Its dead in both my neighbors houses but i have a front height 5.1 jbl based system in my living room and can hear it clearly 2 houses down with the door open. I know several people who have a much nicer house and yet they only use small pos bt speakers or the tv audio
@@albertpintor3522 I don't know, I have enough new and vintage audio equipment for 2-3 additional mid to upper mid-grade systems and offered to set one up at the home of my daughter and family, they looked at me like I was crazy and said, "no thanks". I Offered to set up a system for my son and his wife, they said they would get back after they moved which was completed months ago, they haven't mentioned it since. For somewhat of a better perspective, I'm in my late 60's, my children are in their late 30's, and ironically my daughter and I just like the mentioned 'Joe Smith' reside in Louisville, Ky.
Well said brother! Times certainly have changed and are indeed changing very rapidly now. I, like most stereo nerds, have a few too many speakers and old receivers hanging around. But after 35+ years in the hobby I would not have guessed in a million years I would be listening to a sub $1k main system in my primary listening /living room. The real kicker is that I am absolutely loving it. I have learned to love music again. I have also learned you have NO need to go north of $1k to have a great sounding system. I do use speaker stands. Something that is often overlooked when building a budget system, but worth it in my opinion. Yamaha A-S301 Klipsch RP 160M BluDento BTL HD Sony CD (old ) For the price this lower cost system will simply blow away most people. Once again, great video Mike.
The Loudness Wars are an abomination. Every mastering engineer who has destroyed a recording by compressing it into the toilet should be deeply ashamed. Never mind if they were just following orders. That said, compression hurts proper systems way more than cheapo BT speakers, sadly.
With my recent retirement I was well positioned to “get back into music”; I had time and a lifetime of savings. Wow had things changed since I bought my first stereo in 1973 with savings from my part time job in high school. Nearly 2 years later, after 18 months of research, watching your & others’ videos, I have a system I love. Yes I love playing my classic albums & CD’s but have to admit the convenience and breadth of Apple Music is as important as my enjoyment of albums/cd’s. Never thought I would say that, but the quality of streamed music is catching up to the convenience. Great times we are living in if you love listening to music!
I retired recently too and now I have the stereo of my dreams. I mainly stream from Tidal and I cannot believe how far it has come. I think it has surpassed the phono, something I thought I’d never say… Definitely in the convenience factor!
Agree streaming competes well against phono; however, my son had a few buddies over and I slipped on a Zappa album; they couldn’t get over the “different sound” as they had not listened to albums previously - made me smile.
Good points. One thing not mentioned is the development of car audio. Starting in the 1980s, teens started enjoying their music in their rides, b/c they couldn’t crank it up at home w/parents who kept telling them to TURN THAT €£]# DOWN! Even today, there’s many people who don’t have much of a system for music listening at home, but they have pricey audio systems in their cars, whether it be factory or aftermarket.
If you're Hispanic then this is so true. I don't know anyone trying to get a nice component stereo but i still know atleast 3 people who have a very loud car system but yet they dont have anything beyond a crappy bt speaker in the house. Honestly I think Hispanics who like sound systems really prefer car audio with epicenters over anything. Im Hispanic btw but would rather have home audio any day
I think that affordable HiFi journey has already begun. Companies like Pro-Ject, Topping and SMSL (just to name a few) make really good quality budget products, as well as high end products. I recently purchased a DAC/ headphone amplifier from SMSL called the C200. It is capable of Hi Res audio and double DSD. It sounds amazing for it’s price point, only costing me $245.00 AUD from Amazon. This has got to be the best HiFi add on and has made a night and day difference to my digital listening, compared to just using an AUX cord from my phone directly to my amplifier. Best HiFi purchase I have ever made!
I got my 11 year old daughter into the hobby. We just rebuilt a set of Cerwin Vega vs100 speakers for her and are going to slowly get her better separates for her system. She loves it.
What's your secret? I cannot get my 10-year-old nephew to put his phone down. : ( And when I buy new speakers and the like for the family computer, nobody could care less. I guess I should just stop wasting my time and money, but it's hard, because it matters to me.
@@mydogskips2I have a 10 year old niece and 8 year old nephew who loves peso pluma. Unfortunately they have not really shown interest in my system as they are way more focused on their phones, games or tv. Hopefully my nephew will eventually become interested in wanting atleast a small system
Nicely spoken, Mike. I still remember the moment when my "ears opened". It was the 1970s and I was a college student checking out a stereo store. Seeing my interest, the owner loaded up some progressive jazz on his big system: Technics turntable, Macintosh amplifiers, and a pair of Klipsch horns. The crystalline clarity, effortless power, and spatial reality of the music left an indelible impression on me, and I am a hi-fi booster to this day. But how many stereo stores are still around that can provide such an experience?
I still miss the golden age of hi-fi back in the 80's when there were a lot of shops and the Friday paper was loaded with ads for gear. By the early 90's I lost interest and took a hiatus till 2010. Home theater got me back into it and higher end British gear has kept me here to this day. I miss the days when you walked into your favorite hi-fi shop and staff knew your name. I enjoyed this video alot Mike. Thanks.
Your simple eloquence and topics like this are a great way to preserve the relevance of home stereo systems. Maybe one of the plethora of audio companies will listen to the plea for affordable systems that are actually hifi. Thank you so much for not being just another reviewer in it for product commission. I hope you can maintain your passion and continue to help this community thrive. You are inspiring and give hope to those of us struggling to put together a great sounding system.
You can't beat a good hi-fi system even if it's only mid-range. I have heard some fantastic sound which you'll never get through any headphones or sound bars. Love my record player. And I think some are still using Hi-Fi equipment because in the UK we have these stores called HMV stock thousands of records and CDs they are selling as well as DVDs. So in the UK at least I suspect it's quite a lot of people still listen to their Hi-Fi. Even if it's through their Wi-Fi!!
The first half of this video especially was quite something, like poetry: you’re an eloquent man! I think the whole hifi industry dug its own grave normalising prohibitive prices and churning out snake oil products. A sincere business I would definitely like to support, but what I do most of the time is buying vintage. It’s the easy way out for me and I just don’t value new stuff enough to justify the expenditures it takes.
I play my nieces and nephews favorite songs on my hi-fi setup to let them experience full quality sound and it blows them away. They looked shocked when music played out loud sounds better than their headphones. Still have a pair of Carver AL-III Plus speakers from my Circuit City days.
It's completely understandable that people prioritize convenience and make compromises to enhance certain aspects of their setup. I still have my NAD amp and big speakers, but my main system now is a BOSE TV speaker with the Bass Module 500, an AIYIMA A5 Pro DAC, and a Thinkia CD player. I use this for both TV and music, and it works perfectly fine for me. When I want better sound quality, I simply plug in headphones to the DAC. I also have a small Sabaj Da3 DAC and an old BOSE SoundLink Mini for more portable use. The home stereo hasn’t disappeared; it has just evolved-becoming smaller and shifting to spaces under the TV or beside computers. I don’t see this as a problem, and I don’t think it needs a solution. What we have today is great: traditional large components for those who want the best sound quality, and smaller, more practical setups for those willing to compromise. It’s truly the best of both worlds. You're absolutely right-every hobby has its gatekeepers, and that’s unfortunate. When it comes to audio, I don’t consider myself an audiophile; I just have a system that works for me, and I’m happy with it.
@@audioarkitekts What we don't need is people fixated on costly speaker and interconnect wiring, spikes, electrical box mods, expensive transports, and all that other crap.
I grew up in the 60's 70's with the 8 track and cassettes and of course LP's I still have my Fisher and Kenwood systems. Nothing today can replace that sound. This is a great video, love your channel 👏
Well spoken. Some companies have seen the light. One is iFi Audio who gave us the Zen line of affordable components. Speaking of iFi, headphones are a great way to break into hifi. Less cost, smaller space, great sound.
I still have a hifi (Denon), and my cds, of course. Sure, I have a soundbar, bluetooth speaker, etc, but you can't beat the sound quality of the cd and the experience as a whole.
I'm old school. I still prefer putting in a CD, laying down a record, even popping in a cassette. Streaming is convenient, but the sound quality is seriously lacking in fidelity. That said, I use mostly consumer electronics receivers and speakers. I've not the expansive budget as some folks do. I work with what I got. My opinion is that streaming corrupts fidelity. It seriously lacks detail and although it is listenable, it's not as enjoyable as physical medium. Even cassette tapes have far better fidelity in my opinion.
I gave up my dedicated hi-fi (music) system for a 5.1 DPL system when we moved into our house in the mid 90s. Several times, I tried to integrate a turntable or CD player into it all, but having to fiddle with a bunch of settings every time I wanted to listen to proper 2 channel stereo, proved to be a PITA, so I gave up. After that, I mostly listened to music in the car, on a portable CD player with headphones, then eventually iPod and iPhone. Just 6-7 years ago, a couple years before I opened the record store, I decided to just set up a separate 2 channel hifi system in the same room with our AV system. After mounting the AV satellites on wall brackets, that made room for my stereo speakers. It’s worked out great and really doesn’t take up all that much more space.
You cannot beat a hi fi system especially if you have seperates. Music is only as good as it is amplified. Thats it.. A good amp, cd player and cassette deck , turntable is all you need and you do not have to pay the earth for it. Convenience is ok with bluetooth didital for sure however the warmth and clarity you get from a hifi system is far superior and will allways be my choice . The second hand market will serve you well.
Excellent points here and very well thought out. I think cellphones, streaming and home theater has helped to delute the two channel market, but the youth are actually responding favorably to vinyl. Companies like Emotiva have done a lot to help audiophiles and new comers alike on a budget. The used market is also an extremely viable options to help level the playing field.
Got the tv sound bar, Bluetooth speakers here and there, but still have a bunch of home stereo seperates. I use all these things as i like, enjoy all of them, when off from work. Thanks for the video 👍
I remember how most of my friends 15-20 years ago jumped onto Bluetooth speakers and iPod Docks from Bose etc. and how I was laughed at for being extatic for getting my grandfathers Mitsubishi MC-8000 and HiFi set-up. It still is a great feature in my living room setup with Klipsch speakers and a wonderful JBL Subwoofer. It is what got me into building PA/Soundsystems as a hobby and trying to nowadays start a bussines in dry-hire, setup and supporting soundsystems around my area. I have seen a lot of people being very surprised and amazed whenever they hear good sound. This happens a lot with people how like House or Techno or Drum & Bass. They know their favourite tracks from their headphones or small chasis bluetooth speakers and are in shock when they physically feel subwoofers push air and a kicksub hit their chest. It is super cool that HiFi does not go away and that enthusiasts keep it alive.
Im 22, I own several monster receivers in my home, my friends love it every time they come over for a party, I make sure my parties are the loudest lol.
