When did the Hi-Fi sound mature?

That's a very generic question. Does it really matter?

Fact is there are more choices to make more people happy today than ever, plus sites like this make good sound more affordable to more people who might care than ever.

I would say that other than better and more efficient amp designs (class D) and expansion in sources and means of delivery of digital music, there is not too much radically new or significant happening in audio design these days in terms of just better sound.

I suppose overall, speaker and perhaps amp designs are more refined and detailed sounding as a whole, but I consider this more refinements to an already fairly mature set of products.

An exception could be products that rely more on digital processing for better sound, like the Emerald Physics line.

The advances in digital since 2004 makes everything before virtually obsolete in my opinion, so I'd say around 2003/04
for decent CD playback(getting near as satisfying as good analogue).

I think this is really fascinating. Putting a finer set of points on the discussion:

1. When did quality "HiFi" first enter people's homes in reasonable numbers?

2. When did "HiFi" or full spectrum recordings become widely available?

3. When did turntable and cartridge technology achieve a moderate level of accuracy in speed, noise level and frequency range?

4. When did Solid State amplifiers finally become recognized as competitive with tube amps in terms of "HiFi" reproduction?

5. When did digital reproduction start to close in on analog in terms of that "you are there" essence (or has it in your mind)?

Interesting that I can't think of a more recent watershed in speaker design to rival the comments above about the early horns and large dynamic drivers. There are so many variations on the solution to this electro-mechanical problem at the heart of music reproduction, that it seems difficult to identify when we "closed in" on where we are now. Maybe when quad introduced the first ESL speakers?

Clearly, the Internet and the iPod have expanded the availability of, and exposure to all kinds of music to people - but also the MP3 has lowered expectations of how music should sound. I submit that the next breaking point in HiFi will come when bytes become so cheap and downloads so fast that iTunes "Plus" will mean true hi resolution bit rate/sample rates, 192 kHz/24-bit, rivaling analogue and far surpassing red book CDs. The only limitation on quality of reproduction will be in the gear used, not the format.

The forces of mass production and mass markets will drive down the cost of higher quality reproduction, whether it is for your head phones, your iPod dock, or your "home entertainment center". As marketers take advantage of higher quality source material, people will begin to expect and demand gear that can keep up with Apple's or Audio Engine's latest thing, or whoever is first to market with the most convenient and exciting "hi-res" gadget.

The next big thing is HiFi is probably not going to come from the hi end, but rather from the mainstream, and we will take it up and push the limits of what's possible.

Certainly there was a breakthrough by the early 50's. People would run around to the various HIFI (monophonic then) shops with Toscannini's (sp?) Pictures tucked under their arms to hear it on one of the big speaker systems. I think a major development was Edgar Vilcher's AR speaker design as a competitor to the big folded horn systems then so common.

I lived in the beach area of LA, and a neighbor had a JBL folded horn, Gerrard (sp?) with variable reluctance cartridge, an amp with separate power supply he's designed, and a few Capitol FDS LPs. What a revelation for a teenager using an RCA 45 RPM through his Fender amp. I was hooked. I think my love of audio equipment led me to get a doctorate in psychoacoutics, rather than any real interest in hearing.

db

Knowknothing...GREAT QUESTIONS. I would love to know some of there answers as well. For me the sound has almost always been digital. When I was a kid my dad had a cheapo Magnavox stack...my only exposure to records. I didn't really get into the whole stereo thing until this decade, so all of this maturation of stereo sound came well before I was aware...the DAC I am use now came out before I entered Highschool.