• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

The ’70s still rock

Natasha Bell said:
My friends,
I would tell you I think the 1970s were AWESOME (although I wasn't there myself) for music, but not so much for the "equipment". :oops: Sure enough, some, a very small percentage, of the equipment was really good even by current standards. Most of the equipment that is so beloved by many here, was when critically viewed, not that great.
Click to expand...
Not the first time I see you say this. I'm still not sure why you do?

If we exclude the really cheap equipment which is around in every decade, by 1977 or so all amplifiers were transparent to the source, the best turntable motor units were better than they needed to be, likewise tuners, and there were some excellent loudspeakers such as the Yamaha NS1000M.

Other than digital audio the gains have been small and incremental since then. Amps are better in terms of spec but they were already better than our hearing abilities required by the mid 1970s. If you buy a vintage unit now it may have drifted off a bit over 50 years enough to degrade its sound, but when new you would not tell it apart from anything made today.

I know it seems a long time ago if you weren't even born then - it does to me and I was there! But it wasn't some primitive era where we were still banging the rocks together to make fire. Home audio was a big market and that funded a lot of R&D. Especially in Japan but also by Philips and Bang & Olufsen. Much more than happens now.

Sure you will still get manufacturers claiming they have done years of research on their 'better mousetrap' but these days it's just marketing spiel. It was all done for them already - in the 1970s.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Hell, I can make a pretty good argument most of the vital work was done by 1960, SS electronics and the digital thing aside.
Click to expand...
Agree, a lot of the theory was established even before that. Thiele-Small was an advance, that was early 1970s I think? And silicon transistors. But it was only ever edging forward. 1960s tube amps running at spec into suitable speakers sound just as 'modern' as today's amps.
 
60s-70s transistor amps, receivers, etc. were made for looks and at a cost point using silicon available at the time. I think they mostly sound harsh and thin, but loud.
 
When I think of the '70s ... it was Boomboxes all the way!! Worked just fine for me.
I was most always on the road, on the move, headed somewhere. A gypsy lifestyle with moments of actually staying somewhere. sometimes - but not for long.
So what do you do? Get a Boombox. When you leave, give it away.

The '70s were absolutely outstanding!! Big Fun domestically and internationally!! Music was outstanding. Concerts and the bands were outrageous. It was REAL Music.

Then the '80s rolled around ... Big Fun working internationally & constantly traveling non-stop!! A whole bunch of serious international Fun!! Music was great too. I liked '80s music. Boomboxes and 10 speeds all the way. Give em away when you leave. PLUS... all the clubs and bars overseas played '70s rock mostly. Some joints played '80s stuff like Duran Duran, etc.

Then the '90s came, still on the move internationally, still having fun but it was slowing down, a different time not for the better~ but still listening to quality sounding boomboxes. Worked for me just fine. And all the bars and clubs were still playing "70s rock and Hard Rock.

The '70s were a wonderful time to be living mostly domestically in USA 75% of the time! The concerts were 'crazy good' and all the time, like every weeked, cost to enter - $3. :) And everything else and everybody too was just so cool. People were cool, no wackos. It was a SUPER COOL decade to be enjoying life to the 'absolute max'. It was so much fun. A memory no one can ever take away.

In the 70s... I rarely ever met anyone with a real stereo system, & none of my close friends had one. Everyone was into music but not so much what it played one. Life of being a hitch hiker on the road, living everywhere - "Foot Loose and Fancy Free" (RStewart).
 
Last edited:
Aerobat said:
60s-70s transistor amps, receivers, etc. were made for looks and at a cost point using silicon available at the time. I think they mostly sound harsh and thin, but loud.
Click to expand...
Transistors did get better in the 1980s but that issue was solved by the mid 1970s latest. I've got an HK930 which I think was 1973 and it's fine.

Too many people still using 1970s amplifiers/receivers for that to be a universal problem. There's poor amplifiers from every decade.
 
If the statement that music was better than the equipment in the 70's can be made, can the statement be made that the equipment is better than the music today?
 
Mart Mccall said:
Not the first time I see you say this. I'm still not sure why you do?

If we exclude the really cheap equipment which is around in every decade, by 1977 or so all amplifiers were transparent to the source, the best turntable motor units were better than they needed to be, likewise tuners, and there were some excellent loudspeakers such as the Yamaha NS1000M.

Other than digital audio the gains have been small and incremental since then. Amps are better in terms of spec but they were already better than our hearing abilities required by the mid 1970s. If you buy a vintage unit now it may have drifted off a bit over 50 years enough to degrade its sound, but when new you would not tell it apart from anything made today.