Very well put Mike. I recall how I had to scrape together explanations to complex ‘technical’ information and audiophile jargon and had to sort through all the mis-information and snake oil when I started out. Eventually, I did find support and comradery within some FB groups that I became a part of. But even within these groups, there are many elitist and down right rude folks but the majority are either supportive or at least have the common decency to keep their thoughts to themselves when someone asked a ‘dumb’ question. Point is, we all can and should do our part to encourage and support beginner audiophiles
Well spoken Mike. My personal solution has been to scour internet reviews and demos the past couple of years for extreme bang for buck products! So introducing, my best bang for buck system in 2023: total system - including cables - retails for 9,300 Euro: Power Distributor & power cables (Puritan PSM156 Purifier + Classic Plus power cables (1.0m) x4), CD Transport (Audiolab 7000CDT), Dac (Ladder Schumann), Integrated Amp (Hegel H120), Loudspeakers (Dynaudio Evoke 10), Interconnect cables (Tubulus Argentus RCA cable + Tellurium Q Black II XLR cable + Tellurium Q Black II speaker cable).
First thing..... DUDE, you can SO DO Rod Serling's voice from the original Twilight Zone. Seriously. Gives me chills. As for the rest of it..... I COMPLETLY AGREE. I am old school it seems, and a few years ago, I spent a little over $800 to buy a new Denon receiver (AVR-8760H), and Klipsch 7.2 speaker system (I cant remember the actual package/serial/part number. Gotta love Costco though, since it was all purchased there). This is not a "break the bank" system and sounds AMAZING. The spatial sound is nothing like I have ever experienced before. Side note, two subs,..... I can't go back to just one. Try it, and you will know what I am talking about. The thing is, if you want a true good sound, especially SURROUND sound (sorry but, you say "Surround Sound" that means, the SOUND SURROUNDS you. That means at MINIMUM a 4.1 system (2 in front, 2 in back, and a sub). A 2.1 speaker system is NOT SURROUND sound. Try again. These "sound bar" systems are a NO GO. They are pathetic. No presence what so ever. These are a "lazy mans" solution to not be willing to do the effort, to create an amazing, auditory experience. Whats worse, is these sound bars, can cost ASTRONOMICAL prices, for SUB PAR sound. Lazy, Lazy Lazy. When it comes to the ease of playing your music via your "sound system" whatever that may be, I was piping my MP3 playlists, through my home audio system, 25 years ago, from my PC via Winamp. I was blowing my neighbors minds, because it sounded so good. They couldn't BELIVE that I got that sound from my PC. Guess what..... I still do that with my PC system. The point is, YES. If you like music, you like it to sound good, spend the time, the money (which isn't even that much), to buy, build, and customize your own home system. You will NEVER regret it. Oh..... and if you want to get into a "who's louder" competition with your idiot neighbor, yeah, your gonna win. lol
I built the system I’m now using from scratch in the last four years, buying used equipment. I’m streaming from my MacBook Pro that I already own through Tidal and Audirvana Studio into a used Mytek Liberty DAC to a used LTA preamp to a pair of Maraschino Cherry Monos to a pair of DIY open Baffles. My CD transport is a used Marantz 8300 and my turntable is a used Audio Technica. I converted an upstairs bedroom into my dedicated listening room where I sometimes spend 10 hours a day either listening to my old favorites or exploring new music. I probably have approximately $5000. Total invested in all of the equipment, not counting my MacBook that I was using for business. It all would have cost at least 10-12K purchased new and sounds amazing.
You said it bud, "MOST (not all) people sacrificed sound for convenience". Those people are the reason companies put out so much shit in my opinion! I've spent the last year building my 2 channel stereo system & I absolutely love it! The receiver, CD player, duel cassette recorder/player & record player. All with tower speakers & subwoofer. And then I run across a video like this! 🫤
The home stereo system did not and has not slowly faded into the background, it was more like a sudden tectonic shift that destroyed all remanences. By the first half or the 90s the home stereo system was nearly extinct! People want super convenience and marketers know this and it is not exclusive to audio either. Most people today don't care about sound quality and that was true even in the late 80s. As I watched people in stores check out what stereo gear and sound equipment there was, the first and only thing they "tested" was how loud it would go and that was what their purchasing decision was based on. Even today, I notice most folks, including many "audiophiles" have not changed, it still comes down to how loud it can go to them as the foundation to a purchase decision. Of course, now days most "audiophiles" are stone deaf, so it makes more sense in that case. I was always odd man out, back when everyone was at Circuit City and the like, I was at Rogers Sound Labs, Federated Group, etc. I grew up and learned very early (well before 9 years of age) what sound was about and I saw (and sat and stared for hours) plenty of those great 70s home stereo systems (none of which I could afford until the early 2000s when they were being dumped and I was hit by the vintage bug. To this day I have two 70s receivers (one small Marantz and one monster Sansui) and two Pioneer turntables and a Denon table from the 80s all in use throughout a year. I also love the sound of my Marantz and Sansui. There is nothing like them today that I have heard. I completely disagree about Smartphones: Worst invention to date! I find them to be the most inconvenient thing ever! I hate them with a purple passion! I was recently forced to get one after an illness and it just sits powered off on my dresser waiting for that emergency use, which I hope never comes again. I tried using it for a week and it made my life miserable! It is so inconvenient. One has to jump through hoops just to make a phone call. I switched back to my flip phone. On top of that, they are too bulky to carry around and how does something that small relatively speaking weight like 40 pounds? Now it is getting to the point where one can't do anything (shopping, doctor appointments, etc.) without one. I still refuse to give in. As for navigation, I used to do mapquest, but it is not the best so I got a dedicated nav unit, while not much better, it is more convenient and safer and I would trust it more than one of them phones. I also keep the GPS off on my phone anyway. (These days, most cars come with built-in nav units). Yes, today one is hard pressed to find a dedicated CD player, there are maybe 3 or 4 out there, but sadly there is a more recent factor that is a barrier for most of us, price. A CD player today will run around $600 to $700 minimum. It wasn't two years ago that they were $300 or $400 and a year before that they were $200. I think another large part of the problem is in fact, the lost "art" of sitting and listening to music. Today it is all about "reality TV" and zero patience and intolerance and extremely short attention spans (thanks in part to the music industry as well). When I was growing up you had listening parties, or often just a gathering of friends or what have you to specifically do the activity of sharing and listening to music. For example, one would go to the record store or whatever and purchase a few records and/or CDs and bring them back home and then have a few friends around or at least one and do some listening giving one's opinion or thoughts about what was listened to. Today, music listening is 100% dead! Even most "audiophiles" do not listen to music, they listen to gear just playing whatever artist and track is approved for the week or month. I have nothing against streaming services in and of themselves, I just don't care to use them for formal listening, but they are very valuable tools for discovering music and such. I am seeing a small uptick in streaming devices and such to integrate into more "traditional" stereo systems, which is a good thing. While not my personal choice for listening to music, I also don't care how folks are getting or listening to music, I'm just happy they are deciding to listen to music, period. Totally agree about "audiophiles"! One need not understand the technical jargon and what is more, most "audiophiles" don't understand it either, they just toss them into their word salad, which is used to keep everyone else out of the club so to speak. It is funny that they take such effort to be and remain elitist and then complain how there are not more people involved. I had the exact same experience as you Mike! I also had to learn on my own, which turns out for the better by the way, as I had a little knowledge coming in, but not enough. It is not representative of the "audiophile" community as a whole, but sadly, it is still representative of most of it. I spent over four years fighting that BS helping newcomers get great sound at whatever their budget was and would allow showing that it doesn't take $20,000 to get $20,000 sound. I spent time pointing out the demarcation lines. In 2015-2017 there was a tectonic shift in HiFi manufacturing where higher end makes were coming out with more affordable pieces opening the door wider for folks (while the "audiophiles" would complain that it might let in the peasants and started putting others down for their choices even from the same makes they owned). That is what really pissed me off enough to become a journalist/advisor at the time. For me it has always been about the music, full stop and still is today. I'm a music lover/enthusiast, first, last and always. Music is also meant to be shared and supplied for the masses. Sadly, today we have another recent problem: The economy in the US is going to the toilet at breakneck speed, we are at the start of the worst recession in recorded history and the worst part is that it could have been avoided were it not for the greed and class war and attitudes of the elite in and out of government. That is a different discussion for a different platform though, I digress. Very recently (as of about two months ago) we are now seeing a terrible thing happening in the analog world regarding vinyl. Used record prices have reached the point of being near equal with new record prices and that is for the ones in the worst condition! I'm not talking collectable pressings and such, I'm talking common everyday trillion copy pressings. The irony is that sellers (dealers, etc.) are complaining that even "collectors" are cutting way back and not buying like before, let alone the average person who wants to get into vinyl today. They don't realize that they are shooting themselves and if what I am seeing in the market keeps up for just a few more months we will start to lose turntable and other analog gear manufactures as well. The market will die. CDs are becoming more popular again because of "value"! Many in the "vinyl community" so to speak have stopped buying records and are turning to streaming and CD now. All because of greed. The dealers at my local record show even try to blame the owners of the show who are wonderful folks and have nothing to do with prices, sales and such. The vendors pay for their booths (around $80 average) and that's it. The owners handle the promotion and such and they do a good job of it. The place gets crowded, but as of April, hardly anybody is buying anything due to the outrageous prices. Even Herb Albert records of which there are trillions that usually go for $1 and can't be given away are now $5 in terrible condition! Nobody in their right mind is going to entertain that even in their mind. They need to come back down to earth in pricing, back to a $5 record is $5, $10 is $10, etc. like it was only a couple of months ago and do it quick or we lose it all! On top of that, we have the national economic situation. A record is $40, groceries for the week are $60 to $70 now for just basics, if on sale, how does one choose food on the table vs a record or medicine vs a record?! There seems to be no end in sight for rising food costs either! Things are poised to get much worse due to unwillingness to do the right thing as well. How are folks expected to afford buying HiFi gear and records and such? Many makes and sellers blew it by miss reading the pandemic times. They got greedy and decided that since sales went through the roof because people were almost forced to buy the stuff that means all of the sudden it will continue no matter what. I totally agree that it needs to be re-assessed. That can lead to more innovation, increased sales, etc.
