music quality of speakers in the 70's vs now

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm

Altec Best Buy current crapola:

Drops mic, bows,and walks away

There is plenty of junk out there these days, but there is also plenty of great sounding reasonably priced stuff - you just have to put in some effort to do a bit of research.

 

[Malo83]

Loved my JBL L112's kick my self in the butt for selling them.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Don't forget everyone, your ears could hear high frequencies back in the 70's.

 

[Andrew1972]

I have listened to more music now with iPod/ iPhone then my entire youth. Yes Walkman and discman were around but such a hassle bringing the bulky stuff with you.

Quality is not as great but the ease so much better.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
High end home audio loudspeakers from the 70s blow away the mass-fi big box junk made today.

No. It's called Nostalgia.


Altec loudspeakers from the 1970s:

Altec Best Buy current crapola:

Drops mic, bows,and walks away

It's also 2020, you're not limited to only what you see in a store. 1 click and whatever can be in your house in just a few days.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Don't forget everyone, your ears could hear high frequencies back in the 70's.

LOL! Can't argue with that.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by madRiver
I have listened to more music now with iPod/ iPhone then my entire youth. Yes Walkman and discman were around but such a hassle bringing the bulky stuff with you.

Quality is not as great but the ease so much better.

Can't imagine Walkman quality being better than iPod/IPhone, assuming you use reasonably high bitrate. SNR and wow and flutter of a cassette tape just can't compete with a digital source.

I'm typically happy with anything that's at least 192 kbps and up, especially in a portable setup.

 

[4WD]

What'd you say Snag ?

 

[tbm5690]

Portability is king with us "young kids" to the point of sacrificing quality in the audio realm. Most buy a Bluetooth canister speaker or stream through a smart home device, and buy a sound bar for their "home theater" needs and call it a day. I'm odd man out and am the only one out of my friends that has any interest in descent audio equipment. Thing is, when all you know is MP3s growing up you don't even realize what you are missing and simply accept it as the "standard."

 

[Powerglide]

4 stacked (tweeter to tweeter) New "large" Advents ca. 1977 driven by a capable, clean receiver produced in the late 70s with 75 or so real watts RMS will impress to this day. Especially with well recorded and reproduced source material (turntable/cartridge) or good digital. Better have some stout speak stands-heavy stuff.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by tbm5690
Portability is king with us "young kids" to the point of sacrificing quality in the audio realm. Most buy a Bluetooth canister speaker or stream through a smart home device, and buy a sound bar for their "home theater" needs and call it a day. I'm odd man out and am the only one out of my friends that has any interest in descent audio equipment. Thing is, when all you know is MP3s growing up you don't even realize what you are missing and simply accept it as the "standard."


Let's be honest though, no one in their right mind is dragging thousands of dollars worth of audio equipment into their yard when they're having a party outside or a fire when something like a Sonos One sounds great especially given it's size and a portable Bluetooth speaker is the ultimate in portability, and even those can sound pretty good given their size.

 

[bachman]

Originally Posted by Hermann
Worked in retail electronics for many years 1976-1995. After about 2 years of trying to sell specs, I realized that only the nerds cared about the best possible specs. Everyone else bought the cute face. I recall a certain piece of car audio, that by just changing the face plate on the display, sales quadrupled. We called it the Mae West effect.


I talked spec's a little in those days of sound equip retail but for the most part I didn't feel I had to impress the customer. The brands we had spoke for themselves, were consistently reviewed well by the trusted mags and most had superior warranty. If I recall correctly, we had our own store warranty that made all electronic gear 5 years (Yamaha was 3 for instance) and our speakers had lifetime warranty and free traded up within the first year. We admonished buyers from cutting corners on speakers but in reality, most had limited budgets. Having the option to upgrade speakers later and net 100% trade value from the first purchase allowed us to step them up on components. We had loaners for any equipment that did come in for any service work too. Most of the time, I took the specs out of their head and offered a simple idea like- Shut up, Sit down and Listen.

I felt like we were not the elite high end but respectable gear with boutique store advantages and services, good value components above the grade and shopping experience of big box retail. We didn't badger the customers that came by to browse and look as they bragged of a close-out deal on the big watt receiver or ? It could have been so easy to say;
"Why are you here then ? " But we knew.
They appreciated better gear and knew it when they seen and heard it. They were future customers we treated with respect.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted by bachman
Originally Posted by Hermann
Worked in retail electronics for many years 1976-1995. After about 2 years of trying to sell specs, I realized that only the nerds cared about the best possible specs. Everyone else bought the cute face. I recall a certain piece of car audio, that by just changing the face plate on the display, sales quadrupled. We called it the Mae West effect.


I talked spec's a little in those days of sound equip retail but for the most part I didn't feel I had to impress the customer. The brands we had spoke for themselves, were consistently reviewed well by the trusted mags and most had superior warranty. If I recall correctly, we had our own store warranty that made all electronic gear 5 years (Yamaha was 3 for instance) and our speakers had lifetime warranty and free traded up within the first year. We admonished buyers from cutting corners on speakers but in reality, most had limited budgets. Having the option to upgrade speakers later and net 100% trade value from the first purchase allowed us to step them up on components. We had loaners for any equipment that did come in for any service work too. Most of the time, I took the specs out of their head and offered a simple idea like- Shut up, Sit down and Listen.

I felt like we were not the elite high end but respectable gear with boutique store advantages and services, good value components above the grade and shopping experience of big box retail. We didn't badger the customers that came by to browse and look as they bragged of a close-out deal on the big watt receiver or ? It could have been so easy to say;
"Why are you here then ? " But we knew.
They appreciated better gear and knew it when they seen and heard it. They were future customers we treated with respect.


