Garrett Lundy
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2002
- Messages
- 3,763
Is Hi-Fi still Hi-Fi? Is Mid-Fi real? Is Low-Fi even a word? I was thinking about this earlier today.
Often you'll see an advertisment, or read a review, or hear somebody talk about something old.... For example I overheard two old guys talking about a restored '55 Chevrolet today:
"Boy thats a nice car, They sure don't make 'em like they used to".
Of course they don't, even a modern Chevy metro could run circles around this ancient heap, but it was old and so people tend to forget things like crappy 8" drum brakes (with no power assist), hydromatic, tires that lasted 7 months, 6-volt, and the idea of planned obsolecence in which a car was designed to fall-apart after two years, just in time for the new model.
I was wondering if the same were true of audio? If I ran a side-by-side comparison of yesteryears "great" stuff, would it still be great? Would it suck? would it compare to something else?
Heres where I need help. I don't happen to own any audio magazines from the past so give me some ideas: what were popular hi-end amps, sources, and speakers?
Something tells me with a little looking , a VISA card, and access to Ebay I can recreate a vintage (say, late 60's) super-awesome system. Then I can compare this system to a modern system.
My guess: A modern crappy Lo-Fi system will sonically be superior to the Hi-Fi system.
Why do this? Because I'm bored. And I like the idea of a Sony AVR beating a McIntosh tube amplifier... I just think its funny
Often you'll see an advertisment, or read a review, or hear somebody talk about something old.... For example I overheard two old guys talking about a restored '55 Chevrolet today:
"Boy thats a nice car, They sure don't make 'em like they used to".
Of course they don't, even a modern Chevy metro could run circles around this ancient heap, but it was old and so people tend to forget things like crappy 8" drum brakes (with no power assist), hydromatic, tires that lasted 7 months, 6-volt, and the idea of planned obsolecence in which a car was designed to fall-apart after two years, just in time for the new model.
I was wondering if the same were true of audio? If I ran a side-by-side comparison of yesteryears "great" stuff, would it still be great? Would it suck? would it compare to something else?
Heres where I need help. I don't happen to own any audio magazines from the past so give me some ideas: what were popular hi-end amps, sources, and speakers?
Something tells me with a little looking , a VISA card, and access to Ebay I can recreate a vintage (say, late 60's) super-awesome system. Then I can compare this system to a modern system.
My guess: A modern crappy Lo-Fi system will sonically be superior to the Hi-Fi system.
Why do this? Because I'm bored. And I like the idea of a Sony AVR beating a McIntosh tube amplifier... I just think its funny