Speaker anatomy and development

[Lucille]

It seems to me, learning as I am, that most speakers have the same basic anatomy.
I had a pair of Technics floor speakers decades ago, they sounded good. Now that I am actually trying to understand something about sound systems and how they operate, I've listened to a variety of modern speakers and some sound better than my old Technics, but actually, some don't and some sound worse.

I am sure that speaker companies must spend time on development; but still and all as I look and listen, it seems to me that the raw materials involved in creating a speaker are about the same.

What accounts for the disparity out there? If the raw materials are in fact about the same for any speaker, why would any company bother making something of poor quality when with a little effort they could turn out a respectable product?

 

[j_garcia]

The basic design of speakers hasn't changed much, but there are a LOT of factors that go into the design that come into play. Just within the drivers alone, there are many parameters which can be adjusted to produce a specific type of performance in them. Then there is the crossover, cabinet design and tuning, placement of drivers on the baffle, width of the baffle, placement of drivers relative to each other, etc....

There are far more people who buy inexpensive speakers than there are those who buy very expensive speakres - making inexpensive speakers more profitable for the typical company.

 

[AR-XA]

Hello everyone:
Just comment about variations in speaker quality:
Aside from all the complex technology that goes into making a speaker, whether they be of poor or good quality, the most important is the human auditory system.
Thank you for your patience.

 

[j_garcia]

Hello everyone:
Just comment about variations in speaker quality:
Aside from all the complex technology that goes into making a speaker, whether they be of poor or good quality, the most important is the human auditory system.
Thank you for your patience.

That doesn't explain why one speaker differs from another. Different people will hear different things when listening to the same material on the same setup simply because of their own preferences and experience. Your ears hear but your brain interprets and decides what it likes and does not like and those preferences are different for everyone. That is completely separate from the subject of what makes one speaker good and another not so good.

This thread is 7 years old.