I disagree on a few points and agree on some. I got rid of all my vinyl when I just wasn't happy with the snaps and pops etc. at the beginning of the year when I retired. I tried but gave up. Problem is that I had a hard time selling local here (Wichita ka area). I had nine immaculate Moody Blues albums and only one person called about them. Came over and bought perhaps 10 other albums I had. I think I got 5 bucks apiece for very nice albums I bought new. Someone else came over and bought my turntable with rest of albums for 225 or so (Technics direct drive with new cartridge). I think a smart phone is fantastic. Have a Samsung S22. It will record stills, great video (I prefer it over my Canon 5dm3 and they even recorded Portlandia TV show on the Canon 5dm2), and audio quality is fantastic (after one gets the genuine headphone and mic adapter from Samsung). It can record in 4k and 8k video. I hear you on the price of used crappy albums. Should be 1 dollar. You can buy cds for 1 to 3 dollars all day long (maybe not the ones one really wants though-those might cost 9 bucks with shipping). One doesn't need a dedicated cd player. I bought a Phillips blu ray for 50 bucks at Wallyworld and let my Yamaha receiver decode it. Sounds fine. Only problem is TV has to be on to play and see menu. I dug out my 30 year old Luxman cd player and with a little clean up works great.
Think you hit all the right "notes" on this video. The convience issue really is a thorn in the traditional hifi set ups these days. Other things I've noticed is music is becoming more of a backround thing to block out the world. Is it being listened to or is it just something we hear now? Also, to me it's becoming more of a"it's good enough" type world we live in. It's inexpensive, easy to use, and it makes sound, good enough.
Home theater and the large flat screen TV killed hi-fi. Sound played second fiddle to the video. This is what caused a lot of hi-fi stores to go under. Speaker companies started selling black tower speakers with six inch woofers to sit on either side of the TV.
AVRs have evolved so much. They're WiFi and Bluetooth, you can stream music from typical platforms or Hi-fi content from dedicated ones. Everything can be done through a mobile app. You can send the songs from your phone to your AVR via Wi-Fi in HQ mode (lossless format). You can also plug a turntable via a reintroduced dedicated Phono cinch for the nostalgic out there. You have "pure audio" stereo mode if you're primarily focused on music listening as it was recorded. These days you can get such AVR with a THX certification for movies well under a grand. Spend a few more grand on 6 decent speakers and you have quality sound for music and films. I could use a stereo amp just for music, but AVRs sound good enough to me. That's how far I've gone down the Hi-fi rabbit hole, not very deep granted, but deep enough. To most people though, regular mp3 quality sound is good enough. They can't tell the difference between 128 and 320kbps, or between lossy and lossless. The sound from a TV set is good enough. The sound from cheap and disposable headphones is also enough. Etc etc. So why pay more?
Avrs also have dsp unlike most stereo receivers that only give you bass and treble knows. If you have pre outs on a avr then that's even better if you're the kind to use all channel stereo mode
I searched "what happened to stereo speakers". Very hard to find anyone touching this issue. Thanks. I'm glad I was able to hear great stereo sounds in the 90s, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer etc all used to make good quality Hifi systems at affordable prices. Multi-channel and mono "party speaker" are both a bad idea for normal listening, we need just stereo because God gave us...2 ears.
As someone always been interested in Hi-fi, over the years the industry is killing itself. The whole $10,000 cables and the marketing to push the ever higher cost for marginal or zero gains is kind of at a level beyond ridiculous these days. I can really sympathise with people buying an Amazon Alexa and having done with it. Sadly future just gets bleaker, the fact that streaming means you don't even own the music anymore, the experience of interaction with the system and media was a massive part of what got me into Hi-fi. Doesn't help that society is so unbalanced these days, why appeal to the lower tier customer when there's people so ridiculously rich in the world that will pay 6 figures plus for one item.
@@Coneman3 Except for the super rich, none of the restrictions apply to them. It's the final corralling of the people before the gates close, 1984 is quickly becoming reality. I'd advise everyone to buy all the music they like in physical format while they can. The latest attack on Roger Walters is highly alarming, not to mention a classical production got banned in Germany recently because the composer happened to have written the song when Germany had a few problems. Then the inevitable deletion of anything Russian, and hey presto, flood gates suddenly open and before we realise whole swathes of art and history lost and outlawed.
Yes I can foresee a 1984 scenario with greater restrictions on the masses. Another reason to amass physical media. Got nearly 6,000 CDs, 2,500 books and over 500 DVD/BLU RAYs. We are heading for mass suppression because of all the legitimate protests and with climate change it’s not gonna end well imo.
Some years ago I tried to start a small business helping people set up their inexpensive sounds systems and quickly learned that no one cared about quality, only ease of operation. It wasn’t worth my time or effort…
I will never give up my stereo/home theater system. I have a 7.1 surround sound system with Klipsch speakers connected to Yamaha 7.2 receiver. The receiver allows me to go into 2 channel stereo if I wish to do so. I have connected to my receiver two Tascam CD player/recorders, a Samsung blu-ray player, a Music Hall turntable, and a Pioneer reel to reel RT-1020L tape deck. I also have connected to my receiver and 55 inch VIZIO TV my desk top computer. I never stream music except for watching UA-cam videos. I presently have around 1600 CDs and 1100 vinyl records, and around 1500 movies on DVD and blu-ray and 120 Rock documentaries and concerts on DVD and blu-ray!
Yes, I'm perfectly happy with my Yamaha receiver running in 5.1 with homemade khorns and 12 inch sub and little 4.5 full range rear speakers. Listen to it everyday for hours. Got rid of my turntable and LPs beginning of the year. Still collect some cds.
@@robertm8518 I agree! Back in the 70s before home theater I had a stereo system with ESS Amt1 floorstanding Monitors with a Yamaha M-85 stereo amplifier
At least you're about 50% right. The correct starting point is video games. That was the medium that was used for friends to interact with each other instead of sitting around and listening to music. They just don't care about fidelity. When you play your new vinyls on a cheap crosley turntable and think it's great. Well it is great as long as you progress like you would with anything. When you can, sit down with somebody who has a growing interest in music and the equipment to reproduce it it's a wonderful thing. Recently had a 30 something year old come over that is a budding music enthusiast. When he heard what a good stereo can create. He was gobsmacked. And it's a stereo that was less than 1500 bucks and a mixture of vintage and new. You don't have to spend new car money to get good sound. Heck, you've got young people thinking that Beats are actually good headphones. Marketing poor products doesn't help the cause either.
This video is spot on. What is REALLY the concern in my opinion is people have shorter attention spans and getting shorter all the time. Need proof...Tik Toc is the most popular media platform as of this comment. I am the only person in my household that "sits and listens" to music,for 99% of people these days music is simply background while tasking. High end audio is not going to die out but I do believe we will pay more for it becuase the interest in the market simply is not there anymore, earbuds rule sadly.
I was lucky enough to hold onto my 80's components and couldn't be happier. I even replaced several speaker form edges to keep them in great working condition.
When I watch videos of high end shows or demos of high end gear I see a bunch of old guys in their 60’s and 70’s sitting in folding chairs listening to $70k speakers with a front end worth more than my house. Unfortunately I’m in that age group, spent more on hifi than I will ever admit to my wife and still looking for more. I’m sure the $$$’s I’ve spent will end up in an estate sale selling for penny’s on the dollar. I can’t help it, it’s a love(obsession) I’ve had since high school when I had a Marantz pm1060 a BIC turntable and some Cerwin Vega’s. When I was 16 I bought a Docorder reel to reel for $329 which took me 10 months to pay off on lay away. Times have certainly changed but I haven’t (except I really like streaming)😅
Sell me your gear before it's picked apart at an estate sale ;) However, I am sure you have many many more years ahead of you to enjoy the sound you've built over a generation.
Well said. I completely agree with your comments and hope that high quality, traditional stereo hi fi gear, continues to be available at affordable prices for those who appreciate it. Vintage stereo equipment is naturally getting scarce and increasingly expensive. Creating new versions of old stereo models is a great thing but they are generally very expensive and need scaling up of production runs to make them truly affordable for most average wage earners. Otherwise we have no real choice and have to make do with tiny unsatisfying ''do it all gadgets'' that are no fun at all for many audio enthusiasts.
I still feel good about the sound quality of my home stereo. I added a Bluetooth adapter as a bridge to the streaming universe. Many people, I fear, are not taking advantage of this bridge.
Sadly, most audiophiles or Hi-Fi fans are older people like me. When I see Iphone Zombies walking around oblivious to the world around them, I feel like the Hi-Fi world is fading away. Along with the real world. Gift young people with stereo gear like I have. Foster an appreciation for true sound quality. Let's try to not let our hobby fade away.
I was one of those guys that had a stack of components and big floor speakers...... for several years. I was never what you would call an audiophile, just a big music fan. These days, speaker technology has advanced so much that all i really need is a good table top system with a cd player and maybe bluetooth. I just don't need big floor speakers to fill my living room or bedroom with music anymore. I can buy a Bose or Tivoli system that takes up very little room and sounds great!
Hey Mike great video. If you ask any 30+ person how much music they own and most i know have almost none, good reason not to own a stereo system. Almost every 30 year old i know streams music from free sources on there phone, through there phone speaker or very cheap headphones, and absolutely love it. I've been in this passion for good audio sound for 45 years now, (spent tens of thousands of dollars) and my reference system cost me less then $600. built my own touch screen streamer, running amazing software by Tim Curtis (Moode) $200 dac to 1Mii Aptx-HD bluetooth transmitter, to a Sony M3 set of wireless cans !!!!Shangri-La!!!!
We’ve been teetering on the cusp of exposure (and awareness) of new realms of audio excellence. It’s well on it’s way in the pro audio industry (finally). What I’m referring to is new developments in component design, embracing the old and rethought out mergings with modern, cutting edge technologies to offer (for example) clean tube integration with high fidelity designs. A hybrid approach if you will.
On one side of my office I have a traditional 2-channel stereo with a Yamaha receiver, KEF Q350 speakers on stands, turntable (my old one), CD player, etc. All in, about $3K, i.e., it’s a “good” midrange setup. On the other side of my office is a second (new) Technics SL-1210GR with phono stage and two Sonos Fives, which I also use for streaming via Amazon and Apple hi-res/lossless music services. Total cost about $1K less than my original stereo rig. Guess which system sounds better? My point being - don’t knock something new until you’ve tried it. You can absolutely get audiophile sound quality from a modern streaming setup that equals, and sometimes surpasses, traditional stereo analog gear - everything is relative.
The algorithm got me here. Really great ideas here. Very late but 2 thoughts. First, I would add Napster into the death of hi-go systems. The expectation became all music available for free on a computer. It was also the death of expecting quality sound. Second, there are a lot of Jackwagons in this and any hobby (e.g., watch collecting). They are easy to ignore. Just love music and have fun. T
What???? record players are returning and along with vinyl, 2 channel HiFi .You're not looking at trends in the marketplace..Smart speakers aren't selling well, few people want a spying device inside their home and they sound terrible.. It's television that's really dying. Too much screen time in todays world. Just got a new Yamaha integrated Amplifier and Loving it.