I know it seems a long time ago if you weren't even born then - it does to me and I was there! But it wasn't some primitive era where we were still banging the rocks together to make fire. Home audio was a big market and that funded a lot of R&D. Especially in Japan but also by Philips and Bang & Olufsen. Much more than happens now.

Sure you will still get manufacturers claiming they have done years of research on their 'better mousetrap' but these days it's just marketing spiel. It was all done for them already - in the 1970s.
Click to expand...
I am sorry for taking a little time to get back to you. I have been so busy with work. First week with students after the Summer....

Much of the stuff, I don't agree with you to degrees. By 1977, not all amplifiers were "transparent to the source", some were... some very selected ones were. "Better than they needed to be" is another one of these terms. What does it actually mean? It sound like an excuse... I will agree, however, that equipment of the 1970s, and especially the late 1970s, was much better than the stuff from the 1960s. Yet, it is not the "end-all", in fact, the 1980s equipment, in general, was superior to that of the 1970s (if not as optically pleasing).

I never, ever said that the 1970s were a "primitive era", but I have said that some of the technology had not matured. The R&D the manufacturer's spent in the time period wasn't lost or forgotten, it was just improved upon. The real issue with "home audio" today is that for the last 15-20 years, most of the development went into "home theater". Those systems are "other worldly" in comparison to what was "state-of-the-art" in the 1970s. This does not mean that two-channel, which I love, did not benefit.

For me, much of the hype and hoopla surrounding the 1970s equipment is a nostalgia-trip. My uncle Pete, who got me started in this hobby to begin with, had his start with stereos in the very late 1960s or earliest 1970s. He too, loves 1970s equipment... but if you go to his living room (instead of his basement listening room / pool room) you will not find a single piece of 1970s equipment but very current AVR technology.... :idea:
 
Last edited:
Born in '61.Being a teen in the 70s was great.The small town (pop.5,000) I grew up in was still thriving.You could get most anything you needed downtown.The mid 80s brought a downturn and the town gradually withered like neglected grapes on a vine.Moved out forty years ago and the place became but a shell of what it once was.The 1970s were the last hurrah.And then there was the music.
 
Natasha Bell said:
I am sorry for taking a little time to get back to you. I have been so busy with work. First week with students after the Summer....
Click to expand...
No problem. Even I have to do other stuff sometimes. :)

Natasha Bell said:
I am sorry for taking a little time to get back to you. I have been so busy with work. First week with students after the Summer....

Much of the stuff, I don't agree with you to degrees. By 1977, not all amplifiers were "transparent to the source", some were... some very selected ones were. "Better than they needed to be" is another one of these terms. What does it actually mean?
Click to expand...
Better than they needed to be as in - noise and distortion below acceptable audible threshold. I think Hitachi were the first to produce an amp with noise and distortion below absolute audible threshold, that was about 1977 IIRC. And it has got even better since. But from an 'enjoying music' perspective amps were already good enough - there were exceptions to that though, I agree, and there still are today.

Natasha Bell said:
For me, much of the hype and hoopla surrounding the 1970s equipment is a nostalgia-trip. My uncle Pete, who got me started in this hobby to begin with, had his start with stereos in the very late 1960s or earliest 1970s. He too, loves 1970s equipment... but if you go to his living room (instead of his basement listening room / pool room) you will not find a single piece of 1970s equipment but very current AVR technology.... :idea:
Click to expand...
Agree there's no need for the hype, I am not into hype. Lots of us like the styling of the 1970s equipment and all the machined metal knobs and buttons. The way those big tuning bars light up. None of that matters to sound quality but if you like that look you can have that and not sacrifice any sound quality compared to modern equipment - assuming you get a good '70s unit and it is working to spec.

Personally I don't use any of my '70s equipment in either of my two systems, the oldest piece in use is speakers from 1982 and a pre-amp from 1989. I actually prefer the looks of '80s equipment, marginally. But I would happily use a good 1970s unit, working to spec, without worrying about any loss of sound quality.
 
Actually it was a full 1970s system that got me into hi-fi. JBL L100 'Century' speakers with the silver face JVC amps and turntable.

Belonged to a friend's father who was a professor at a local college. He'd bought it mid 1970s, not sure of exact year.

That was in 1985. It took me a long time - decades - to get to a point where my system was as good as that one from an 'enjoying music' perspective.
 
Mart Mccall said:
Actually it was a full 1970s system that got me into hi-fi. JBL L100 'Century' speakers with the silver face JVC amps and turntable.

