vintage versus modern speakers

IMHO, the 70's not so much. But, the 80's & 90's, well that's another story.

As Larryi and Almarg have touched upon the subjective impressions of some older loudspeakers compared to some newer ones, I would like to add that some older loudspeakers compare rather favorably objectively to some of the newer offerings too.
When one considers the marketplace bathtub effect of the value of some older loudspeakers, it seems as though some of these older loudspeakers offer quite a bit of intrinsic value.

I'm not sure that modern drivers with their hyped exotic materials are all that much better than the old plain paper, etc. drivers that preceded them, especially when one considers their performance to cost ratios.
IMHO, many of the used late 80's through early 00's speakers from manufactures such as Dunlavy, Magnaplanar, Thiel, Vandersteen, etc., can more than hold their own against comparably priced new options.

While we still haven't found the measurements that will define which loudspeakers we might find ultimately satisfying, we still need them to produce anything resembling accurate transducers. And to put a bit of this comparison of old vs. new speakers in context, especially in regard to technological advancements and/or bias of familiarity some objective measurements might be enlightening.
I would offer that such objective measurements of speakers from the late '80s - '00s from Dunlavy and Thiel for example would compare rather well on a current $ for $ comparison with the latest new offerings.