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You can buy highend Hifi speakers from the 80s for very cheap (often under 100 bucks a pair), and they don't really degrade if they have elastic cones made out

You can buy highend Hifi speakers from the 80s for very cheap (often under 100 bucks a pair), and they don't really degrade if they have elastic cones made out of rubber. Speaker development didn't really evolve since then, what sounded transparent and lifelike back then still does today. If you're in Europe, check online marketplaces for Canton GLE 60, 70 and 100 or Canton Quinto. They also have a high impedance, so low powered amps do fine.

smoldesu 6y ago
>They also have a high impedance, so low powered amps do fine. Did you mean that they have a low impedance?
- jiofih 6y ago
  Low wattage amps have high impedance. So you want high impedance speakers to match. More wattage = lower impedance = expensive equipment.
  - brigade 6y ago
    The better answer is that the closer an amp's output impedance is to the speakers' impedance, the greater the variation in amplified frequency response. Because impedance varies depending on the frequency of the signal. So an amp with high output impedance doesn't work well with low impedance speakers. But it's barely a problem nowadays for class AB amps; mostly only tube (which have other problems) and class D amps.
- randyrand 6y ago
  the lower resistance there is, the faster current and power naturally flow. You'd need an amp that expects that.
brigade 6y ago
Strong disagree that it hasn't evolved; modern advances in materials and modeling mean drivers have wider ranges and lower distortion. Modern DSP can extend the low frequency response even further than just porting, and provide a crossover more tuned to the specific drivers used than is practical with analog components, or even correct for room modes. And we know way more about controlling off-axis dispersion than we did in the 80s. Which especially means that small speakers can be way better than similar sized speakers were in the 80s, kinda relevant when you're using them for a computer. Though, maybe less true at $100.
- thatcat 6y ago
  Dsp isn't the amp, put the dsp on source into some old amp. Unless cone material has changed a lot then old speakers should be pretty similar, they even had cross overs and tuned porting...
fgnivnc 6y ago
The best thing is that they don't lose value. Can use them everyday for 5 years, and then sell them for same price (or higher).

smoldesu 6y ago

>They also have a high impedance, so low powered amps do fine. Did you mean that they have a low impedance?

jiofih 6y ago
Low wattage amps have high impedance. So you want high impedance speakers to match. More wattage = lower impedance = expensive equipment.
- brigade 6y ago
  The better answer is that the closer an amp's output impedance is to the speakers' impedance, the greater the variation in amplified frequency response. Because impedance varies depending on the frequency of the signal. So an amp with high output impedance doesn't work well with low impedance speakers. But it's barely a problem nowadays for class AB amps; mostly only tube (which have other problems) and class D amps.
randyrand 6y ago
the lower resistance there is, the faster current and power naturally flow. You'd need an amp that expects that.

brigade 6y ago

Strong disagree that it hasn't evolved; modern advances in materials and modeling mean drivers have wider ranges and lower distortion. Modern DSP can extend the low frequency response even further than just porting, and provide a crossover more tuned to the specific drivers used than is practical with analog components, or even correct for room modes. And we know way more about controlling off-axis dispersion than we did in the 80s. Which especially means that small speakers can be way better than similar sized speakers were in the 80s, kinda relevant when you're using them for a computer. Though, maybe less true at $100.

thatcat 6y ago
Dsp isn't the amp, put the dsp on source into some old amp. Unless cone material has changed a lot then old speakers should be pretty similar, they even had cross overs and tuned porting...

fgnivnc 6y ago

The best thing is that they don't lose value. Can use them everyday for 5 years, and then sell them for same price (or higher).