One thing about the smart phone that actually IMPROVED audio quality was equalizer apps. They allowed you to increase the deep bass dramatically which unleashed a new capability in older speakers that we never knew was there.
After finishing work in Alaska and returning to calif I wanted to get a stereo system, I went to circuit city and remember going into a room called magnolia and listening to what they had , that’s where I went wrong, spent a lot of money on a Denon av receiver Boston acoustic speakers large subwoofer, I still use the system for tv but when it came to listening to music I wasn’t happy with the sound, I then went on the journey of collecting vintage receivers from the 70s, I had no idea what a AV receiver was I didn’t know anything about the change in audio , what I was looking for was non existent it was now called vintage haha
Well said Mike, 1 Young people don't really get access to hifi. iPhone and earbuds seem to dominate. 2 High end shows with 100K speakers and components are meaningless to all but the few. 3 Once I heard real hifi in 1985 I had to have one, the journey continues. 4 Real hifi should be atainable. John Darko did a 1k system, I bet a lot of young people would have been blown away with a system like that.
Real hifi is attainable. Budget gear is incredible now. The problem is that younger people aren't even aware the hifi world exists. They primarily know airpods and Bluetooth speakers. So long as they are music lovers, they can likely appreciate hifi... Just gotta find a way to introduce it. The surprising, though still small, amount of younger people buying and playing records shows there is SOME interest there. Maybe I'm just being optimistic.
Hey mike, I enjoyed your video you certainly have done your homework well put, I was an audio file in early 70s high school days, shortly after getting married I sold everything moved to Alaska during the pipeline days, years later back to calif. career children etc. i finally wanted to get into the hobby again, got a stack all black plastic hated it after a while, but had to live with it , again years later I bought a Dennon surround system cost me over $1,500 by this time I didn’t know shit , it was so frustrating figuring out what to do to get it going it was like learning a new language, a few months later I wasn’t happy with the sound I hated it , it was like waking up from under a tree forty years later, I told my wife I’m just going to purchase a stereo like I had before , keep in mind I worked long hour six days a week running a manufacturing plant I was oblivious to the changes in the audio world, I set out looking at circus city and other places but to no avail, what I learned was, it’s called vintage. To make a long story short, I now have a pioneer SX1250 Kenwood KR9600, Kenwood KR8050, Toshiba SA7100, Sony STR V5 Technics SU8600 all have been completely restored I’m not exaggerating completely restored it’s taken years to get them done usually four to five months each but that’s my collector obsession it has to be that way, so my mission now is to educate the younger generation about how much there missing in sound quality, a 24 old neighbor now owns a pioneer SX780 infinity speakers , two years ago I gave my daughter a small realistic receiver walnut vernier and matching speakers as well as my record collection of over 300 records that I had collected during high school, it sat in a closet until a week before this memorial weekend she phoned me and said dad this sounds amazing , she finally got it going, when my wife and I went to place for a party on memorial weekend I couldn’t believe the response I was hearing from several of her guest about what the stereo looked like and the sound it was nothing they ever saw or heard before I was blown away at the fact it was something they never knew about and the records wow! who is that etc. I like to think I changed some life’s it was a great feeling and I will continue to educate every time the opportunity presents itself, Regards Russell Cardwell
Yes but it isn't just the high quality of sound from stereo speakers but the tactile feel of the black boxes!! I've been listening to Hi-Fi equipment and buying it since the mid-70s and I still have my Rotel, Denon gear and speakers.
I was producing as a hobby long before I built a pair of 3-way floor speakers. My two cents are, modern music (especially EDM which I like) has a lot of phase- and delay-based effects that complete its sound, and are only reproduced well in headphones, on full-range drivers like Bluetooth speakers, on really friggin' big VLAs, or in *very* well-treated rooms. Also digital streaming has well surpassed vinyl in objective quality, nobody would admit for years vinyl is very lossy, it's just lossy in a way that's more aesthetically pleasing than digital loss, especially with t- t-transients.
Mobile technology and Home Theater in a box have their market share and depending on the interest in HiFi audio, their customers will upgrade to a better system if they have a desire for it. If they do not upgrade, then that is as far as they want to go with their audio gear. Audiophiles will continue to exist with their high-end systems because of their enthusiasm for HiFi sound reproduction regardless of changes in technology or what other people buy.
I am new to Audio circuits - just want to clarify if I use a 2,1 pre-Amp with just 2 Speakers (sub-woofer excluded) - How does it affect the output Audio (stereo) Quality ?
Convenience always triumphs! Who needs DAC , headphone amps and long dangling headphone cables when one can conveniently use BT headphones with easy access buttons to play/ skip streaming music on the move. Same goes for classic stereo setup. Most recordings made post 1995 are too loud and lack DR , so totally unsuitable for playing on hifi but surprisingly good (read loud!) on tiny portable speakers. Kids born post 1995 , now aged 25- 30 are now the prime market for audio gears, have totally different tastes in music. My last wish to my family - burry me with all my audio gears instead of sending it to a landfill PS- that 1995 year is very important, after which recordings really took a nosedive
I still have my Panasonic bookshelf stereo from 2004 I love it it's just a cheap piece of plastic but for me it represents lots of great memories and to be fair it doesn't sound that bad plus my hearing isn't that sophisticated 😊
I reckon for a few £100, you could get 60-80% of the best possible with a hifi system. I know that’s a bold statement. A few £1000 and you’re easily around 80% with good purchases. The last 20% costs lots though.
Really interesting amplifier to test that theory is the Crown XLS. A pro amp, pretty affordable and destroys gear costing stupendous amounts. If you ever see one at a price you can't refuse, you got to try it, proves your statement to a T, and then some.
convenience is the enemy of high res audio and video in my opinion, its not just gear inna box but also bluetooth and streaming services. if the pendulum swings back towards physical media for some reason in the future (imposed internet data caps for example) i hope we see a strong resurgence
Great explanation.. I'm from the 70s, and to me great sounding speakers and amps matter. Iam not an audio file I just like music How ever I do stream now and DACs make a difference. Go for the best of both worlds. You don't have spend a ton for good sound but what I hear in alot of homes dosnt stand up. You do have to invest some time and money. But that's part of the fun. For crying out loud people spend tons of money on a phone. All my stereos are pre 90s and still work , how long does your phone last?
Very good video, but my experience in buying audio equipment was not quite friendly, mostly met audiophile snobs, including salespeople, and got put down when I went for something that was cheaper but sounded food to me. But, through experience of trial and error, I was able to find what works and what doesn't work for me. Remember, this hobby is subjective. Don't let others tell you that you are wrong because the system doesn't measure objectively accurate, and everyone hears things differently.
I started out with an all in one Home Cinema System. Then I thought, can I get better speakers for this thing? After that, I wondered if the amp was letting down the speakers, so I replaced that. Then came floor standing speakers. Then a dedicated stereo amp, coz I hated surround sound for music...and now... I have a proper HiFi.
I couldn't agree more, the audio industry needs to make products that provide a clear, natural sound quality as simply and economically as possible. One problem is that low pitched sound waves are physically large, and to me, a full, realistic bass response would require at least an eight inch diameter woofer in an enclosure as big as a good sized wastepaper basket. A reasonably flat response from 60Hz to 15kHz would be desired. I also think power output claims are highly inflated; with decent speakers, 10 honest, full, watts per channel would be plenty in most homes. The other problem is virtually all the "music" produced in the last thirty years is so compressed, distorted, and lacking in good melody that there is no desire to reproduce it faithfully. The last music I think was good (Barry Manilow, John Denver, Neil Diamond) is disdained as "elevator Music" by most people today.
I miss having a stereo system and listening to my music in real stereo. I just get it with headphones now. I don't even know where to begin to buy anything now.
I never in a million years thought that the quality of audio would deteriorate into what it has, but here we are. I'll stick to my vintage systems and hands on media.💿
I just bought my vinyl player y it takes me back to the 70’s when we burn them discs playing y wearing out diamond heads y Japanese made Laser discs player ; I got Bose speakers in big sizes to satellite y outdoor type y Bluetooth speakers as well y high end headphones Quietcomfort y Beats y iPhone earbuds Ipads y other brands of surround speakers y subwoofers; fancy solid wood acoustic guitars piano (solid wood)y keyboards;y Big Smart TV; I had love them entertainment tools since the sixties in my island nation 😅
Immersive sound through apple earbuds is something but I am used to DTS encoded discs which I collected $25 a pop when I discovered it however laser discs are 4times the price(Japanese origin)…ty for sharing the video!
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](/img/n.gif)
The home stereo will never die completely.
Agreed, and I hope it doesn't 🙏
Its dead in both my neighbors houses but i have a front height 5.1 jbl based system in my living room and can hear it clearly 2 houses down with the door open. I know several people who have a much nicer house and yet they only use small pos bt speakers or the tv audio
@@albertpintor3522 I don't know, I have enough new and vintage audio equipment for 2-3 additional mid to upper mid-grade systems and offered to set one up at the home of my daughter and family, they looked at me like I was crazy and said, "no thanks". I Offered to set up a system for my son and his wife, they said they would get back after they moved which was completed months ago, they haven't mentioned it since. For somewhat of a better perspective, I'm in my late 60's, my children are in their late 30's, and ironically my daughter and I just like the mentioned 'Joe Smith' reside in Louisville, Ky.
Well said brother! Times certainly have changed and are indeed changing very rapidly now. I, like most stereo nerds, have a few too many speakers and old receivers hanging around. But after 35+ years in the hobby I would not have guessed in a million years I would be listening to a sub $1k main system in my primary listening /living room. The real kicker is that I am absolutely loving it. I have learned to love music again. I have also learned you have NO need to go north of $1k to have a great sounding system. I do use speaker stands. Something that is often overlooked when building a budget system, but worth it in my opinion.
Yamaha A-S301
Klipsch RP 160M
BluDento BTL HD
Sony CD (old )
For the price this lower cost system will simply blow away most people. Once again, great video Mike.
I wouldn't mind all these people not being interested in HiFi if music weren't being horribly mastered to play through their phones and BT speakers.
Second that.👍
Lowest Common Denominator. Shite rules.
I am finding this. I hate most remasters because of it. I want the original master PLEASE!!
This
The Loudness Wars are an abomination. Every mastering engineer who has destroyed a recording by compressing it into the toilet should be deeply ashamed. Never mind if they were just following orders. That said, compression hurts proper systems way more than cheapo BT speakers, sadly.
Bingo! Thankfully I’ve gone back to “home stereo” and it gives back what it always gave me; peace, joy and a physical reaction.
