Describe the "new HiFi sound"?

@grislybutter

Yeah, betamax was another format war, agreed. When Steva Ballmer (Vista, Bing) was helming Microsoft it was awful, biggest software company in the world couldn’t build squat and lived off renewals instead of innovation. Satya Nadella comes in and they pivot to office 365 and azure cloud services, the Surface tablet, etc. Big improvement. In 2005 Sony changed CEO’s to an American guy who was head of Sony America to become Sony’s top dog, Howard Stringer, and s--- hit the fan. The guy got them back to "kaizen", or pursuit of perfection and eventually went all in on high resolution audio with the Signature line. Kazuo Hirai succeeded him as CEO in 2012 they rolled out Signature in 2016 after 5 years in development. Check out the story here:

https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/stories/signature_series/

I don't know the term 'new HIFI sound' but if I was to explain it.

My interpretation is detail without coloration.

I'm in my 50s and the stereo's I heard in my younger years was enjoyable.  And when I listen to older equipment (for the heck of it I pulled out an Adcom amp and replaced my Moon amp with it) the sound is less dynamic and detailed.

Ultimately, I think the reason there's some many options is because we all have different tastes.  I hope technology has added the ability to pursue different characteristics.  

Ultimately music appreciation lies in the beholder - if someone likes it they like it.  And if they like it over Apple earpods or Boulder Audio with Wilson speakers does it really matter?

Overthemoon makes too much sense!

@overthemoon "My interpretation is detail without coloration."

That about sums it up in the fewest words. This is what the OP was about, initially.

After a few decades of messing with caps and cables, and too many different amplifiers and tubes - recently went back to following and learning from a few different amp designers and hardcore techs. Have been revisiting, learning, and understanding voltage/current and associated manual re-biasing of amps opts, or tubes, reconfiguring to full Class-A operation, and how this impacts sound too. Interesting and rewarding.  

I’ve come to the conclusion I still prefer a type of sound and presentation about half way between the old era of golden sound and the new era of hi-fi sound. Finding the preamp and amp designers who strive to achieve something close to this type of sound has been an interesting journey in itself. Ears and preferences vary.

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Thanks to all for the varied and interesting replies everyone, along with your own interpretations and examples! Its clear people enjoy hunting for the type of sound they prefer most and trying different components to help get there. Keep up the good work - as they say 👍

It’s bold!  It’s daring!  It’s in your face! It’s as if the audio gods finally decided to give it up.