I really think a new speaker development is just waiting to happen and when it does it will surprise us all.
Any ideas John...
John I hope you are right, although the problem I see is one of economics.
The people to develop and market a completely new speaker technology will most likely be a large established HiFi company who will only be interested in the predicted profit in such a new product .
Seeing as the majority of people could not give two hoots about sound quality there is only going to be a very small market and subsequent small profit for a large outlay so it is unlikely to happen , a case in point is the Mission NXT flat panel speaker .
The only hope is that a small company can get the backing to develop a new technology that they have developed but then the same problems apply !
Until a large profitable portion of society become interested in sound quality again nothing much will happen we will end up with more disposable rubbish like this.
Thanks Electro, I have followed the NXT developments and the paper speakers that are in reality little more than a joke. But then look at microphone developments over the past 50 years and see some really original new ideas, compare that to moving coil speakers, loads of R&D and refinements have taken place but it is still the same idea. Now imagine one complete wall becoming a transductor, no speaker boxes. Unfortuanatly I have no idea how it could be done, maybe just a dream.
But then look at the space programe, that had little comercial return although a seriouse political one and cost billions, imagine if Hi Fi were to become a politcal issue, as it was during WW2 in Germany when propagander via sound was govenment funded and many new companies were started, too many to list here and many still leading the world in transductors and measurement.
Remember back in the 80-90s when even the most futuristic films like Rollerball and Alien wars still had rounded corners to their screens, no one ever imagined that a screen could be flat with square corners. But they now are. Food for thought.
Sorry to bang on here, but if no one could even imagine the developments in video 20 years ago, even artistic film makers, then I think it reasonable to think that no one can imagine the possibilities for audio. After all imagination is a driving force for invention, so lets imagine, a reproduction system with no colouration, no 'late arrival' (reflex speakers) and no phase anomalies.
I personally believe amplifiers and CD players are whey better than any distortions caused by speakers, many speakers create 10% distortion in the lower ranges and have phase anomalies that can’t be corrected.
I wonder could it be a micro machined integrated circuit structure that ends up as a flat panel just like an LED display, there are possibilities out there, or a new form of electrostatic with matching amplifier and no step up transformer, or even a new form of electromagnetic driver that controls the whole diaphragm rather than just the centre. There are many avenues worth wondering down.
the future of hifi well i think u are in the (far) past mr fisher u ideas are very creative but unfortunately nobodys been able to realise those dreams . The digital sound is the future without escaping . playing vinyl for the audio nerds is like the old men always complaining that in the old days everything was better ... .home cinema in perfect beautifull harmony thats the future of music .. u ever hear a dts hd recording its close to perfection if u dont think so mr fisher its in u perspective u believe (where i hear that before ).thx for the always creative discussions when u arround il give u that
ps iam not english so for shure some errors ciao musiclovers
Thanks Hans, I never thought you English but that is of no importance you have an opinion just like anyone else. The point of this thread was to imagine a future and what it might be and I agree digital is the only way, but speakers seem stuck in the same groove as vinyl and from the same age. Sorry to disaree re HD I'm not saying that it is not better but the electrical/ear interface is the area that needs addressing IMO.
Yes Guys, the HD audio from blue-ray discs is better than dolby digital but you still have the problem of the video and audio interface between the electronics and the human brain. Perhaps scientists are already working on an interface which connects the electronics direcly to the areas of the brain which process the video and audio information. Of course it will not sound right because we have been listening to audio recordings through loudspeakers for the last 100 years, and God only knows what it will look like. Please don't go off on a tangent with this guys. Perceptions of reality is food for a different thread alltogether.
