I think something from the past whose time for a comeback is upon us are the large, credenza-size console stereos from the '60s and '70s.
Starting with the earliest days of radio, audio-related consumer gear was designed after furniture. It was meant to look like it actually belonged in your living room and not some research laboratory.
After the consoles we began seeing the "rack" systems with separate components and floor standing loudspeakers. I believe this marks the point where the audio industry wrote women completely out of the equation, went Total Testosterone and has never looked back.
Once "home theater" became popular, where at least those early rack systems had some sense of design, everything has pretty much become a bunch of ugly black boxes. Not to mention a whole bunch more of them due to the multichannel nature of home theater.
I first got the idea of a console revival about 7 or 8 years ago. And ever since then I've been keeping an eye out to see if anyone had taken that approach.
The closest anyone has ever come is Klipsch. At the 2013 CES, they showed a prototype console. It was of about the same size I had in mind, and unlike the original consoles had no source components. Just amplification and loudspeakers in a single cabinet.
However Klipsch was marketing in Total Testosterone mode.
It was just a big ugly black monolith. Their big gimmick was the arrangement of the subwoofer drivers which were done in such a way as to cancel vibrations.
This was demonstrated by placing a wine glass filled with water on the top of the console and then cranking Metallica to ear-splitting levels and pointing out that the water wasn't vibrating.
As I said, this was just a prototype. They said they planned to release it first quarter of 2014. Of course 2014 has come and gone, and no sign of any console from Klipsch.
I think it's long past due that women be brought back into the fold. Women love music too. And they have an appreciation for high quality. They have more disposable income of their own than ever before. Not to mention that they're a little over half the population.
And I think a credenza size console stereo in a furniture grade midcentury modern styled cabinet complete with vintage grille cloth would be just the ticket to do it.
In addition to its beauty, it would be a pretty simple plug 'n' play affair. And with no source components, it wouldn't require a hinged top lid for access, making the top of the console the perfect place to put a big screen TV for a simple 2.0 affair.
I felt vindicated when a couple of years ago our local paper ran a story about the growing popularity of vinyl.
The article featured a couple of local shops that were doing well repairing and refurbishing old turntables. And while the bulk of the article was on this subject, mt vindication came in a few paragraphs at the end of the article.
"The most unexpected trend Gálvez is seeing at his shop is a growing interest in the repair and buying of the big console record players that were popular in the '60s and '70s.
Those players usually combined a turntable, receiver and speakers into one piece of furniture.
Until recently it was almost impossible to get rid of one.
'I'm repairing three to four of those a week now,' he said.
In Granit Bay, Halecker is also seeing a growing trend among women in the cabinet-size consoles - as both music player and design choice.
'If they (women) go vintage they truly want vintage,' she said. 'They want the wood and the lattice. They want the midcentury modern look.'"
I rest my case.
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