When Was The Audio Golden Age?

I think of a Golden Age as a time when obstacles were overcome and a spate of innovation took the art to a higher level.  The mature vacuum tube era of Marantz 9 and McIntosh MC275 through MC2301. The application of Theil-Small filter theory to reflex speaker design.  The arrival of mature solid state designs by James Bongiorno…GAS in particular, when harshness was tamed in high power transistor amp designs.  The maturing of computer assisted design in loudspeakers, bringing KEF 105s and B&W DM6.  We may be now entering another such period, with enhanced analytic tools for speaker designers and the perfecting of new amplifier designs like Purifi and GaN FETs, and improved room correction like DIRAC.

The 50s and 60s stand out for the quality of recordings. If we define “the best era in audio” as the greatest opportunity to maximize the enjoyment of music it is now. The technology continues to advance and for those willing and able to invest in a little more than entry level gear great choices exist to suit almost any taste and any room.

What makes this era the best, however, is the unprecedented access to an endless variety of relatively well recorded music for next to nothing. A Qobuz or Tidal subscription puts the work of a seemingly endless number of artists at your fingertips. To me, there are few greater advances in the ability to enjoy critical listening than this one. When I started this journey you bought a record then maybe an 8 trac often for one or two songs you knew you liked. Unless you were fabulously wealthy ( I wasn’t) you sure weren’t going to pick up a dozen albums at the record store of unfamiliar artists just to see if they suited your taste.

 The affordable access to virtually any music out there has increased my listening enjoyment more than any other advancement. I’ve discovered artists that have brought me untold hours of listening enjoyment that I would never have experienced until relatively recently, even better, the sound quality of streamed music now rivals that of physical media- not something I would have said that long ago. And the availability of products like Roon makes it even better 

so, for the ability to immerse oneself in the joy of listening to music in a serious way- this is it IMHO

Today is the current peak with computer modeling, testing, measurements, and materials engineering plus the ability to analyze and compare results quickly has improved so many manufacturing practices.  The improvements in fuel efficiency and horsepower/weight improvements in cars is amazing.

I would expect that improvements in hifi would continue with advancements in modeling and engineering.

The term Golden Age has traditionally referred to the 1050’s and 60’s, when the KLH 9, Quad ESL, Klipschorn, Bozak, and Hartley loudspeakers were state-of-the-art (along with the Hartley 18" subwoofer)---with the new AR-3 nipping at their heels, powered by either Marantz or McIntosh tube electronics, and a Thorens TD-124 or Garrard 301/401 turntable fitted with an SME 3009 arm and a range of cartridges. These were all products of the WWII generation of hi-fi engineers, who got to work after returning home from the war.

The next era began at the dawn of the 1970’s, with the appearance of Bill Johnson (Audio Research Corp.), Jim Winey (Magnepan), and countless others whose new products replaced those listed above. But those 50’s/60’s products held their value, and are now of course considered classics, in general more so than those of the 70’s.

Then there are the recordings and resulting LP’s, primarily the RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence. They were brought to the attention of 70’s-era audiophiles by Harry Pearson and his colleagues in The Absolute Sound Magazine, and thereafter rose dramatically in value.

I agree regarding the 60’s and 70’s. Huge gains in speaker technology, turntables, and then you had the receiver wars. I would compare all the monster receivers of the 70’s to the muscle car era on the 60’s and early 70’s. They can’t outperform modern vehicles but great lookers and still a lot of fun to own and use.  Every town had at least one local stereo shop and a decent size city had multiple.
 

Then you have the dark ages. Started with the near death of vinyl due to the cd and the invention of 5 channel surround. You could hardly find anything that wasn’t black  and the  focus was running 5 and then 7 channel systems that ran double duty for movies and music play back.

We are now in another golden age though. Great speakers, huge gains in digital, tons of options for high end audio whether from the companies that weathered the storm and recovered or new boutique manufacturers. The only thing missing is you have to go to a large metro area to see great audio. We have your Best Buy’s etc but the small local shops are long gone. That’s a metro area of about 1m. Hard to compete with the internet.