With my recent retirement I was well positioned to “get back into music”; I had time and a lifetime of savings. Wow had things changed since I bought my first stereo in 1973 with savings from my part time job in high school. Nearly 2 years later, after 18 months of research, watching your & others’ videos, I have a system I love. Yes I love playing my classic albums & CD’s but have to admit the convenience and breadth of Apple Music is as important as my enjoyment of albums/cd’s. Never thought I would say that, but the quality of streamed music is catching up to the convenience. Great times we are living in if you love listening to music!
I retired recently too and now I have the stereo of my dreams. I mainly stream from Tidal and I cannot believe how far it has come. I think it has surpassed the phono, something I thought I’d never say… Definitely in the convenience factor!
Agree streaming competes well against phono; however, my son had a few buddies over and I slipped on a Zappa album; they couldn’t get over the “different sound” as they had not listened to albums previously - made me smile.
Good points. One thing not mentioned is the development of car audio. Starting in the 1980s, teens started enjoying their music in their rides, b/c they couldn’t crank it up at home w/parents who kept telling them to TURN THAT €£]# DOWN! Even today, there’s many people who don’t have much of a system for music listening at home, but they have pricey audio systems in their cars, whether it be factory or aftermarket.
If you're Hispanic then this is so true. I don't know anyone trying to get a nice component stereo but i still know atleast 3 people who have a very loud car system but yet they dont have anything beyond a crappy bt speaker in the house. Honestly I think Hispanics who like sound systems really prefer car audio with epicenters over anything. Im Hispanic btw but would rather have home audio any day
I think that affordable HiFi journey has already begun. Companies like Pro-Ject, Topping and SMSL (just to name a few) make really good quality budget products, as well as high end products. I recently purchased a DAC/ headphone amplifier from SMSL called the C200. It is capable of Hi Res audio and double DSD. It sounds amazing for it’s price point, only costing me $245.00 AUD from Amazon. This has got to be the best HiFi add on and has made a night and day difference to my digital listening, compared to just using an AUX cord from my phone directly to my amplifier. Best HiFi purchase I have ever made!
I got my 11 year old daughter into the hobby. We just rebuilt a set of Cerwin Vega vs100 speakers for her and are going to slowly get her better separates for her system. She loves it.
What's your secret? I cannot get my 10-year-old nephew to put his phone down. : (
And when I buy new speakers and the like for the family computer, nobody could care less. I guess I should just stop wasting my time and money, but it's hard, because it matters to me.
@@mydogskips2I have a 10 year old niece and 8 year old nephew who loves peso pluma. Unfortunately they have not really shown interest in my system as they are way more focused on their phones, games or tv. Hopefully my nephew will eventually become interested in wanting atleast a small system
Nicely spoken, Mike. I still remember the moment when my "ears opened". It was the 1970s and I was a college student checking out a stereo store. Seeing my interest, the owner loaded up some progressive jazz on his big system: Technics turntable, Macintosh amplifiers, and a pair of Klipsch horns. The crystalline clarity, effortless power, and spatial reality of the music left an indelible impression on me, and I am a hi-fi booster to this day. But how many stereo stores are still around that can provide such an experience?
When I was in college, a lot of people had stereos in their rooms. I visited a college dorm about a decade ago and was shocked how quite it was.
I still miss the golden age of hi-fi back in the 80's when there were a lot of shops and the Friday paper was loaded with ads for gear. By the early 90's I lost interest and took a hiatus till 2010. Home theater got me back into it and higher end British gear has kept me here to this day. I miss the days when you walked into your favorite hi-fi shop and staff knew your name. I enjoyed this video alot Mike. Thanks.
Your simple eloquence and topics like this are a great way to preserve the relevance of home stereo systems. Maybe one of the plethora of audio companies will listen to the plea for affordable systems that are actually hifi. Thank you so much for not being just another reviewer in it for product commission. I hope you can maintain your passion and continue to help this community thrive. You are inspiring and give hope to those of us struggling to put together a great sounding system.
Well-spoken lament to the end of an era. Vassar and Yale are screaming out for you, Mike!
Thank you my friend
You can't beat a good hi-fi system even if it's only mid-range. I have heard some fantastic sound which you'll never get through any headphones or sound bars. Love my record player. And I think some are still using Hi-Fi equipment because in the UK we have these stores called HMV stock thousands of records and CDs they are selling as well as DVDs. So in the UK at least I suspect it's quite a lot of people still listen to their Hi-Fi. Even if it's through their Wi-Fi!!
The first half of this video especially was quite something, like poetry: you’re an eloquent man! I think the whole hifi industry dug its own grave normalising prohibitive prices and churning out snake oil products. A sincere business I would definitely like to support, but what I do most of the time is buying vintage. It’s the easy way out for me and I just don’t value new stuff enough to justify the expenditures it takes.
I agree there are many gems within the used market that could very well outshine the offerings of today.
I play my nieces and nephews favorite songs on my hi-fi setup to let them experience full quality sound and it blows them away. They looked shocked when music played out loud sounds better than their headphones. Still have a pair of Carver AL-III Plus speakers from my Circuit City days.
I love to learn everything about audio and enjoy everyone’s system , doesn’t matter on cost or looks ❤
I'm a eighties rock kid! So when i built my system i bought second hand eighties gear so i could hear like i did in the eighties.
Nice keep the hobby alive or nostalgic sound alive
Mike well composed and delivered a la Rod Sterling review especially with the Joe Smith sequence
I finally watched some Rod Sterling content, and yes, I can see the similarities, lol 😆
It's completely understandable that people prioritize convenience and make compromises to enhance certain aspects of their setup. I still have my NAD amp and big speakers, but my main system now is a BOSE TV speaker with the Bass Module 500, an AIYIMA A5 Pro DAC, and a Thinkia CD player. I use this for both TV and music, and it works perfectly fine for me. When I want better sound quality, I simply plug in headphones to the DAC. I also have a small Sabaj Da3 DAC and an old BOSE SoundLink Mini for more portable use.
The home stereo hasn’t disappeared; it has just evolved-becoming smaller and shifting to spaces under the TV or beside computers. I don’t see this as a problem, and I don’t think it needs a solution. What we have today is great: traditional large components for those who want the best sound quality, and smaller, more practical setups for those willing to compromise. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
You're absolutely right-every hobby has its gatekeepers, and that’s unfortunate. When it comes to audio, I don’t consider myself an audiophile; I just have a system that works for me, and I’m happy with it.
Yes, totally agree. I’m never giving up my Marantz 2325. True sound.
I love talking about audio and teaching new comers to the hobby. I’ve been into it since the early 70’s…
The younger generations need to embrace this hobby! Thank you for being an awesome part of the community.
@@audioarkitekts What we don't need is people fixated on costly speaker and interconnect wiring, spikes, electrical box mods, expensive transports, and all that other crap.
@@keithwiebe1787 I agree 👍
I'm listening to this through my Hitachi micro component bookshelf system. Bought new in '98. This little stereo will not die! I love it.
I grew up in the 60's 70's with the 8 track and cassettes and of course LP's I still have my Fisher and Kenwood systems. Nothing today can replace that sound. This is a great video, love your channel 👏
Couldn’t agree more
Now on another note please bring back cassette decks I love them vinyl too
Well spoken. Some companies have seen the light. One is iFi Audio who gave us the Zen line of affordable components. Speaking of iFi, headphones are a great way to break into hifi. Less cost, smaller space, great sound.
Their DC blockers are great.
Ifi has very affordable products that would enable new comers into the hobby.
Well articulated. I also worked part time at Circuit City in Audio / Video Dept . Great coverage on an important topic .
I still have a hifi (Denon), and my cds, of course. Sure, I have a soundbar, bluetooth speaker, etc, but you can't beat the sound quality of the cd and the experience as a whole.
I'm old school. I still prefer putting in a CD, laying down a record, even popping in a cassette. Streaming is convenient, but the sound quality is seriously lacking in fidelity. That said, I use mostly consumer electronics receivers and speakers. I've not the expansive budget as some folks do. I work with what I got. My opinion is that streaming corrupts fidelity. It seriously lacks detail and although it is listenable, it's not as enjoyable as physical medium. Even cassette tapes have far better fidelity in my opinion.
Will always have stereo till i die....
I gave up my dedicated hi-fi (music) system for a 5.1 DPL system when we moved into our house in the mid 90s. Several times, I tried to integrate a turntable or CD player into it all, but having to fiddle with a bunch of settings every time I wanted to listen to proper 2 channel stereo, proved to be a PITA, so I gave up. After that, I mostly listened to music in the car, on a portable CD player with headphones, then eventually iPod and iPhone. Just 6-7 years ago, a couple years before I opened the record store, I decided to just set up a separate 2 channel hifi system in the same room with our AV system. After mounting the AV satellites on wall brackets, that made room for my stereo speakers. It’s worked out great and really doesn’t take up all that much more space.
You cannot beat a hi fi system especially if you have seperates. Music is only as good as it is amplified. Thats it.. A good amp, cd player and cassette deck , turntable is all you need and you do not have to pay the earth for it. Convenience is ok with bluetooth didital for sure however the warmth and clarity you get from a hifi system is far superior and will allways be my choice . The second hand market will serve you well.
Excellent points here and very well thought out. I think cellphones, streaming and home theater has helped to delute the two channel market, but the youth are actually responding favorably to vinyl.
Companies like Emotiva have done a lot to help audiophiles and new comers alike on a budget.
The used market is also an extremely viable options to help level the playing field.
Got the tv sound bar, Bluetooth speakers here and there, but still have a bunch of home stereo seperates. I use all these things as i like, enjoy all of them, when off from work. Thanks for the video 👍
I remember how most of my friends 15-20 years ago jumped onto Bluetooth speakers and iPod Docks from Bose etc. and how I was laughed at for being extatic for getting my grandfathers Mitsubishi MC-8000 and HiFi set-up. It still is a great feature in my living room setup with Klipsch speakers and a wonderful JBL Subwoofer. It is what got me into building PA/Soundsystems as a hobby and trying to nowadays start a bussines in dry-hire, setup and supporting soundsystems around my area.
I have seen a lot of people being very surprised and amazed whenever they hear good sound. This happens a lot with people how like House or Techno or Drum & Bass. They know their favourite tracks from their headphones or small chasis bluetooth speakers and are in shock when they physically feel subwoofers push air and a kicksub hit their chest. It is super cool that HiFi does not go away and that enthusiasts keep it alive.
Im 22, I own several monster receivers in my home, my friends love it every time they come over for a party, I make sure my parties are the loudest lol.
What kind of speakers are you running. If you want to be the loudest, Cerwin Vega floor sanders are the way to go my friend!
