What was the Decade for the Golden-Age in Audio?

[Sal1950]

Ruining audio world , Siri spy speakers

always recording audio .

I gotta laugh, people have fought for decades against the government or whoever putting bugging devices in their homes. Now they're paying monthly to put them in the house themselves with no thought to who might be listening on the other side. No Thanks to the spybots.

 

[dvaid]

It's hard not to blame digital for the total degradation of the music industry as well as hi fi. However probably shifts in consumer spending and tastes plus a global shift of manufacturing to the Far East and the remorseless price Warfare and cost cutting probably counted more. It is a shame that decent quality domestic music has been subsumed in plasticky all digital television sound systems with poor amplification and even poorer quality speakers Coming back from Central London I waxed lyrical about Tottenham Court Road in the 70s or 80s where you could spend half a day going from one audio shop to another ogling the latest products some affordable, some distantly attainable and others completely beyond one's wallet. Those were the days. Now... endless coffee and cake. Utterly boring.

 

[dvaid]

I would say the 80s because the introduction of the first CD players caused all manufacturers to raise their game with regard to the quality. However, I must say the 1970s was the decade I grew up in with my first pieces of equipment and listening experiences. Carrying home a pair of AR6 loudspeakers on the London Tube (I was a strapping lad but my arms hurt!) the Philips 212 electronic turntable and 521 "fish eye" amplifier (10% discount courtesy of an aunt who worked at the Philips Showrooms in Conquest House Shaftesbury Avenue West End) and records records records, library and ordered through local (YES YES YES!) Record Shops the big ones in West End like EMG Soho Square. Much of what thrilled me then we're the great recordings from the golden age of stereo in the late fifties and sixties. I:ve come to the conclusion now in 2022 that virtually all the great performances have already been set down and the really great recordings made, and most of what I hear to day is many levels below the best in the past and just an inferior effort to sound different. I don't think that's old age. I believe it is true. Does anybody sing Schubert like Fischer-Dieskau or conduct like Karajan or play the piano like Michelangeli?

 

[TLS Guy]

I would say the 80s because the introduction of the first CD players caused all manufacturers to raise their game with regard to the quality. However, I must say the 1970s was the decade I grew up in with my first pieces of equipment and listening experiences. Carrying home a pair of AR6 loudspeakers on the London Tube (I was a strapping lad but my arms hurt!) the Philips 212 electronic turntable and 521 "fish eye" amplifier (10% discount courtesy of an aunt who worked at the Philips Showrooms in Conquest House Shaftesbury Avenue West End) and records records records, library and ordered through local (YES YES YES!) Record Shops the big ones in West End like EMG Soho Square. Much of what thrilled me then we're the great recordings from the golden age of stereo in the late fifties and sixties. I:ve come to the conclusion now in 2022 that virtually all the great performances have already been set down and the really great recordings made, and most of what I hear to day is many levels below the best in the past and just an inferior effort to sound different. I don't think that's old age. I believe it is true. Does anybody sing Schubert like Fischer-Dieskau or conduct like Karajan or play the piano like Michelangeli?

I must be a little older than you and live in the US now. I remember going to Henry's on the Tottenham Court road, and especially Sterns Radio on Fleet street. I bought kits mainly back then. I used to go the Leicester Square London, to get cheap army surplus components.

I think the big difference back then was the ethics. The owners, and I would site especially Peter Walker of Quad, really wanted high quality and especially reliable gear from their companies. Peter Walker regarded any failure of a Quad amp, or tuner a personal affront to be made good to the customer.

I would not say that you can't get good equipment now, but I do think reliability is an issue. But as always you have to pick your equipment carefully.

As far as artists, we only remember the really great ones. We still do have great artists before the public today, and I would venture to suggest in greater numbers than previously. I have been listening to quite a few vintage recordings of late, and I think the technical standards of the recoding have actually dropped. I think the art of the recording and balance engineers has moved from art to just a job. When streaming in AV you far too often see a bunch of mics thrown about the place with little if any thought given to it.