I really miss the mom and pop stereo shops!! They were so much fun. The last of them I remember (maybe from the late 1980s) sold the Yamaha Natural Sound stuff,Sony ES,Sony Esprit,Nakamichi,and McIntosh.

 

[spasm3]

I miss Heathkit stores. I wish I had bought an AA-1800 amp back then.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by Malo83
Loved my JBL L112's kick my self in the butt for selling them.

I had a pair too. New in the day . Sold them after a couple months,

Good tweeter and powerful woofer - but West coast seems to have problems gettiing that magic midrange quality.

Where MOST of the Music is.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by spasm3
I miss Heathkit stores. I wish I had bought an AA-1800 amp back then.


I have a wonderful Heathkit Integrated amp from the early 60's in the basement that requires rebuildiing.

EL 84 outputs, Super transformers and a killer preamp circuit.

The Encyclopeadic definition of classic Vacuum Tube sound.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted by spasm3
I miss Heathkit stores. I wish I had bought an AA-1800 amp back then.


I have a wonderful Heathkit Integrated amp from the early 60's in the basement that requires rebuildiing.

EL 84 outputs, Super transformers and a killer preamp circuit.

The Encyclopeadic definition of classic Vacuum Tube sound.


The aa-1800 was a 2 channel powerhouse. 250, tested to 300 watts per channel @ 8 ohms with no clipping. Low the. The guys at the store said the shoe store next door could never figure out why their shoes were off the racks some mornings.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Moozic Non Stop is the name of my custom built sound system. With 32
drivers powered by 1000 watts it sports a neighborhood irritability
factor of 10... Its a reproduction of my live concert experiences
where I was free to move about and settle in the proverbial sweet
spot. You know where not only the left and right sounded the best but
also the direct and reflected sounded the best... I knew I was in the
sweet spot because it would gave me goose bumps... A live concert
goose bump experience is what I wanted to recreate inside the confines
of room. Its taken years of building and years of critical listening
to perfectly adjust the sound stage to keep the goose bumps coming...

Kenwood DP-M660 6 Disc CD Player

Kenwood KC-X1 Pre Amp Tuner

6ea 5.3A 150Watts AudioSource Monoblock Amplifiers

1ea 5.2A 100Watts AudioSource Monoblock Amplifier

2ea Bose 601 Series II

6ea Bose 301 Series III x 2 = 602

2ea JBL 12 inch Sub Woofer

10ea 8 inch Mid Range Drivers

20ea 3 inch Tweeters

2ea 12 inch Sub Woofers

Total 32 Drivers Powered by 1000 Watts

Cost $3,500

 

[bachman]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm

I really miss the mom and pop stereo shops!! They were so much fun. The last of them I remember (maybe from the late 1980s) sold the Yamaha Natural Sound stuff,Sony ES,Sony Esprit,Nakamichi,and McIntosh.


It truly was mom and pop. Most of what we had (the brands you mention and a few others ) plus a fair amount of trade-in stuff too - mostly the higher end gear for trades. I've forgotten how much of that we did. Had the Blue book there on the test bench.
I segued to sales from a Caddy Shack type job where I had met my girlfriend. Her Dad owned a store in Flint, MI that was part of a group of stores one owner sold to his managers. They were peppered around the state of Michigan. The Flint commute wasn't bad for him but our home town had a store and I was referred there. Eventually I think all the stores failed with the move of big box and other competition. When the store I was at closed, I took a break for a few weeks then went job hunting and ended up filed for unemployment (just in case). The competitive store in town knew me from my visits and a few things I bought there. Never having thought of them as an opportunity (staff was pretty solid as far as I knew) I was delighted they called me one day knowing of the store closing and asking if I was available. I was thrilled to have been 'found' and to collect about 1/2 of an unemployment check as I was too keen on living off the system. I had a few apps out there within a few weeks. This was another of multi-stores in state but one owner. Same environment, stronger sales and financial backing. By 1984 and one year into marriage of said girlfriend, I was on to a different career and way from the daily life of HI-FI.


Originally Posted by spasm3

The aa-1800 was a 2 channel powerhouse. 250, tested to 300 watts per channel @ 8 ohms with no clipping. Low the. The guys at the store said the shoe store next door could never figure out why their shoes were off the racks some mornings.


At the last store I was around '81 thru '83, we had Klipsch K-Horns in the corners and were jamming something beyond our normal consider levels. Likely, they were being demo'd and shown-off via some serious power ala McIntosh or Hafler. The optical salon next door were quickly involved in a nervous break-down as (unknown to us) optics on glass shelves were vibrating off the displays needing to be caught mid air. The manager came running over fairly quick to alert us and from then on, we were better behaved of went over there with fair warnings ahead of time. The girls there were quite sharp so I'm trying to think back and wondering if the tempting volume control did summon a few visits when we got bored by accident of course.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by tbm5690
Portability is king with us "young kids" to the point of sacrificing quality in the audio realm. Most buy a Bluetooth canister speaker or stream through a smart home device, and buy a sound bar for their "home theater" needs and call it a day. I'm odd man out and am the only one out of my friends that has any interest in descent audio equipment. Thing is, when all you know is MP3s growing up you don't even realize what you are missing and simply accept it as the "standard."


Well said and with the demise of audio stores and audio departments in stores there is nothing to know what they are missing and maybe better said, its not as important to them as it was to the older generation as there are many more electronic devices in which we choose to spend time with, meaning music isnt as important as a hobby and passion as it was.

For those that do care Quattro made a statement a few pages back and stands very true, there is a LOT of good high performance reasonably priced equipment out there(maybe taking into account inflation better then ever prices but less selection) if one cares to look for it. I just think, its just, like a lot of things, a hobby that has grown old.