Very well put Mike. I recall how I had to scrape together explanations to complex ‘technical’ information and audiophile jargon and had to sort through all the mis-information and snake oil when I started out. Eventually, I did find support and comradery within some FB groups that I became a part of. But even within these groups, there are many elitist and down right rude folks but the majority are either supportive or at least have the common decency to keep their thoughts to themselves when someone asked a ‘dumb’ question. Point is, we all can and should do our part to encourage and support beginner audiophiles
SPOT ON! New subscriber! Please keep the "Beginner's Mind" in mind; too many of these channels assume I already know what they're talking about!
Thanks for the support! I like to keep it digestible and relatable.
Well spoken Mike. My personal solution has been to scour internet reviews and demos the past couple of years for extreme bang for buck products! So introducing, my best bang for buck system in 2023: total system - including cables - retails for 9,300 Euro: Power Distributor & power cables (Puritan PSM156 Purifier + Classic Plus power cables (1.0m) x4), CD Transport (Audiolab 7000CDT), Dac (Ladder Schumann), Integrated Amp (Hegel H120), Loudspeakers (Dynaudio Evoke 10), Interconnect cables (Tubulus Argentus RCA cable + Tellurium Q Black II XLR cable + Tellurium Q Black II speaker cable).
First thing.....
DUDE, you can SO DO Rod Serling's voice from the original Twilight Zone. Seriously. Gives me chills.
As for the rest of it.....
I COMPLETLY AGREE.
I am old school it seems, and a few years ago, I spent a little over $800 to buy a new Denon receiver (AVR-8760H), and Klipsch 7.2 speaker system (I cant remember the actual package/serial/part number. Gotta love Costco though, since it was all purchased there).
This is not a "break the bank" system and sounds AMAZING. The spatial sound is nothing like I have ever experienced before. Side note, two subs,..... I can't go back to just one. Try it, and you will know what I am talking about.
The thing is, if you want a true good sound, especially SURROUND sound (sorry but, you say "Surround Sound" that means, the SOUND SURROUNDS you. That means at MINIMUM a 4.1 system (2 in front, 2 in back, and a sub). A 2.1 speaker system is NOT SURROUND sound. Try again.
These "sound bar" systems are a NO GO. They are pathetic. No presence what so ever. These are a "lazy mans" solution to not be willing to do the effort, to create an amazing, auditory experience.
Whats worse, is these sound bars, can cost ASTRONOMICAL prices, for SUB PAR sound.
Lazy, Lazy Lazy.
When it comes to the ease of playing your music via your "sound system" whatever that may be, I was piping my MP3 playlists, through my home audio system, 25 years ago, from my PC via Winamp. I was blowing my neighbors minds, because it sounded so good. They couldn't BELIVE that I got that sound from my PC.
Guess what..... I still do that with my PC system.
The point is, YES. If you like music, you like it to sound good, spend the time, the money (which isn't even that much), to buy, build, and customize your own home system.
You will NEVER regret it.
Oh..... and if you want to get into a "who's louder" competition with your idiot neighbor, yeah, your gonna win. lol
I just watched a Rod Sterling clip, and I didn't realize our cadence and maneurisms were so similar.
Right on, man! I look forward to what's to come.
I built the system I’m now using from scratch in the last four years, buying used equipment. I’m streaming from my MacBook Pro that I already own through Tidal and Audirvana Studio into a used Mytek Liberty DAC to a used LTA preamp to a pair of Maraschino Cherry Monos to a pair of DIY open Baffles. My CD transport is a used Marantz 8300 and my turntable is a used Audio Technica. I converted an upstairs bedroom into my dedicated listening room where I sometimes spend 10 hours a day either listening to my old favorites or exploring new music. I probably have approximately $5000. Total invested in all of the equipment, not counting my MacBook that I was using for business. It all would have cost at least 10-12K purchased new and sounds amazing.
You said it bud, "MOST (not all) people sacrificed sound for convenience". Those people are the reason companies put out so much shit in my opinion! I've spent the last year building my 2 channel stereo system & I absolutely love it! The receiver, CD player, duel cassette recorder/player & record player. All with tower speakers & subwoofer. And then I run across a video like this! 🫤
The home stereo system did not and has not slowly faded into the background, it was more like a sudden tectonic shift that destroyed all remanences. By the first half or the 90s the home stereo system was nearly extinct! People want super convenience and marketers know this and it is not exclusive to audio either.
Most people today don't care about sound quality and that was true even in the late 80s. As I watched people in stores check out what stereo gear and sound equipment there was, the first and only thing they "tested" was how loud it would go and that was what their purchasing decision was based on. Even today, I notice most folks, including many "audiophiles" have not changed, it still comes down to how loud it can go to them as the foundation to a purchase decision. Of course, now days most "audiophiles" are stone deaf, so it makes more sense in that case.
I was always odd man out, back when everyone was at Circuit City and the like, I was at Rogers Sound Labs, Federated Group, etc. I grew up and learned very early (well before 9 years of age) what sound was about and I saw (and sat and stared for hours) plenty of those great 70s home stereo systems (none of which I could afford until the early 2000s when they were being dumped and I was hit by the vintage bug. To this day I have two 70s receivers (one small Marantz and one monster Sansui) and two Pioneer turntables and a Denon table from the 80s all in use throughout a year. I also love the sound of my Marantz and Sansui. There is nothing like them today that I have heard.
I completely disagree about Smartphones: Worst invention to date! I find them to be the most inconvenient thing ever! I hate them with a purple passion! I was recently forced to get one after an illness and it just sits powered off on my dresser waiting for that emergency use, which I hope never comes again. I tried using it for a week and it made my life miserable! It is so inconvenient. One has to jump through hoops just to make a phone call. I switched back to my flip phone. On top of that, they are too bulky to carry around and how does something that small relatively speaking weight like 40 pounds? Now it is getting to the point where one can't do anything (shopping, doctor appointments, etc.) without one. I still refuse to give in.
As for navigation, I used to do mapquest, but it is not the best so I got a dedicated nav unit, while not much better, it is more convenient and safer and I would trust it more than one of them phones. I also keep the GPS off on my phone anyway. (These days, most cars come with built-in nav units).
Yes, today one is hard pressed to find a dedicated CD player, there are maybe 3 or 4 out there, but sadly there is a more recent factor that is a barrier for most of us, price. A CD player today will run around $600 to $700 minimum. It wasn't two years ago that they were $300 or $400 and a year before that they were $200.
I think another large part of the problem is in fact, the lost "art" of sitting and listening to music. Today it is all about "reality TV" and zero patience and intolerance and extremely short attention spans (thanks in part to the music industry as well). When I was growing up you had listening parties, or often just a gathering of friends or what have you to specifically do the activity of sharing and listening to music. For example, one would go to the record store or whatever and purchase a few records and/or CDs and bring them back home and then have a few friends around or at least one and do some listening giving one's opinion or thoughts about what was listened to. Today, music listening is 100% dead! Even most "audiophiles" do not listen to music, they listen to gear just playing whatever artist and track is approved for the week or month. I have nothing against streaming services in and of themselves, I just don't care to use them for formal listening, but they are very valuable tools for discovering music and such. I am seeing a small uptick in streaming devices and such to integrate into more "traditional" stereo systems, which is a good thing. While not my personal choice for listening to music, I also don't care how folks are getting or listening to music, I'm just happy they are deciding to listen to music, period.
Totally agree about "audiophiles"! One need not understand the technical jargon and what is more, most "audiophiles" don't understand it either, they just toss them into their word salad, which is used to keep everyone else out of the club so to speak. It is funny that they take such effort to be and remain elitist and then complain how there are not more people involved.
I had the exact same experience as you Mike! I also had to learn on my own, which turns out for the better by the way, as I had a little knowledge coming in, but not enough. It is not representative of the "audiophile" community as a whole, but sadly, it is still representative of most of it.
I spent over four years fighting that BS helping newcomers get great sound at whatever their budget was and would allow showing that it doesn't take $20,000 to get $20,000 sound. I spent time pointing out the demarcation lines. In 2015-2017 there was a tectonic shift in HiFi manufacturing where higher end makes were coming out with more affordable pieces opening the door wider for folks (while the "audiophiles" would complain that it might let in the peasants and started putting others down for their choices even from the same makes they owned). That is what really pissed me off enough to become a journalist/advisor at the time. For me it has always been about the music, full stop and still is today. I'm a music lover/enthusiast, first, last and always. Music is also meant to be shared and supplied for the masses.
Sadly, today we have another recent problem: The economy in the US is going to the toilet at breakneck speed, we are at the start of the worst recession in recorded history and the worst part is that it could have been avoided were it not for the greed and class war and attitudes of the elite in and out of government. That is a different discussion for a different platform though, I digress.
Very recently (as of about two months ago) we are now seeing a terrible thing happening in the analog world regarding vinyl. Used record prices have reached the point of being near equal with new record prices and that is for the ones in the worst condition! I'm not talking collectable pressings and such, I'm talking common everyday trillion copy pressings. The irony is that sellers (dealers, etc.) are complaining that even "collectors" are cutting way back and not buying like before, let alone the average person who wants to get into vinyl today. They don't realize that they are shooting themselves and if what I am seeing in the market keeps up for just a few more months we will start to lose turntable and other analog gear manufactures as well. The market will die.
CDs are becoming more popular again because of "value"! Many in the "vinyl community" so to speak have stopped buying records and are turning to streaming and CD now. All because of greed.
The dealers at my local record show even try to blame the owners of the show who are wonderful folks and have nothing to do with prices, sales and such. The vendors pay for their booths (around $80 average) and that's it. The owners handle the promotion and such and they do a good job of it. The place gets crowded, but as of April, hardly anybody is buying anything due to the outrageous prices. Even Herb Albert records of which there are trillions that usually go for $1 and can't be given away are now $5 in terrible condition! Nobody in their right mind is going to entertain that even in their mind.
They need to come back down to earth in pricing, back to a $5 record is $5, $10 is $10, etc. like it was only a couple of months ago and do it quick or we lose it all!
On top of that, we have the national economic situation. A record is $40, groceries for the week are $60 to $70 now for just basics, if on sale, how does one choose food on the table vs a record or medicine vs a record?! There seems to be no end in sight for rising food costs either! Things are poised to get much worse due to unwillingness to do the right thing as well.
How are folks expected to afford buying HiFi gear and records and such? Many makes and sellers blew it by miss reading the pandemic times. They got greedy and decided that since sales went through the roof because people were almost forced to buy the stuff that means all of the sudden it will continue no matter what.
I totally agree that it needs to be re-assessed. That can lead to more innovation, increased sales, etc.
