High Fi Gear Quality Through The Decades

[Ducatista47]

I ran across a thread elsewhere http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38542 that I found a nice discussion. Wade through it a bit and you will get what I am thinking about. There were some very well thought out, articulated posts. I find this one for the ages. http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpos...3&postcount=20 I sense that the vintage bug we have here is attributable to the current affordability of what was once "only for the rich."

While I am personally allergic to solid state amps and older receivers I realize they have a big following here, as do mid line CD players, turntables, tape decks, etc. Me, I find it funny that there may have been a "Golden Age of solid state gear," and that is more or less a quote. To me that is like a Golden Age of landfills. Useful stuff, but "Golden Age" is usually reserved for the pinnacles of what civilization produces.

The basic premise of when did these get too cheaply made to be of interest, sort of a decades discussion, I found a nice, thought provoking read. Maybe we could have one here. As a topic we have some spotty coverage, but never as the focus of a line of inquiry.

Clark

[BMWCCA]

I find it funny that there may have been a "Golden Age of solid state gear," and that is more or less a quote. To me that is like a Golden Age of landfills. Useful stuff, but "Golden Age" is usually reserved for the pinnacles of what civilization produces.

. . . I found [it] a nice, thought provoking read. Maybe we could have one here.

Probably not, given that predetermination.

[macaroonie]

90's for sure.

[Ducatista47]

BMW, I just wanted to qualify myself as a solid state infidel, out myself more or less to declare my current opinions as relative.

I have enjoyed much solid state gear through the many years I have been listening, and have spent much time musing over this very topic. It is just not where I am presently. The stuff I use now is new and current and in every case sounds better than anything from the past that I have ever heard anywhere. I have heard better turntables, but they are all also current, so it is not just about solid state. Just when good stuff was/is made. The best amps I have ever heard are not transistor, but I feel that JFET may pass up tubes at some point for power amps. History will continue to move forward and I intend to move with it whenever it is an improvement.

What this topic is all about: when was "improvement" not an improvement?

I have already engaged in discussions here of whether my old 1152DC is too new to qualify as a "good" Marantz, for instance. Same with my 3300 preamp. I like this topic and still follow it with interest.

Clark

[Mr. Widget]

Very interesting thread topic Clark... at least to a social studies neophyte like myself... I was thinking about a similar thread inspired by a few of the posts on the BIC Venturi Thread...

Golden aged audio was for the rich!

In 1962:
The JBL Paragon cost $2250
A pair of Hartsfields with 075s slightly more
Average Cost of a new house $12,500.00
Average Income per year $5,556.00


I'll come back to this and spew some thoughts later. At the moment life interferes


Widget

BTW: I believe the USA peaked mid early '70s. We've been sliding since, it just wasn't until the '90s that we rounded the bend enough for most of us to notice the slide and the 2000s before those asleep at the wheel were so rudely awakened... but I digress.

[MikeBrewster77]

What this topic is all about: when was "improvement" not an improvement?

I don't think we're there yet, personally. I think the improvements that are continuing to be made are worthy, although there's always a miss amongst the hits (and this has been true since the advent of audio reproduction.)

I've taken this position in several threads before, and I continue to think that there's a tendency to lament the state of the audio union when in many cases, the trends today are exactly the same as those of yesteryear.

Competing formats: Disc vs. cylinder gramophone records

Cheap, plastic components: Bakelite (circa 1930’s) as opposed to all wood, and it was all “downhill” from there

Too much / too complicated / over-improving: The advent of stereo was met with a substantial amount of resistance especially in terms of needing to upgrade equipment

Portability: 45 players, turntables in cars (didn’t last long, but they tried) 8-tracks, cassette tapes, etc.

Crap equipment / crap recordings: Been around forever and I’m sure always will. I’ve owned my fair share of very impressive gear from the “golden age” and I’ve owned my fair share of crap that wasn’t worth the wood/plastic/metal it was built with.

Which is the point, really. Things aren’t worse – in fact, they’re far better if you’re willing to plunk down the cash for the price of entry. If you buy a big box receiver and CD player, and are disappointed with the results, you can’t bitch about the state of audio these days – frankly, you haven’t forked up enough for that right. Yeah, that sounds elitist (and I’m hardly at the upper echelon of the audio stratosphere) but it’s a simple reality. And that reality is likely clouded by the availability of vintage equipment at “reasonable” prices these days, which leads people to forget just how prohibitively expensive the items were when new. As a result, because they can’t break into today’s high-end, they listen to their (previously TOTL) vintage equipment, unfairly compare it mid-grade at best modern offerings, and surmise that the golden age of audio is past and everything today is shit. Blah!

So, that’s my initial $0.02 offering to the conversation (nothing new – just a re-hash of what I’ve said elsewhere.) N.B., I haven’t actually read the referenced threads and I’m off base, my apologies. I’ll read them tonight – as for now, it’s a gorgeous day here in the mid-Atlantic and I’m off to take advantage of it.

[Titanium Dome]

Things aren’t worse – in fact, they’re far better if you’re willing to plunk down the cash for the price of entry. If you buy a big box receiver and CD player, and are disappointed with the results, you can’t bitch about the state of audio these days – frankly, you haven’t forked up enough for that right. Yeah, that sounds elitist (and I’m hardly at the upper echelon of the audio stratosphere) but it’s a simple reality. And that reality is likely clouded by the availability of vintage equipment at “reasonable” prices these days, which leads people to forget just how prohibitively expensive the items were when new. As a result, because they can’t break into today’s high-end, they listen to their (previously TOTL) vintage equipment, unfairly compare it mid-grade at best modern offerings, and surmise that the golden age of audio is past and everything today is shit. Blah!

As the kids like to post:

+1