2. misc-audio
  3. 169567-106444

Audio: what took so long ?

It seems everyone is reporting very positive-changes to playback -fuses, power cords, speakers. The question is, what took so long ?
My reasons:
-The Big Boys did enough (Bell Labs. etc). Radio, cinema-sound, electrical recording-methods. The Depression -1930, no more serious research.

-Shrinking market, less R&D. People started listening to headphones (late 1960s), car audio (w/ its improvements 1980s+90s), then MP3.

-Perfectionist speaker co. had other markets (1970s). Horn/waveguides dominated audio in the 50 &60s, but the market was peaking-off. So an opportunity to expand into studio-monitors, live-sound & the home-market w/ cones. Only exports (to Japan) kept the horn alive. This, while panel speakers invaded high-end, wreaking-havoc on amplifiers and ultimately going backwards on sound.

-EE engineers go into computers, microwave & networking. Audio just wasn’t fun anymore.

-Cheap parts -it took too long to understand, never mind produce, the contacts we have on connectors & fuses. Transistors, regulators, transformers also saw a leap. More study into materials and metals.

-With no serious study, how could we have (proper) speaker placement ? Or speaker stands ?

I’m proud of what’s (finally) being done. But if wasn’t for the Japanese, Danish (and maybe Germans) serious audio would have gone the way of the player-piano or drive-in restaurant.
jonnie22
jonnie22 OP
42 posts
 
The post was not anti-American. It was trying to figure out where audio-based research was happening. Before 1930, it was all American. This moved into our homes in the 50s -it took time due to depression and war.

Then I see the Japanese audio scene, the Munich and Polish audio shows. Then, how most young-engineers go into other areas of electronics -not audio. But this point happened globally, not just U.S..

Because I feel bad, I've started a new post "American Audio"...
Post removed 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Don't feel bad, most threads are shot-gun affairs. If a stray pellet hits a target somewhere call it good. 

The way it starts, "what took so long" and all the rest sounds like you just could us a little more perspective. Plenty of people were doing this stuff back in the early 90's. J Gordon Holt didn't come from nothing. By the time Ted Denney released his AC Master Coupler there already were a slew of them, it was just his was so much better it sort of crossed a threshold to where a lot more could notice. But people were doing this same thing long before, and it has only accelerated since.

Where there is a legit revolution is in field control. Here though I think it is similar only in this case started with Jack Bybee. It took a while but then we had Tim and Krissy with Perfect Path, and now a whole slew of them doing more or less the same. Whether they talk about it or not.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,608 posts
 
The post was not anti-American.

It was not taken that way.  Some people just disagree with some of your points.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,320 posts
 
I think the BBC might want to make an addition or two to your original post.  Talk about historical amnesia!
More to discover