I disagree on a few points and agree on some. I got rid of all my vinyl when I just wasn't happy with the snaps and pops etc. at the beginning of the year when I retired. I tried but gave up. Problem is that I had a hard time selling local here (Wichita ka area). I had nine immaculate Moody Blues albums and only one person called about them. Came over and bought perhaps 10 other albums I had. I think I got 5 bucks apiece for very nice albums I bought new. Someone else came over and bought my turntable with rest of albums for 225 or so (Technics direct drive with new cartridge). I think a smart phone is fantastic. Have a Samsung S22. It will record stills, great video (I prefer it over my Canon 5dm3 and they even recorded Portlandia TV show on the Canon 5dm2), and audio quality is fantastic (after one gets the genuine headphone and mic adapter from Samsung). It can record in 4k and 8k video. I hear you on the price of used crappy albums. Should be 1 dollar. You can buy cds for 1 to 3 dollars all day long (maybe not the ones one really wants though-those might cost 9 bucks with shipping). One doesn't need a dedicated cd player. I bought a Phillips blu ray for 50 bucks at Wallyworld and let my Yamaha receiver decode it. Sounds fine. Only problem is TV has to be on to play and see menu. I dug out my 30 year old Luxman cd player and with a little clean up works great.
Think you hit all the right "notes" on this video. The convience issue really is a thorn in the traditional hifi set ups these days. Other things I've noticed is music is becoming more of a backround thing to block out the world. Is it being listened to or is it just something we hear now? Also, to me it's becoming more of a"it's good enough" type world we live in. It's inexpensive, easy to use, and it makes sound, good enough.
Great video Mike. It’s a precise analysis of what is happening in the Hi-Fi marketplace today.
Home theater and the large flat screen TV killed hi-fi. Sound played second fiddle to the video. This is what caused a lot of hi-fi stores to go under. Speaker companies started selling black tower speakers with six inch woofers to sit on either side of the TV.
It means us "old guys" really know what good sound is
You would think lol 😆
AVRs have evolved so much. They're WiFi and Bluetooth, you can stream music from typical platforms or Hi-fi content from dedicated ones. Everything can be done through a mobile app. You can send the songs from your phone to your AVR via Wi-Fi in HQ mode (lossless format). You can also plug a turntable via a reintroduced dedicated Phono cinch for the nostalgic out there. You have "pure audio" stereo mode if you're primarily focused on music listening as it was recorded. These days you can get such AVR with a THX certification for movies well under a grand. Spend a few more grand on 6 decent speakers and you have quality sound for music and films. I could use a stereo amp just for music, but AVRs sound good enough to me. That's how far I've gone down the Hi-fi rabbit hole, not very deep granted, but deep enough.
To most people though, regular mp3 quality sound is good enough. They can't tell the difference between 128 and 320kbps, or between lossy and lossless. The sound from a TV set is good enough. The sound from cheap and disposable headphones is also enough. Etc etc. So why pay more?
Avrs also have dsp unlike most stereo receivers that only give you bass and treble knows. If you have pre outs on a avr then that's even better if you're the kind to use all channel stereo mode
I searched "what happened to stereo speakers". Very hard to find anyone touching this issue. Thanks. I'm glad I was able to hear great stereo sounds in the 90s, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer etc all used to make good quality Hifi systems at affordable prices. Multi-channel and mono "party speaker" are both a bad idea for normal listening, we need just stereo because God gave us...2 ears.
As someone always been interested in Hi-fi, over the years the industry is killing itself. The whole $10,000 cables and the marketing to push the ever higher cost for marginal or zero gains is kind of at a level beyond ridiculous these days. I can really sympathise with people buying an Amazon Alexa and having done with it.
Sadly future just gets bleaker, the fact that streaming means you don't even own the music anymore, the experience of interaction with the system and media was a massive part of what got me into Hi-fi.
Doesn't help that society is so unbalanced these days, why appeal to the lower tier customer when there's people so ridiculously rich in the world that will pay 6 figures plus for one item.
You will own nothing and be happy 🤦🏻♂️
@@Coneman3 Except for the super rich, none of the restrictions apply to them. It's the final corralling of the people before the gates close, 1984 is quickly becoming reality. I'd advise everyone to buy all the music they like in physical format while they can. The latest attack on Roger Walters is highly alarming, not to mention a classical production got banned in Germany recently because the composer happened to have written the song when Germany had a few problems. Then the inevitable deletion of anything Russian, and hey presto, flood gates suddenly open and before we realise whole swathes of art and history lost and outlawed.
Yes I can foresee a 1984 scenario with greater restrictions on the masses. Another reason to amass physical media. Got nearly 6,000 CDs, 2,500 books and over 500 DVD/BLU RAYs.
We are heading for mass suppression because of all the legitimate protests and with climate change it’s not gonna end well imo.
Some years ago I tried to start a small business helping people set up their inexpensive sounds systems and quickly learned that no one cared about quality, only ease of operation. It wasn’t worth my time or effort…
I will never give up my stereo/home theater system. I have a 7.1 surround sound system with Klipsch speakers connected to Yamaha 7.2 receiver. The receiver allows me to go into 2 channel stereo if I wish to do so. I have connected to my receiver two Tascam CD player/recorders, a Samsung blu-ray player, a Music Hall turntable, and a Pioneer reel to reel RT-1020L tape deck. I also have connected to my receiver and 55 inch VIZIO TV my desk top computer. I never stream music except for watching UA-cam videos. I presently have around 1600 CDs and 1100 vinyl records, and around 1500 movies on DVD and blu-ray and 120 Rock documentaries and concerts on DVD and blu-ray!
Yes, I'm perfectly happy with my Yamaha receiver running in 5.1 with homemade khorns and 12 inch sub and little 4.5 full range rear speakers. Listen to it everyday for hours. Got rid of my turntable and LPs beginning of the year. Still collect some cds.
Home theater is a totally different experience from a dedicated two channel system. They are two separate hobbies.
@@robertm8518 No it's not.
@@robertm8518 I agree! Back in the 70s before home theater I had a stereo system with ESS Amt1 floorstanding Monitors with a Yamaha M-85 stereo amplifier
At least you're about 50% right. The correct starting point is video games. That was the medium that was used for friends to interact with each other instead of sitting around and listening to music. They just don't care about fidelity. When you play your new vinyls on a cheap crosley turntable and think it's great. Well it is great as long as you progress like you would with anything.
When you can, sit down with somebody who has a growing interest in music and the equipment to reproduce it it's a wonderful thing. Recently had a 30 something year old come over that is a budding music enthusiast. When he heard what a good stereo can create. He was gobsmacked. And it's a stereo that was less than 1500 bucks and a mixture of vintage and new. You don't have to spend new car money to get good sound. Heck, you've got young people thinking that Beats are actually good headphones. Marketing poor products doesn't help the cause either.
I agree. It's staggering to discover what the used market has available and for a very competitive price.
This video is spot on.
What is REALLY the concern in my opinion is people have shorter attention spans and getting shorter all the time.
Need proof...Tik Toc is the most popular media platform as of this comment.
I am the only person in my household that "sits and listens" to music,for 99% of people these days music is simply background while tasking.
High end audio is not going to die out but I do believe we will pay more for it becuase the interest in the market simply is not there anymore, earbuds rule sadly.
I was lucky enough to hold onto my 80's components and couldn't be happier. I even replaced several speaker form edges to keep them in great working condition.
One of the things to consider all the cabling required. Which my wife hates. Which is why we have a Sonos sadly.
When I watch videos of high end shows or demos of high end gear I see a bunch of old guys in their 60’s and 70’s sitting in folding chairs listening to $70k speakers with a front end worth more than my house. Unfortunately I’m in that age group, spent more on hifi than I will ever admit to my wife and still looking for more. I’m sure the $$$’s I’ve spent will end up in an estate sale selling for penny’s on the dollar. I can’t help it, it’s a love(obsession) I’ve had since high school when I had a Marantz pm1060 a BIC turntable and some Cerwin Vega’s. When I was 16 I bought a Docorder reel to reel for $329 which took me 10 months to pay off on lay away. Times have certainly changed but I haven’t (except I really like streaming)😅
Sell me your gear before it's picked apart at an estate sale ;) However, I am sure you have many many more years ahead of you to enjoy the sound you've built over a generation.
Well said. I completely agree with your comments and hope that high quality, traditional stereo hi fi gear, continues to be available at affordable prices for those who appreciate it. Vintage stereo equipment is naturally getting scarce and increasingly expensive. Creating new versions of old stereo models is a great thing but they are generally very expensive and need scaling up of production runs to make them truly affordable for most average wage earners. Otherwise we have no real choice and have to make do with tiny unsatisfying ''do it all gadgets'' that are no fun at all for many audio enthusiasts.
Awesome discussion, and so So, So true... Thanks
I still feel good about the sound quality of my home stereo. I added a Bluetooth adapter as a bridge to the streaming universe. Many people, I fear, are not taking advantage of this bridge.
I did the same. Streaming from my phone to my system. At some point, I will add a dedicated streamer.
Sadly, most audiophiles or Hi-Fi fans are older people like me. When I see Iphone Zombies walking around oblivious to the world around them, I feel like the Hi-Fi world is fading away. Along with the real world. Gift young people with stereo gear like I have. Foster an appreciation for true sound quality. Let's try to not let our hobby fade away.
I was one of those guys that had a stack of components and big floor speakers...... for several years.
I was never what you would call an audiophile, just a big music fan.
These days, speaker technology has advanced so much that all i really need is a good table top system with a cd player and maybe bluetooth. I just don't need big floor speakers to fill my living room or bedroom with music anymore. I can buy a Bose or Tivoli system that takes up very little room and sounds great!
Hey Mike great video. If you ask any 30+ person how much music they own and most i know have almost none, good reason not to own a stereo system. Almost every 30 year old i know streams music from free sources on there phone, through there phone speaker or very cheap headphones, and absolutely love it. I've been in this passion for good audio sound for 45 years now, (spent tens of thousands of dollars) and my reference system cost me less then $600. built my own touch screen streamer, running amazing software by Tim Curtis (Moode) $200 dac to 1Mii Aptx-HD bluetooth transmitter, to a Sony M3 set of wireless cans !!!!Shangri-La!!!!
We’ve been teetering on the cusp of exposure (and awareness) of new realms of audio excellence. It’s well on it’s way in the pro audio industry (finally). What I’m referring to is new developments in component design, embracing the old and rethought out mergings with modern, cutting edge technologies to offer (for example) clean tube integration with high fidelity designs. A hybrid approach if you will.
On one side of my office I have a traditional 2-channel stereo with a Yamaha receiver, KEF Q350 speakers on stands, turntable (my old one), CD player, etc. All in, about $3K, i.e., it’s a “good” midrange setup. On the other side of my office is a second (new) Technics SL-1210GR with phono stage and two Sonos Fives, which I also use for streaming via Amazon and Apple hi-res/lossless music services. Total cost about $1K less than my original stereo rig. Guess which system sounds better? My point being - don’t knock something new until you’ve tried it. You can absolutely get audiophile sound quality from a modern streaming setup that equals, and sometimes surpasses, traditional stereo analog gear - everything is relative.
