Funny you would say that. My favorite speakers are Martin Logans (I've run nothing my MLs in my main system for over 15 years) and they are electrostatic hybrids (a 12"x 48" electrostatic panel mated with a 10" ported woofer).
Although Martin Logan has made some SERIOUS advancements in ESL technology (curved panels, vapor deposition of the conductive material, and a material for the panel that is lighter for a square inch of the material than a cubic inch of air--making them INCREDIBLY fast in response), the fact is that electrostatic panel speakers were invented in the 1920s, and they had one at Bell Labs in 1923 that was made from stretched pig intestine tissue covered in gold leaf!
So yeah, the speaker DESIGNS have changed a lot, and our understanding of the physics of driver alignment, phase, and crossover technology, and materials science has advanced tremendously in the last 100 years, but the fact is that the basic design technology of speakers that MOST people are familiar with (cone drivers and horns) is about 140 years old.
Some of us believe that tube amps, vinyl played on a turntable, and electrostatic speakers (ALL of which are essentially 120+ year old technology) are still the benchmark by which all "new technology" in audio is measured.
Don't get me wrong--I LOVE digital. I have a high-end Sony CD DVD player that I use as a CD transport, feeding a studio-quality DAC as my digital front end. And I also feed uncompressed digitally-ripped music from iTunes on my Mac through that same DAC into my rig. But when I want to REALLY listen to music critically, or enjoy true audio nirvana, I break out the vinyl...
I have a lavagen that should arrive this week..figured I have to give the RBA a try and it's the least expensive way for me to try since I have several lava tanks. Hopefully I will have time this weekend to give it a go...I'm sure if I made a video of it you would get a lot of laughs...
