Spectron Musician III MK.2 or Audio Research DS450

Dave b_your right about that. My first amp back in the 70's
was the Sansui AU7900 integrated at 75 watts per channel. One of the finest sounding amps I ever owned. Had it hooked
up to a large pair of Advents and a Dual 701 turntable with
a Shure V15 cartridge. Warm, rich, lush sound with a full mid-range. Ran very hot. You could fry an egg on the back.
The rise of the digital age changed the sonic character forever of high end separates. I would say the late 70's was the golden years of high fidelity. With half speed
cut master vinyl records from Mobile Fidelity and Telarc, and advanced improvements in cartridges and turntables and cables. It was the peak of true analog.

" I would say the late 70's was the golden years of high fidelity. "

I would say yes in terms of market size and # of users, but amps and speakers have come a long way since then. Digital sources as well since their inception in the mid 80's.

Mapman..here's some useless trivia..The first retail CD player came out in early fall of 1982, the Sony CDP-101, followed by the Philips Magnavox players that came out that
November.. CD's started showing up in the stores in fall selling for $ 25.00 a pop. Phew!! However, the very first disc players ever made was in 1980. Pioneer that year bought out a company that invented and made the first laser
disc movie player. Pioneer slapped their badge on the player and were sold under their name. Denon also in 1980, made the worlds first CD player. It was a test player that was for studio use only.

I remember selling a large format video disk player at Radio Shack back in teh 1980 timeframe or so. The only two movies we had to show though were "MASH" and "The Muppet Movie" both of which I know by heart from ongoing store demos.

BTW, I suspect average sound quality for most listeners on various devices including portable is better today than back then, but the frontiers of hi fi/sound quality have moved forward, as has the cost of "high end sound" in many cases, plus also high fidelity is no longer a novelty, rather something that is assumed by most in accordance with their individual expectations, so you just do not hear about it anymore very much outside of audiophile type circles.