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
Use your ears. If you don't hear a difference between speakers manufactured decades ago and some of what's available now, count your blessings. You'll save money.
The answer unfortunately is no. 

By the late1950s the main loudspeaker technologies had all been invented.

Sealed box, open baffles, horns and even transmission lines were all in existence by then.

Dynamic drivers, dual concentrics, paper/ polypropylene/metal cones have long been in use. Electrostatics, ribbon tweeters etc have also been in use for decades.

So what about the improvements? 

I think, if there are any, they've mainly been centred around tiny incremental engineering improvements and the use of software to juggle and hopefully hide the various performance compromises that all loudspeakers by necessity are subjected to.

You'd like to think all modern speakers must measure better but there's little evidence to support that.

The new KEF LS50 Metas are still a dynamic driver in a box, but a highly refined one that offers a performance never previously available at that price point.

Are they a huge step forward or a small incremental one? I don't know, but the speaker I'd want to compare them to would be the LS 3/5a, a renowned long time standard.

However I am willing to bet that the KEF is the far cheaper to buy if you were to adjust the BBC design for inflation.
Twenty years is too short time period. Question should be thirty or forty years. My most memorable sound experience comes from stacked Quads 63’s with Kef black boxes passive subs in the late 70’s. Playing Little Feat Columbus live. And miss my Beveridge towers...
“This seems more like someone who dislikes the audiophile hobby in general”... precisely.  
His hobby is trolling, not audio.  He’s quite good at his hobby