Are advances in technology making speakers better?

There are no advances in speakers. But companies have to sell in order to make a profit so they have to keep on producing so called better speakers. The reality is most speakers are just wooden boxes with drivers in them. It has been that way for decades but the public have been duped. 

@mbmi wrote:

One thing no one ever mentions when talking about speakers....Speakers have voice coils and they take up to 30 minutes to heat up and expand. THAT’S when you’ll hear the optimal sound from that speaker...not until. People will run their electronics to warm them up but always when doing so......run the signal at low volume thru your speakers....after 20 - 30 minutes , then do your serious listening. This is according to Steve Deckert. And he’s Right. The sound clanges pretty dramatically after about 20 min. Try It.

I've gone over this phenomenon at quite a few junctures here, so glad to see you bringing this up. Personally I find it takes elevated volume levels for about an hour or more to bring about the proper heat-up effect of the voice coils to have the speakers open up and loosen more fully, but being my main speakers + subs are high efficiency with bigger voice coils it might explain why this process takes a bit longer and requires more volume. In any case it's an important aspect of system warm-up to be aware of apart from thinking of electronics alone. 

"Most important component in a system is the speakers"

The most important component in your system is your worst component :)

@drbarney1

@kenjit

It saddens me to hear how cynical you have become. Certainly there are some companies that operate this way. But a much larger proportion are driven by true desire to create better products… or in some cases driven by other companies besting them.

I have worked in the high tech industry for nearly forty years at companies supplying cutting edge components for high end audio and electronic devices… Burr-Brown (leader in DACs and Other high end audio components), Texas Instruments, and Sharp Corporation. I know hundreds of engineers, marketing managers, and executives. There is tremendous pressure to advance… but the prerequisite is performance, period. You just cannot pretty stuff up, false market it and stay in business in the high end.

Most of the electronic devices you own… including the GPS system in your car I have had a hand in bringing to you. The hundreds of thousands of people that have done this are by the greatest margin hard working honest people doing the best for themselves and their companies to bring the very best possible. As you move down into very budget oriented stuff… things change… still a lot of work, but more marketing, less innovation. I have encountered that environment as well.

Technology HAS made speakers better. Today's modest bookshelf speakers are light years ahead of most bookies say of 40 years ago.  But the basic technology used most often (a flapping piece of paper driven by a magnetic motor) hasn't changed. However, as others note, the materials technology has changed a bunch. Neodymium magnets, stiffer but lighter materials, the knowledge of how to properly brace a speaker cabinet to eliminate coloring resonances using computer simulations, and yes, computer simulations that can drastically cut down on the number of prototypes needed to be built so that the designers can get it "right"
the first time.  

For instance, compare any speaker from 1982 that cost about $1200/pair with Andrew Jones' Sourcepoint 10 here in 2022 at $3600.  The relative value, allowing for inflation, is the same. 

But that doesn't mean you have to upgrade every 5 or 10 years. Buy what you can feel comfortable with, but then just enjoy it for at least 15 or even 20 years. 

The increments in sound quality increases are small but over 20 years they can add up. Or at the very least, make quality sound available at prices no one would have dreamed of back in 1982. 

The only reason to change is if you desire something else - a sonic signature change as it were.  If that is the real impetus behind your wanting to "change" then go for it and make yourself happy. Life is short. Listen all you can.