Nothing beats a good system except a better system !
Has the mid-80s stereo rack been replaced by the Bluetooth speaker?
- Thread starter cchean
- Start date
The Shocker
Super Member
The Discman can offer some really good sound quality if hooked up to decent speakers. But:
1. They will skip unless they have anti-skip
2. A lot of anti-skip used lossy compression that wasn't all that good, affecting sound quality.
But a Discman will sound better that a cassette walkman.
1. They will skip unless they have anti-skip
2. A lot of anti-skip used lossy compression that wasn't all that good, affecting sound quality.
But a Discman will sound better that a cassette walkman.
Didn’t mean to dis the discman at the time it was cool cutting edge tech!
The Shocker
Super Member
It's amazing that the first Discman came out in the 80s. Sony really were the kings of miniaturization back then.
Had a great Sony car head unit CD player had a sub channel long before it was common ! the best car head unit I ever owned !
I can kind of see them as being somewhat equivalent. Most rack systems were on the entry level side of things (I'm not talking about the better systems that used components that were also sold individually) and bluetooth speakers are basically modern boomboxes. Both are aimed at the main stream consumer that isn't that concerned with sound quality.
While neither typically has great sound quality, at least the 80's rack system could produce decent dynamics.
While neither typically has great sound quality, at least the 80's rack system could produce decent dynamics.
Bone Yard
Super Member
Since I have all of the above, I can definately say yes! Everyone now has some sort of portable speaker at most of the events I go to. We talk about boomboxes but it's rare to find another owner of a vintage one, let alone a rack stereo; music consumers today love to either listen on the TV or play it through the phone into a speaker.
The portable BT speaker is basically the boombox of the 2000's, they come in different sizes and once you strip out all of the unnecessary electronics you can get a nice sounding unit that doesn't break your elbow like the hifi boomboxes of the 80's.
I'm not sure I agree with Discmans sounding better than Walkmans, I hear more of the warmth with tape media, CD's get more shrill and then you add in compression and your ears are bleeding after an album. I have a lot of both and will go to cassettes 70% of the time.
The portable BT speaker is basically the boombox of the 2000's, they come in different sizes and once you strip out all of the unnecessary electronics you can get a nice sounding unit that doesn't break your elbow like the hifi boomboxes of the 80's.
I'm not sure I agree with Discmans sounding better than Walkmans, I hear more of the warmth with tape media, CD's get more shrill and then you add in compression and your ears are bleeding after an album. I have a lot of both and will go to cassettes 70% of the time.
The Shocker
Super Member
Anything that sounds "warm," does so because the media is incapable of reproducing the high frequencies that CDs do. Modern music is recorded with far more frequencies in the 16 kHz to 20 kHz than analog media. And with most digital masters being DSD or 24/192 PCM, frequencies even higher than that can be captured. Then it's resampled and dithered AND compression is applied.
You know what the worst part about all this is? CDs have greater dynamic range than either vinyl or cassette. They're able to capture frequencies between 0 Hz and 20 kHz, which is more than the full range of human hearing (20 Hz - 20 kHz). With vinyl dying in the 90s, we finally had the chance for mixing and mastering engineers to truly master for CD and give us some impressive music with insane dynamics, and frequencies that encompass the full range of human hearing. And right when we got to that point, the loudness wars happened and we got brickwalled crap.
I'm not saying analog media isn't good. But it has some limitations in its manufacture. And those limitations make it sound "warm" to people. And a lot of people like that sound. Of course analog mastering has limitations the can prevent loudness wars victims.
You know what the worst part about all this is? CDs have greater dynamic range than either vinyl or cassette. They're able to capture frequencies between 0 Hz and 20 kHz, which is more than the full range of human hearing (20 Hz - 20 kHz). With vinyl dying in the 90s, we finally had the chance for mixing and mastering engineers to truly master for CD and give us some impressive music with insane dynamics, and frequencies that encompass the full range of human hearing. And right when we got to that point, the loudness wars happened and we got brickwalled crap.
I'm not saying analog media isn't good. But it has some limitations in its manufacture. And those limitations make it sound "warm" to people. And a lot of people like that sound. Of course analog mastering has limitations the can prevent loudness wars victims.
One of the thoughts behind the Coen brothers making "Hail Caesar" was that the classics get remembered, but they made tons of bad movies back then also (that are now forgotten). I think it's easy to forget how much really bad equipment got made and sold as well!
Entry level audio is incredibly accessible now. I would say that even younger people recognize the difference between the basic entry level stuff of today and the even good level stuff of the past. I set up an employee with an NAD 712 and some Boston Acoustic CR6's and they love it and have commented on how much their friends love it also.
My main system is under 1K (well, excluding the DAC), but it's all made from 1967 to 1990 (or maybe 1995?)
Well, except for a WiiM Mini Streamer and a SMSL DAC, but that's my bridge to today for the old stuff.
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The Shocker
Super Member
With the advent of good class D amps, it's possible get speaker and headphone amps that sound really good for $200.00 or less. And they're insane amount of powered speakers out there now that also sound great.
If someone wants to "get into" great sounding audio, the best bang for your buck entry levels stuff really sounds pretty amazing.
But the question is, how long will it last?
At these price points, this stuff is all disposable goods. Nobody is going to spend $200 to fix a $200 amp. But at least people have a better idea of how good music can sound and a much lower price point than ever before.
If someone wants to "get into" great sounding audio, the best bang for your buck entry levels stuff really sounds pretty amazing.
But the question is, how long will it last?
At these price points, this stuff is all disposable goods. Nobody is going to spend $200 to fix a $200 amp. But at least people have a better idea of how good music can sound and a much lower price point than ever before.
I would agree that today’s entry level audio is better than yesteryear ! Back then it wasn’t uncommon for a cheap all in system to have a a small 5 “!full range in speaker cabinets and a power rating of 5-10 wpc sears , Loylds sound design etc , now even a lot of bluetooth speakers are 20 watts and today’s cheap receiver that says its a 100 wpc at under 10% at 6 ohm which is really 60 wpc but still much more than 5-10 wpc that being said the the flag ship receivers from yesteryear still hold their own and blow a lot of the newer stuff out of the water ! Barring high end of course !One of the thoughts behind the Coen brothers making "Hail Caesar" was that the classics get remembered, but they made tons of bad movies back then also (that are now forgotten). I think it's easy to forget how much really bad equipment got made and sold as well!
Entry level audio is incredibly accessible now. I would say that even younger people recognize the difference between the basic entry level stuff of today and the even good level stuff of the past. I set up an employee with an NAD 712 and some Boston Acoustic CR6's and they love it and have commented on how much their friends love it also.
My main system is under 1K (well, excluding the DAC), but it's all made from 1967 to 1990 (or maybe 1995?)