The algorithm got me here. Really great ideas here.
Very late but 2 thoughts. First, I would add Napster into the death of hi-go systems. The expectation became all music available for free on a computer. It was also the death of expecting quality sound. Second, there are a lot of Jackwagons in this and any hobby (e.g., watch collecting). They are easy to ignore. Just love music and have fun. T
NAD C 538 CD player, NAD C316BEE V2 amp, NHT SuperOne 2.1 speakers, Pangea Audio LS300 speaker stands . . . done. Affordable, great sound.
Simple yet effective, I like it
What???? record players are returning and along with vinyl, 2 channel HiFi .You're not looking at trends in the marketplace..Smart speakers aren't selling well, few people want a spying device inside their home and they sound terrible.. It's television that's really dying. Too much screen time in todays world. Just got a new Yamaha integrated Amplifier and Loving it.
I have a superb stereo system....everyone else can have their earbuds.
One thing about the smart phone that actually IMPROVED audio quality was equalizer apps. They allowed you to increase the deep bass dramatically which unleashed a new capability in older speakers that we never knew was there.
After finishing work in Alaska and returning to calif I wanted to get a stereo system, I went to circuit city and remember going into a room called magnolia and listening to what they had , that’s where I went wrong, spent a lot of money on a Denon av receiver Boston acoustic speakers large subwoofer, I still use the system for tv but when it came to listening to music I wasn’t happy with the sound, I then went on the journey of collecting vintage receivers from the 70s, I had no idea what a AV receiver was I didn’t know anything about the change in audio , what I was looking for was non existent it was now called vintage haha
Well said Mike,
1 Young people don't really get access to hifi. iPhone and earbuds seem to dominate.
2 High end shows with 100K speakers and components are meaningless to all but the few.
3 Once I heard real hifi in 1985 I had to have one, the journey continues.
4 Real hifi should be atainable. John Darko did a 1k system, I bet a lot of young people would have been blown away with a system like that.
Thank you, Patrick, for the kind words. It's astonishing how many young people could really get into this hobby if it was presented differently.
Real hifi is attainable. Budget gear is incredible now. The problem is that younger people aren't even aware the hifi world exists. They primarily know airpods and Bluetooth speakers. So long as they are music lovers, they can likely appreciate hifi... Just gotta find a way to introduce it. The surprising, though still small, amount of younger people buying and playing records shows there is SOME interest there. Maybe I'm just being optimistic.
Hey mike, I enjoyed your video you certainly have done your homework well put, I was an audio file in early 70s high school days, shortly after getting married I sold everything moved to Alaska during the pipeline days, years later back to calif. career children etc. i finally wanted to get into the hobby again, got a stack all black plastic hated it after a while, but had to live with it , again years later I bought a Dennon surround system cost me over $1,500 by this time I didn’t know shit , it was so frustrating figuring out what to do to get it going it was like learning a new language, a few months later I wasn’t happy with the sound I hated it , it was like waking up from under a tree forty years later, I told my wife I’m just going to purchase a stereo like I had before , keep in mind I worked long hour six days a week running a manufacturing plant I was oblivious to the changes in the audio world,
I set out looking at circus city and other places but to no avail, what I learned was, it’s called vintage. To make a long story short, I now have a pioneer SX1250
Kenwood KR9600, Kenwood KR8050,
Toshiba SA7100,
Sony STR V5
Technics SU8600 all have been completely restored I’m not exaggerating completely restored it’s taken years to get them done usually four to five months each but that’s my collector obsession it has to be that way, so my mission now is to educate the younger generation about how much there missing in sound quality, a 24 old neighbor now owns a pioneer SX780 infinity speakers , two years ago I gave my daughter a small realistic receiver walnut vernier and matching speakers as well as my record collection of over 300 records that I had collected during high school, it sat in a closet until a week before this memorial weekend she phoned me and said dad this sounds amazing , she finally got it going, when my wife and I went to place for a party on memorial weekend I couldn’t believe the response I was hearing from several of her guest about what the stereo looked like and the sound it was nothing they ever saw or heard before I was blown away at the fact it was something they never knew about and the records wow! who is that etc. I like to think I changed some life’s it was a great feeling and I will continue to educate every time the opportunity presents itself,
Regards
Russell Cardwell
Yes but it isn't just the high quality of sound from stereo speakers but the tactile feel of the black boxes!! I've been listening to Hi-Fi equipment and buying it since the mid-70s and I still have my Rotel, Denon gear and speakers.
I still miss my compact Emerson w auto shut off turntable-8 track recording-cool speakers-PA-70’s
I miss my component stereo. It sounded so good. With a turntable.
I was producing as a hobby long before I built a pair of 3-way floor speakers. My two cents are, modern music (especially EDM which I like) has a lot of phase- and delay-based effects that complete its sound, and are only reproduced well in headphones, on full-range drivers like Bluetooth speakers, on really friggin' big VLAs, or in *very* well-treated rooms. Also digital streaming has well surpassed vinyl in objective quality, nobody would admit for years vinyl is very lossy, it's just lossy in a way that's more aesthetically pleasing than digital loss, especially with t- t-transients.
Mobile technology and Home Theater in a box have their market share and depending on the interest in HiFi audio, their customers will upgrade to a better system if they have a desire for it. If they do not upgrade, then that is as far as they want to go with their audio gear. Audiophiles will continue to exist with their high-end systems because of their enthusiasm for HiFi sound reproduction regardless of changes in technology or what other people buy.
clear and fluid
I am new to Audio circuits - just want to clarify if I use a 2,1 pre-Amp with just 2 Speakers (sub-woofer excluded) - How does it affect the output Audio (stereo) Quality ?
Convenience always triumphs! Who needs DAC , headphone amps and long dangling headphone cables when one can conveniently use BT headphones with easy access buttons to play/ skip streaming music on the move. Same goes for classic stereo setup. Most recordings made post 1995 are too loud and lack DR , so totally unsuitable for playing on hifi but surprisingly good (read loud!) on tiny portable speakers. Kids born post 1995 , now aged 25- 30 are now the prime market for audio gears, have totally different tastes in music. My last wish to my family - burry me with all my audio gears instead of sending it to a landfill
PS- that 1995 year is very important, after which recordings really took a nosedive
I still have my Panasonic bookshelf stereo from 2004 I love it it's just a cheap piece of plastic but for me it represents lots of great memories and to be fair it doesn't sound that bad plus my hearing isn't that sophisticated 😊
You’ve Just Gained A New Subscriber…Made Me Feel Like Feel Part Of The Community Immediately
For people that say "cassettes are not perfect" .. I tell them: "yes true, but they are far far better than your speakers."
I reckon for a few £100, you could get 60-80% of the best possible with a hifi system. I know that’s a bold statement. A few £1000 and you’re easily around 80% with good purchases. The last 20% costs lots though.
Really interesting amplifier to test that theory is the Crown XLS. A pro amp, pretty affordable and destroys gear costing stupendous amounts. If you ever see one at a price you can't refuse, you got to try it, proves your statement to a T, and then some.
I use my pc connected to a Sony MHC-GX450 and i love the sound and bass
I think quality active speakers are a good entry point. It is a simple way to get started in 2 channel audio.
convenience is the enemy of high res audio and video in my opinion, its not just gear inna box but also bluetooth and streaming services.
if the pendulum swings back towards physical media for some reason in the future (imposed internet data caps for example) i hope we see a strong resurgence
Got about 30 separate hifi components in my house 😉
im in the process now of piecing together my home system Thank GOD for Ebay
Great explanation.. I'm from the 70s, and to me great sounding speakers and amps matter. Iam not an audio file I just like music
How ever I do stream now and DACs make a difference. Go for the best of both worlds.
You don't have spend a ton for good sound but what I hear in alot of homes dosnt stand up. You do have to invest some time and money. But that's part of the fun. For crying out loud people spend tons of money on a phone.
All my stereos are pre 90s and still work , how long does your phone last?
Good morning…lots to think about..I’ll send my thoughts after 🚙☕️☕️
Thank you, Carmine! Hope the ride to work went well! 🙏
Very good video, but my experience in buying audio equipment was not quite friendly, mostly met audiophile snobs, including salespeople, and got put down when I went for something that was cheaper but sounded food to me. But, through experience of trial and error, I was able to find what works and what doesn't work for me. Remember, this hobby is subjective. Don't let others tell you that you are wrong because the system doesn't measure objectively accurate, and everyone hears things differently.
I started out with an all in one Home Cinema System. Then I thought, can I get better speakers for this thing? After that, I wondered if the amp was letting down the speakers, so I replaced that. Then came floor standing speakers. Then a dedicated stereo amp, coz I hated surround sound for music...and now... I have a proper HiFi.
Very well spoken 👍
Thank you, Calvin!
I couldn't agree more, the audio industry needs to make products that provide a clear, natural sound quality as simply and economically as possible. One problem is that low pitched sound waves are physically large, and to me, a full, realistic bass response would require at least an eight inch diameter woofer in an enclosure as big as a good sized wastepaper basket. A reasonably flat response from 60Hz to 15kHz would be desired. I also think power output claims are highly inflated; with decent speakers, 10 honest, full, watts per channel would be plenty in most homes. The other problem is virtually all the "music" produced in the last thirty years is so compressed, distorted, and lacking in good melody that there is no desire to reproduce it faithfully. The last music I think was good (Barry Manilow, John Denver, Neil Diamond) is disdained as "elevator Music" by most people today.
I miss having a stereo system and listening to my music in real stereo. I just get it with headphones now. I don't even know where to begin to buy anything now.
Great analysis of the HiFi market!
I never in a million years thought that the quality of audio would deteriorate into what it has, but here we are. I'll stick to my vintage systems and hands on media.💿
I just bought my vinyl player y it takes me back to the 70’s when we burn them discs playing y wearing out diamond heads y Japanese made Laser discs player ; I got Bose speakers in big sizes to satellite y outdoor type y Bluetooth speakers as well y high end headphones Quietcomfort y Beats y iPhone earbuds Ipads y other brands of surround speakers y subwoofers; fancy solid wood acoustic guitars piano (solid wood)y keyboards;y Big Smart TV; I had love them entertainment tools since the sixties in my island nation 😅
Putting together a system like that is a lot of fun! I am glad you got to enjoy that!
Immersive sound through apple earbuds is something but I am used to DTS encoded discs which I collected $25 a pop when I discovered it however laser discs are 4times the price(Japanese origin)…ty for sharing the video!