modern speakers too.
that indeed would be interesting exercise, though a challenging one; it requires a huge amount of pretty exotic equipment in one room...High efficiency speakers can be made today too.
Based on what gear I have heard so far I tend to think that the speaker and the source are most important, the amp sure has it's own flavor and some amps make a system really shine or kill a system (when matched for power requirment etc). At the same time, I have never heard an amp that was capable of stealing the show by itself regardless of what speaker it was driving (assuming it matched . A lowly cheap class D amp with a decent PSU can sound quite good and let you hear the characteristics of speakers quite well.
Pretty much all of my current fave speakers are HUGE, I started out using a small monitor designed around a custom PG 15cm and Scan Speak tweeter in an enclosure using a passive-agressive radiator. That system was capable of stunning amounts of detail and speed, my current setup does that too, plus it adds the low end extension that the small system lacked with so much ease and no oomphiness whatsoever and it adds the weight you want to 99% of the music. Yet by far the most important feature of my current speaker is the ease and organic character of sound. Size matters for a speaker....and so does the method of creating sound matter, implementation is very important. I'm sure modern speakers are capable, it's just that many of the new designs end up barking up the wrong tree for me.
Based on what gear I have heard so far I tend to think that the speaker and the source are most important, the amp sure has it's own flavor and some amps make a system really shine or kill a system (when matched for power requirment etc). At the same time, I have never heard an amp that was capable of stealing the show by itself regardless of what speaker it was driving (assuming it matched . A lowly cheap class D amp with a decent PSU can sound quite good and let you hear the characteristics of speakers quite well.
Pretty much all of my current fave speakers are HUGE, I started out using a small monitor designed around a custom PG 15cm and Scan Speak tweeter in an enclosure using a passive-agressive radiator. That system was capable of stunning amounts of detail and speed, my current setup does that too, plus it adds the low end extension that the small system lacked with so much ease and no oomphiness whatsoever and it adds the weight you want to 99% of the music. Yet by far the most important feature of my current speaker is the ease and organic character of sound. Size matters for a speaker....and so does the method of creating sound matter, implementation is very important. I'm sure modern speakers are capable, it's just that many of the new designs end up barking up the wrong tree for me.
Ian and Al are audiophiles. The other listeners all told me the new system sound more real than the old one. I presume the meant concert halls and jazz clubs. And that was before DDK came to fine-tune it.
These people are not constantly comparing one system to another system but instead compare what they are hearing to what they remember live music sounding like. I think audio files do a little bit of both but I don’t really know.
Perhaps this winter I will get around to listening to my audio file friends’ systems again and vice a versa.
The next best thing is to listen to some youtube footage through your current setup at a fairly high volume, crazy as it may seem it does convey the sonic fingerprint of systems pretty good!
I'm happy I could enlighten you. Do some simple research, you'll see I'm correct.
Probably some of the composite cabinet materials did not exist then. Also, perhaps some of the driver materials (at least in the past they used Titanium and sandwich foam construction woofers from Focal). So, no probably they could not have been made in 1950...not that it matters all that much...
There were many composite materials including Bakelite that have been around since 1935. It's well known that the Wilson X material is a version of Corian, developed in the 1960's.
Nothing new here except for the price points.
Composite materials are not really new, neither for cabinets nor drivers...airplanes used fibreglass as early as in the 40ies, and composites sinde the 30ies. Polyphenol based foam was available, the composite membrane Dr Podszus invented was made in '35. More important, the need for composite material for a cabinet may mean it's not a great implementation, if so much vibration needs to be taken care of.
There defeinitely are new and exciting materials, yet I often doubt why they are used...it frequently appears they are selected for buzzword value.
There defeinitely are new and exciting materials, yet I often doubt why they are used...it frequently appears they are selected for buzzword value.
Bakelite was a polymer, not a composite...and as you say Corian was not available until the late 60s ...we were saying 1950. It was probably at least a decade later before it could be shaped into something other than a countertop. The first Wilsons using something like that were probably in the late 80s.
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