speakers better today than 10 years ago? (2 Viewers)

[Jack Briggs]

Everyone: Ignore the personal attack in this thread and proceed with the discussion. Modena, you have mail and a private message. JB

 

[Modena]

I agree with Brian and Bill, I think that good materials used then are still good materials used today.

However, I have been busted by the Grown Men Who Administer Internet Forums For Fun Association. I have been warned. I've learned my lesson. I probably could get sued for verbal assault. God Bless America.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Not a good move. You have additional email.

M.

 

[Bill Lucas]

I'll clarify my post. I was quoting someone else (so I used quotation marks) and then disgreeing with his assertion. I then attempted to lighten the disagreement by using a smiley face.

I trust that the administrators will do the correct thing regarding a ridiculous personal attack.

Oh yeah, regards.

 

[Tim Reed]

My .02 - - If you take some time and research speakers that can be bought directly from internet companies, then you will see a dramatic change in speaker quality for the dollar.

For example - - I owned/played the Thiel CS3s (1985) for 16 years. Most have heard of this speaker - - it was a truly great speaker for the time. I then went out and listened to Paradigm studio 100s and couldn't believe what I was hearing (or wasn't on the Thiels)- - some of the CDs I had listened to close to 75-100 times and yet the studio 100's were producing detail + a soundstage that was definitely superior to the Thiel CS3s. So I bought/own the studio 100s (upstairs). Then, about 1 month or so ago, I built the Ed Frias DIY speaker - - and for 325$ this speaker embarrased the Paradigm 100's in terms of detail produced (the 100's do obviously go a lot lower - -but they tend to confuse some detail and lose some "air" and soundstage as a result).

Now two days ago, I got the EFE (Ed Frias Enterprises) T-22's (MTM design) and this speaker is definitely superior to the Paradigm 100s (except the Paradigms can go lower), the EFE DIY, and it would simply outclass the Thiel CS3s completely (with the exception that the CS3s can go lower).

Think about this now - - I bought the Thiel CS3s in 1985 (in Miami) for $1950. I just bought the T-22s for about $1000 (direct from Ed) - - 18 years later. It is a lot more speaker, at a vastly lower cost. How does this happen ? Couple of reasons - - Ed designs and builds them (and its a great design to say the least) and ships them to you - -there is no middle man, no big company, no salaries and benefits, no brick and morter establishment to support. In fact I think you get about 3-5 times as much speaker going with a direct/interent type company. Secondly, the components are superior - - versus the Thiel CS3.

So all in all - - you can get a signficantly better speaker today for the dollar than even one from 10 years ago (of course you can get worse - - just buy something from Bose). I suggest you look into it and do some research - - I did and I can't believe how good my HT (audio wise) is today as a result. This is one area (audio speakers) where hard work/research can really pay off.

 

[Mike Poindexter]

Rather than look at what something cost back then vs. what a comparable speaker costs today. Look at your budget and figure what you would spend on speakers. If for that price, you can surpass your old infinity speakers, then upgrade, unless you can improve your system more by spending that money elsewhere.

I, too, have older Infinity speakers. While not the best speakers in the world, they used to be and are still in the upper echelon of performance. To replace them today would cost over twice what they used to sell for (inflation). The performance would be a little bit better (technology).

While I think that there are a lot of speakers today that are really well designed, don't write off the old stuff. Speaker technology hasn't improved as much as other areas and the speakers that cost a lot back then can be bought for much less today on the used market.

I guess it would really depend on which infinity speakers you had. The older ones with the EMIT-k were much better than the later ones with the EMIT-r, based on my experience with them and I preferred their acoustic suspension woofers to the later bass reflex woofers.