• Please note that Audiokarma will be offline briefly for updates early on Monday morning, September 28th.

Has the mid-80s stereo rack been replaced by the Bluetooth speaker?

cchean

cchean

Super Member
Growing up in the 70s and 80s, my dream system would be a stereo rack with a integrated amp/receiver, turntable, cassette deck and a pair of three-way speakers. I tirelessly browsed the catalogs and drooled over the pictures of such systems from Technics, Pioneer and Sansui, just to name a few. I still find these systems quite charming whenever there is one up for sale at the used market.

Fast forward to the 2022s, I guess the equivalent to those systems is a smartphone and a bluetooth speaker? What do you think? The high-end market is doing well, but that doesn't count. For me, that is a niche market.
 
Register to hide this ad
Major difference being that one is compact/mobile and the other isn’t. Also one plays physical media and one doesn’t. I guess for music on a budget it kind of compares
 
I have yet to hear a bluetooth speaker which compares to a set of JBL L-100's playing an sacd on a Marantz sacd player through a Marantz stereophonic receiver but who knows, maybe one day. I never give up hope. Most of the bluetooth speakers I have heard are mono anyway. :)
 
Rectilinear1 said:
I have yet to hear a bluetooth speaker which compares to a set of JBL L-100's playing an sacd on a Marantz sacd player through a Marantz stereophonic receiver but who knows, maybe one day. I never give up hope. Most of the bluetooth speakers I have heard are mono anyway. :)
Click to expand...

Linking a pair of these for stereo would be an interesting place to start for a comparison. Much cheaper than the L100 in inflation adjusted terms.

https://www.jbl.com/party-speakers/JBLPARTYBOX310AM.html

There are a couple of models higher in the line if this doesn't get the job done. Based on the sound of my wife's beer-can sized JBL Flip 3, I bet they would surprise may AK'ers in a blind test...must be blind to keep the light show from biasing the listeners ;)
 
While BT speakers may not have replaced the 80's rack, the surging popularity of powered speakers may have.

Most have BT and other inputs, they are very easy to set up and many are quite impressive. Impressive enough to be used by many artists and producers, just look at the Rick Rubin /Paul McCartney documemtary on Hulu.

The times they are a changing.
 
I have one of these and it is amazing for it's size.
nakamichi_portable_mini_speaker_with_builtin_fm_radio_1531575338_dc5a9b68.jpg
 
I agree!......a cell phone and bluetooth device are far more important because of convenience and mobility than a rack system of yore....sound quality only has to be adequate......so much of music is listened to today in a passive setting as opposed to a dedicated listening setting.....Alexa, play Widespread Panic, and whoop, there it is!.....technology has forced a lot of change in our lives, some good and some not so good.
 
Besides having fairly decent speakers and amps, I'd imagine significant active equalizing is involved. Not having one of those new marvels, can anyone clue me in regarding audio power, Hz range, and driver types? I, too, am surprised with their vocal and music quality.
 
Some people are comparing the portability of BT speakers vs. the non-portability of a stereo system. I bought an Anker BT portable speaker for my teenage daughter a few years ago. I also set up a nice Denon mini system in her room, a true separates system with a CD player, tuner and integrated amp and a pair of Mission bookshelf speakers. I even added a BT receiver so that she could use her phone with the system. I noticed that she uses the Anker BT speaker way more often.
 
Back in the 1960s, 70s and even early 80s, the main forms of home entertainment were TVs that received 4-6 broadcast stations and stereo systems. Compare that to the home entertainment options available today. TV, video subscription services with thousands of channels and titles, gaming, music, computing, etc. It's not that music isn't as popular, it isn't as prominent because there are many other entertainment options available for folks that want them (and many young people indulge).
 
I think the BT speaker has it's place.

If I'm outside working on the truck, or doing some kind of project/home maintenance, etc. my BT speaker is right there with me streaming Spotify from my phone because I like background music when I do that kind of work.

Also, when we're out on the boat the BT speaker is a perfect solution to get a little low level background music going while we're relaxing on the anchor, without having to cut holes in the boat for a stereo install.

It absolutely doesn't replace the experience of relaxing with a cocktail and listening to a good album, but it definitely has it's place.


IMG_20210326_163207682.jpg
 
ic-racer said:
I think the 1970s and 1980s audiophile has been replaced with the 2000s casual listener.
Click to expand...

Posts here suggest thats true.

That or folks had pretty crappy 1980 stereos.
Maybe I'm misunderstand what the OP meant by "stereo rack".
There was some pretty cheezy stereo stuff in the '80s that wouldn't be too hard to surpass (thinking Zenith or Phillips stereo in a box).

But, thats not the "stereo rack" kind of system I was thinking about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom