2. misc-audio
  3. 189952-74445

When Was The Audio Golden Age?

I looked at the Vintage section here for the first time.  It made me speculate on what other forum users would view as the best era in Audio.  For me it is the present.  The level of quality is just so high, and the choice is there.  Tube fanciers, for example, are able to indulge in a way that was impossible 3 decades ago, and analog lovers are very well set.  And even my mid Fi secondary systems probably outshine most high end systems from decades agoHowever when one hears a well restored tube based system, play one speaker from the mid to late 1940s it can dazzle and seduce.  So what do others think?  Are we at the summit now, or did we hit the top in past and have we taken a few steps down?

mahler123
zlone
679 posts
 

I think now for sure, and I think there is still lots more to come in the digital space, active speakers and Class D. All these improvements will trickle down to make serious hifi more accessible. Meanwhile I still like my separates and passive speakers. 

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,093 posts
 

I think OP is right. Since the last decade there was an offer in quality and improvement at such low price which was never seen before.

But there is not much acoustics basic consciousness in most audiophiles yet,all attention is focused on the gear pieces not on what we do not see ... We must wait audiophile acoustic A.I products yet to come....( Dr. Choueiri is the first such offer but not yet A.I. driven )

😊

Myself i did not wait...And i used modest tools and basic concrete means for minimally acceptable acoustics results ..

Then i had the two feet and the head also in "the golden era" for acoustically educated audiophiles: right now...

czarivey
5,946 posts
 

Golden Age can be given at any point of time and it all depends on how and when you label it

Was it when copper was cheap enough to make faucets and tea kettles? 

tony1954's avatar
tony1954
1,049 posts
 

Seems to me a true "Golden Age" of audio doesn't exist. The Golden Age is the future, not the past.

We may be nostalgic about a certain look or style, but with audio it all comes down to sound. The only possible exceptions might be true analog record production and music in the 1960's and 1970's.

 

More to discover