music quality of speakers in the 70's vs now

[Malo83]

My old setup which really took me into stereo systems, was stationed in Guam and first time I saw a dedicated electronics showroom was in the NAVY Exchange(PX). Was like a kid in a candy store. my first stereo receiver and second set of speakers, pair of Kenwoods were my first.

JBL L112's

 

[Andrew1972]

High end home audio loudspeakers from the 70s blow away the mass-fi big box junk made today.

High end audio from 70’s is laughable compared to modern high end in 2020’s comparing apples to apples.

 

[y_p_w]

High end audio from 70’s is laughable compared to modern high end in 2020’s comparing apples to apples.

The 70s was not really the time for that. By the 80s, the maturity of speaker technology was pretty similar to what we have now - especially in driver technology. There might be subtle advances, but for the most part polypropylene or doped paper drivers and liquid or metal dome tweeters of the late 80s didn't really advance that much.

The big advances of the 80s were also in subwoofer technology.

Another issue is that a lot of newer speakers are mass produced without quite the craftsmanship of older speakers. That may be a good thing in the mass-market where it's gotten much closer to the high end at a better price. But at the really high end, has it really advanced that much?

 

[OVERKILL]

The 70s was not really the time for that. By the 80s, the maturity of speaker technology was pretty similar to what we have now - especially in driver technology. There might be subtle advances, but for the most part polypropylene or doped paper drivers and liquid or metal dome tweeters of the late 80s didn't really advance that much.

The big advances of the 80s were also in subwoofer technology.

Another issue is that a lot of newer speakers are mass produced without quite the craftsmanship of older speakers. That may be a good thing in the mass-market where it's gotten much closer to the high end at a better price. But at the really high end, has it really advanced that much?

Yes, there were some incredible speakers produced in the 80's that still stand up quite well to this day. One of the big issues currently, is cost. The sticker on the modern version of my 802's would buy you a car (they are $26,000 USD). Mind you, that's actually scaled somewhat with inflation, my buddy Peter, who bought them new, paid close to the price of a new fox body for them.

 

[sk_pete]

Kinda of a fun read bringing back a vintage unit to current date. This is getting ultra high end and btw you’re going two need two of them for a stereo setup.
https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/amplifiers/MC3500

http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aaa1531.htm el509, the tv sweep tubes?
how about classic mc275 with kt88 (kinkless tetrode).
----------------
this frankenstein never gets old.
6 phase mercury rectifiers dcg4/1000, output transformer in oil.
330lbs and anode voltage 3200v. qb3,5/750 (hf transmitter graphite tubes, similar to 4-250a tantalum)

not super hifi, but gets job done

.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I'm still using my big Marantz speakers from '73, with a circa 2005 receiver. The Sony receiver from '73 sounded just as good, until it was fried by lightening in '88.

I have a 1981 Marantz SR 4000 receiver + Sony CD player in the man cave pushing 2 JBL and 2 Bose bookshelf speakers. I always had Bose only thru the years but found that JBL with the Bose is an awesome combination.

 

[sk_pete]

High end audio from 70’s is laughable compared to modern high end in 2020’s comparing apples to apples.

first transistors amps could often blow up, even on shop floor. issue was durability of semiconductors.
modern amps are often class-d, not fan of it.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Yes, there were some incredible speakers produced in the 80's that still stand up quite well to this day. One of the big issues currently, is cost. The sticker on the modern version of my 802's would buy you a car (they are $26,000 USD). Mind you, that's actually scaled somewhat with inflation, my buddy Peter, who bought them new, paid close to the price of a new fox body for them.

I think 802s' were English made. Today.... is anything not made in China?

 

[OVERKILL]

first transistors amps could often blow up, even on shop floor. issue was durability of semiconductors.
modern amps are often class-d, not fan of it.

The cheapies are Class-D, quality units are A+B. If I were buying another amp, I'd just continue to buy Bryston. They are local, and their quality is 2nd to none. McIntosh is also quite comparable for my American neighbours.

At Bryston, finding ways to eliminate distortion from our designs is a way of life. All Cubed Series electronics feature a new patented input circuit that is precisely optimized and linear beyond any we’ve used before. Featuring twelve active devices in a groundbreaking array, this new circuit both matches the amplifier to virtually any preamplifier and provides the first 6dB of gain. The new input stage is so transparent, its measurable distortion is less than 1/1000th of 1 percent! Newly designed circuitry in the Cubed Series amplifiers is virtually impervious to noise such as RFI and others induced by external and environmental causes. Our patented Salomie Circuit features a unique method of trapping distortion components in the main signal path that pass through other amplifiers only to be amplified and played by your loudspeakers. Our innovative distortion reduction method results in a much more natural and nuanced rendition of your recordings—playback more true to the original recordings and more enjoyable to your ears. Quad-Complementary topology improves linearity to a new standard of accuracy while virtually eliminating aggressive higher harmonic distortion byproducts. Quad Complementary eliminates crossover distortion by improving transistor matching and reduces capacitance in the output stage by a factor of four which improves transient response and bandwidth. The overall harmonic distribution of Bryston’s Quad-Complementary output mimics the characteristics of a class-A design but with dramatically lower distortion. Each amplifier channel includes its own fully independent power supply with separate transformer—a feature uncommon even in amplifiers far more expensive.

 

[OVERKILL]

I think 802s' were English made. Today.... is anything not made in China?

Yes, my 802's, and the current 802's, are made in the UK. The higher end Paradigm speakers are still made here in Ontario but the lower end models are now unfortunately made in China.

My "favourite" brand, Bryston (made here in Peterborough) has speakers that are also manufactured here in Ontario. I'll eventually replace my Monitor 11 S7's with a set of Model T's.

 

[y_p_w]

I think 802s' were English made. Today.... is anything not made in China?

Sure. Paradigm still claims that they make their speakers in Canada. Some of the other Canadian speaker companies like Energy, and PSB still manufacture in Canada. My 1st gen Paradigm Studio/20 set is still doing fine. I don't see any reason to upgrade. Like I said earlier, speaker technology more or less reached maturity a few decades ago.

My KEF C55 pair said assembled in the US, but I think the drivers and case were made in England.

A lot of professional speakers are still assembled in the US, but not sure where the drivers come from. Meyer Sound still does assembly in Berkeley. Electro-Voice is still American made.

 

[bcossa2020]

and this is just a tetrode 6v6.
hifists praise directly heated triodes, like 2a3, 300b, 45, 10y ...
95..105dB/W) speakers-horn loaded boxes.

Love the painting......”After the Hunt”? ”Before the Hunt”?

 

[Heywood_6078]

While listening to some music It just dawned on how much better speakers are today vs when I was growing up in the early 70's. While some had good audio equipment at home it wasnt common(at least in my neck of the woods.) and vurtually nonexistant in cars. I just think of the sound engineers and producers spending countless hours only for us to listen to it on some transistor radio or car radio with that one lousy speaker in the dashboard.
Heck, I remember when my dad got his first car with an FM radio, I thought we were so cool

I had a set of Pioneer HPM 150s and a Sansui Z9000 receiver/amplifier and let me tell ya, the HPM 150s kicked some serious butt!
Those were some of the best speakers I ever owned.