Belonged to a friend's father who was a professor at a local college. He'd bought it mid 1970s, not sure of exact year.

That was in 1985. It took me a long time - decades - to get to a point where my system was as good as that one from an 'enjoying music' perspective.
Click to expand...
Sideshow.
Blue Magic - ATCO Records. SD 7038. Presswell pressing. 1974.
Run-out: ST-C-733001-B AT GP PR

My 1970s era Sony turntable and JBL speakers. :thumbsup:
 
Mart Mccall said:
No problem. Even I have to do other stuff sometimes. :)


Better than they needed to be as in - noise and distortion below acceptable audible threshold. I think Hitachi were the first to produce an amp with noise and distortion below absolute audible threshold, that was about 1977 IIRC. And it has got even better since. But from an 'enjoying music' perspective amps were already good enough - there were exceptions to that though, I agree, and there still are today.


Agree there's no need for the hype, I am not into hype. Lots of us like the styling of the 1970s equipment and all the machined metal knobs and buttons. The way those big tuning bars light up. None of that matters to sound quality but if you like that look you can have that and not sacrifice any sound quality compared to modern equipment - assuming you get a good '70s unit and it is working to spec.

Personally I don't use any of my '70s equipment in either of my two systems, the oldest piece in use is speakers from 1982 and a pre-amp from 1989. I actually prefer the looks of '80s equipment, marginally. But I would happily use a good 1970s unit, working to spec, without worrying about any loss of sound quality.
Click to expand...
I do love the big buttons... and I have to say, I love toggle switches. What I really love about current equipment (and especially that I can afford) is that it has an absolutely silent floor. There is literally nothing, no hum, ho hiss - nothing. Current speaker technology too, especially the material science, is significantly better as well. There were some late 1970s pieces that were of the same standards, true enough, but they were certainly not the norm.

My preamp is relatively new, three years old, as are the speakers. My amps were built in the late 1980s, but all the electronics has been significantly upgraded. Perhaps it is that I wasn't there myself (in the 1970s) to take part in that "hifi-revolution" that I don't really get the charm. I will say, I much prefer the 1970s look over anything from the 1960s typically, although I am a fan on the Mid-Century Modern style of furniture and architecture
 
Natasha Bell said:
There is literally nothing, no hum, ho hiss - nothing. Current speaker technology too, especially the material science, is significantly better as well. There were some late 1970s pieces that were of the same standards, true enough, but they were certainly not the norm.
Click to expand...
I've not tested that myself on my 70s amps but on the 80s and 90s ones I use - no hiss even at max volume. Certainly the good 70s stuff should achieve that too if it's on spec. One thing I can't stand is hum. It amazes me that people live with it.

Agree speaker tech has come a long way - but then the times I hear good 70s speakers like KEFs I think that all those advances in materials tech and the latest research has only actually advanced speaker sound quality by a small amount. That opinion is very debatable though!
 
OldJBL said:
Having started my hi-fi hobby in the mid to late 1980s, I think we are in the beginning stages of a golden hi-fi era right now. The push for this is the development of so many high value products that have entered the arena within the past 2-3 years. In my years, I have never seen this happen in the way it is today. Very, very good quality hi-fi components can be had these days for a small fraction of the prices in the past. I don't think there has ever been a point in my lifetime where such high quality hi-fi components have been as affordable as they are today.

IMO, where the 1970s shined regarding music was with musical creativity. The song writing skills and musical talent of such a large number musicians may never be repeated again. So many bands wrote and performed their own material. Also, music production made a big advancement in the 1970s. I still marvel at the sound quality of so many albums that were produced in the 1970s.
Click to expand...
I read this with much interest. I agree with so much here. The equipment was more often stellar, the music, while often the same, the recordings often were sub optimal. Today I was listening to late 50s Jazz through a Citation 11 and a PSE Studio II. The sound was stunning to say the least. Another reminder of the relevance of good recordings and great audio.
 
Mart Mccall said:
I've not tested that myself on my 70s amps but on the 80s and 90s ones I use - no hiss even at max volume. Certainly the good 70s stuff should achieve that too if it's on spec. One thing I can't stand is hum. It amazes me that people live with it.

Agree speaker tech has come a long way - but then the times I hear good 70s speakers like KEFs I think that all those advances in materials tech and the latest research has only actually advanced speaker sound quality by a small amount. That opinion is very debatable though!
Click to expand...
A lot of it is marketing. How do I know? 25 years. I was a marketing guy, but an honest one. Very careful of how things were framed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom