Which Decade had the best SOUND QUALITY?

[KentTeffeteller]

SS for me was 1966-1973 in general with exceptions. 30-50 watts/channel. Simpler circuitry, designers were trying to get as close to tube designs as possible, and early all silicon SS designs. Low damping factors common. Built just before many HiFi makers turned out commodity priced gear when real quality was still possible before fair trade got ended.

 

[restorer-john]

SS for me was 1966-1973 in general with exceptions. 30-50 watts/channel. Simpler circuitry, designers were trying to get as close to tube designs as possible, and early all silicon SS designs. Low damping factors common. Built just before many HiFi makers turned out commodity priced gear when real quality was still possible before fair trade got ended.

Designers weren't "trying to get as close to tube designs as possible", they only knew how to design with tubes- hell, much of the early gear was built on tube chassis with the OCxx/AFxxx transistors mounted in rubber grommets to protect the glass/tin envelope. Many designs in the germanium era were hack jobs of basically putting transistors where valves had been and rushing the products to market with a 'All Solid State" sticker on it with just enough transistors to have a reasonable performance and not be outdone by a manufacturer with one or two more transistors on the label. After all, those little solid state wonders were expensive components.

Personally, I am yet to hear or test a old germanium based SS amplifier that isn't horrible, simply gutless, or blows up on the test bench. They output devices blew up when new and if they still work now, you cannot push them even a tiny bit.

Then along came silicon and most every parameter that made valves so flawed, was banished forever, never to return. It was then that amplifier topology advances and silicon manufacturing advances came thick and fast, and by the end of the 70s and 80s , amplifiers actually delivered on the promises of true high fidelity without compromise.

 

[spicer]

"You can stock it with the finest new equipment/sources that are commonly available for purchase to audiophiles during that decade."

Commonly available for purchase to audiophiles...... That leaves out money no option state of the art which wasn't commonly available. I'm sure there were engineering labs that contained sonic test chambers for destructive testing using amplifiers and transducers very few have ever seen and even less could buy. I remember hearing of one NASA had for complicated tests involving acoustic wave manipulation for free air suspending and shaping of a cloud of particles, like dust, and for destructive testing. It required precise frequency control over a wide bandwidth and a very large dynamic range. The specs on it were... pardon the pun... out if this world. This was in a Hi Fi article back in the seventies.... don't ask me where. When asked if it would play music the engineer giving the demonstration said, 'of course, but we've never done that with it'.

I was at an Infinity presentation at the Bonaventure years ago and they had a demonstration room with a huge drum kit and several sets of their top of the line speakers behind a curtain. They had a digital recording of the drums which used a Beta Max VCR modified for use as a digital storage medium playing through outboard processors to produce the source fed to the amplifiers then to the several sets of speakers. We were from the industry, the show was for us. We were invited to listen to the sound behind the curtain of the drums and the speakers and decide which was which. Most of us honestly couldn't tell but made a thoughtful guess. Results were about evenly split. I know there's more to music reproduction than drums but still that was quite impressive. The reason they used that digital set up was because any other medium would have introduced background noise which would give it away.

 

[guest110]

If you are talking about fidelity, that is, recordings as close to the original as possible, I'd say now. If your talking about live or studio performances that just sound incredible, in spite of, and to the benefit of, high distortion and background noise, I'd say the mid 1960's. But like everything audio, this is just 2 ears's opinion.

 

[Herr Eickhorn]

My listening is limited, but varied enough to weigh in with this: Isn't it safe to say that the good sounding stuff from any decade is evenly matched by the good sounding stuff from any other decade? I don't think music gear has evolved in the way cars have. With the latter there is little question that, other than style, technology has advanced greatly. But speakers? Turntables? Amps? I'm talking sound quality here, not features. My pair of University speakers from the early 60's do show off voices really well though. Then again, my JBL's from the 70's sure make it all sound crisp and add great tight and deep bass. However, my KEF's from the 80's provide a seamless sound field from all the way down to all the way up. But my NHT stuff from the 90's brings real clarity and balance. ALL are great. Just depends on my listening mood and I doubt I will ever settle on any one sound producing style, or decade.

That's in line with what I think. My opinion is that there is little difference in Sound Quality between the decades. That the best of the 1950's would sound as good as the best of today.

However, today's equipment is much more versatile and convenient. In that regard its the best.

 

[Fomoco1649]

Imagine SEVEN Hi Fi demonstration rooms - one for each decade. There will be a 1950’s room, 1960’s room, 1970’s room, 1980’s room, 1990’s room, 2000's room, and a 2010 to Present room.

You can stock it with the finest new equipment/sources that are commonly available for purchase to audiophiles during that decade. Money is NO object. The equipment can come from anywhere in the world. To keep things simple, assume all 7 rooms are identical with the same room treatments.

Use common sense. For example, the Present room can have new tube equipment and new vinyl, but the 1950’s room obviously can’t have solid state equipment and CD’s.

This can be a fun & educational thread if everyone is respectful of each others opinions. Just state what you think and why. And let’s not get butt hurt and descend into tribal warfare when someone says something you disagree with.

So with that being said, which Hi Fi demonstration room will have the best SOUND QUALITY?

1978-1984

 

[Roypercy]

Clearly this is a divisive topic. My vote was for the 70s; in part, I’m sure, because it was the time when a friend in college who had a decent setup introduced me to really good-sounding playback. Before then the best stereo I’d heard was my sister’s Sears Roebuck all-in-one stereo.

I also think there was a lot of time and energy being put into analog recording technology and playback before digital production was possible. And because I liked the music.

So, objectively the best? I couldn’t say. Since I took a deep dive into vintage gear my experience of new equipment has been minimal.

But subjectively, if I could outfit my home with the best that money could buy, I’d go 70s all the way.

 

[Mr Boochie]

When I first looked at the thread, I thought it was asking what decade had the "best" music. Whatever "best" really means. That would be an interesting topic for a rainy day.

Maybe create a system that combines the best equipment from across the decades.

To me, the best years for quality depend on which components you are referring to. Some vintage stuff is very hard to match (like old-school Alnico magnet speakers). Whereas I think good modern solid-state amps are better. I like vintage turntables. But I think that modern Technics direct-drive models are very good and reliable.

Uniform, consistent performance, and reliability are high on my list — as high as sound quality.

 

[motorstereo]

Haha; necro thread awakened from 11 years ago. A lot has changed since the thread was started. Easily right now is the best time for sound quality. My little Fosi class d separates (not available in 2015) prove that to me every single day.

 

[SaturationPt]

The ability to supply low-distortion ultra-high fidelity music with dynamics and SPL unsurpassed by live performances, measure and correct it in a room, exists more today than it did prior to ~2010, and in some cases much more affordably. With that also comes reliability (which is unfortunately traded for repairability, another discussion). To sit in my favorite listening spot and stream anything I want in lossless and make any adjustments and selections as I go IMO enhances that objective SQ with an objectively better experience of convenience. I go modern all the way.

Subjectively there is no wrong answer, ears of the listener. My wife’s favorite amp is/was a 1960s Mc tube amp, a preamp with Loudness compensation, with Altec Model Nineteens (the AlNiCo woofer version).Spinning LPs on my vintage Denon is part of that experience also, regardless of measurable deviations from perfect.

 

[Lux Man]

Best sound quality? When I was 20. I guess that puts me in the 70's.

 

[Dudeman7]

I voted 90's. Most, if not all record labels and studios had figured out how to best record and master music for CD. Bass could be heard and felt, even though consumer grade gear. There was also the sweet spot before heavy handed compression and brick walling everything was common practice.

Even though the 90s was firmly the era of BPC stereo gear, the music being produced throughout the decade still sounds incredible on vintage gear, as well as the new, state of the art equipment that we have currently.

 

[W9TR]

These are the good old days. Truly HiFi reproduction costs less now than ever before in real dollars. I sold all my 70’s gear awhile ago in favor more modern gear that sounds better to my ears anyway.

Dear SX 1250,
I still miss your lovely countenance, but alas, you looked better than you sounded.

Some older pieces are truly amazing - Khorns driven by McIntosh MC 30’s come to mind. And one could argue we have lost a little soul in the move to modern HiFi, and I can’t argue that point.

 

[mcgjohn]

A tons depends on how you define "best sound quality". If a person means super detailed with tons of transparency, then today's modern stuff at the ultra high end would win.
A lot of that gear though offers some listener fatigue over time. After 30 min to an hour, a person has a tendency to power off to give your ears a break.

For most natural sound quality with realistic midrange then the vote would change to the 1960s and maybe 1980s tube gear.

 

[Mangler]

A tons depends on how you define "best sound quality". If a person means super detailed with tons of transparency, then today's modern stuff at the ultra high end would win.
A lot of that gear though offers some listener fatigue over time. After 30 min to an hour, a person has a tendency to power off to give your ears a break.

For most natural sound quality with realistic midrange then the vote would change to the 1960s and maybe 1980s tube gear.

I agree with that quite a bit. I have a G6700 thing sounds awesome, loud, clear as a bell but dang after a hour or so my ears are tired. I can throw an album on my 1000x or my 8080db a literally listen all day. I also look at where will this be in 10 years worst case. Can I crack it open follow a schematic, replace what's dead and continue on. Something I repaired and made right always sounds better than it really does. Sound is a funny thing. To some people a fart box on a Honda is the best sound in the world to others it nails on a chalkboard. I have a Marantz 2240 I restored years ago it sits on a shelf I (me myself, my ears) prefer my 1000x to the sound of the Marantz. Audio and what the best sound quality will be debated forever.

 

[John3655]

I suspect the mains would have been cleaner back in time as every house has high power broadband transmitters and switched mode power supplies spewing interference into the mains these days.

Also gear being produced for lowest common denominator global markets, has meant earthing/ grounding isn't bothered with anymore in favor of doubly insulated which does nothing to keep out interference. So even if your mains has an earth these days you have to listen to unearthed gear.

Increasingly gear has multi layer ceramic capacitors which I'm sure have advantages but also can have distortions and sound fatiguing, way back films or electrolytics would have been used. Some DAC boards use solely mlccs as the source of the analogue audio, the designer has read about their super low ESR/esl but they also change capacity by voltage and spew out piezo effects which really messes up the supply. Of course mlcc's have resulted in lots of cheap gear.

 

[Northwinds]

I went with the 80s, it was not all BPC. Some of the most iconic gear and innovation was the 1980s (Krell and Mark Levinson come to mind immediately) and the music is some of the most loved across generations. Just my opinion of course

 

[curtisw99]

Imagine SEVEN Hi Fi demonstration rooms - one for each decade. There will be a 1950’s room, 1960’s room, 1970’s room, 1980’s room, 1990’s room, 2000's room, and a 2010 to Present room.

You can stock it with the finest new equipment/sources that are commonly available for purchase to audiophiles during that decade. Money is NO object. The equipment can come from anywhere in the world. To keep things simple, assume all 7 rooms are identical with the same room treatments.

Use common sense. For example, the Present room can have new tube equipment and new vinyl, but the 1950’s room obviously can’t have solid state equipment and CD’s.

This can be a fun & educational thread if everyone is respectful of each others opinions. Just state what you think and why. And let’s not get butt hurt and descend into tribal warfare when someone says something you disagree with.

So with that being said, which Hi Fi demonstration room will have the best SOUND QUALITY?

The 1970's had the best studio production. something happened in the 80s and drums got too hot in the mix and treble and bass got turned up. The 90s and 00s they started compressing everything so the could make the "hot mix"

 

[Mr Boochie]

The 1970's had the best studio production. something happened in the 80s and drums got too hot in the mix and treble and bass got turned up. The 90s and 00s they started compressing everything so the could make the "hot mix"

The "hot" studio sound of the 80s and 90s may have been due to the introduction of digital hardware. More toys for the producers and engineers to play with.

 

[pauldrewry]

Seeing how the Klipschorn is still being produced and clones of Western Electric amps are available, I say both 60's and today. I would say the today's phono cartridge would be better.