Who started the Black Face Gear trend?
- Thread starter kermit z
- Start date
superdog
AK Member
As far as starting the trend I would give credit(either good or bad depending how you look at it) to Sansui.They produced the black face integrated throughout the 70's which style was eventually picked up by the rest in the early 80's.Nice pickup on that 717.I also found a thrift tu-717 a couple of years ago in fabulous condition for $20.Still waiting for the au to surface.
FalconEddy
Audio Mastering Engineer
strange
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments!
I think Sansui gets a lot of the credit here.
I would vote that Sansui may not have been the first, but certainly became closely identified with it in the 70's.
They clearly "made it their own".
I suspect it was done to appeal to the military service persons who comprised a large contingent of their customer base. It certainly made their separates "stand out" in the store, you could spot one from across the other side of the store.
What I really hated to see was that gold-silver khaki color Pioneer went to after several nice Silver-series! :sigh: I know some AKers have these and I don't mean any harm, but after selling the silver-series, they just didn't look "right" to me. Just a matter of my personal taste.
I had never seen a black-faced Pioneer until I saw one on eBay!
As mentioned previously, the legibility of the silver-series Pioneer gear is great and pleasing to the eye as well!
I would vote that Sansui may not have been the first, but certainly became closely identified with it in the 70's.
They clearly "made it their own".
I suspect it was done to appeal to the military service persons who comprised a large contingent of their customer base. It certainly made their separates "stand out" in the store, you could spot one from across the other side of the store.
What I really hated to see was that gold-silver khaki color Pioneer went to after several nice Silver-series! :sigh: I know some AKers have these and I don't mean any harm, but after selling the silver-series, they just didn't look "right" to me. Just a matter of my personal taste.
I had never seen a black-faced Pioneer until I saw one on eBay!
As mentioned previously, the legibility of the silver-series Pioneer gear is great and pleasing to the eye as well!
usedto
Lunatic Member
There was a functional reason for the military use of the black/white, particularly in aircraft.
Black was used in the cockpit of planes or a tanks so there were no distractions. The background was all the same color with no interruptions, and no reflections from inside or outside the cockpit. The matte finish was to further eliminate reflections or ghost images. The "enemy" can sometimes see those as well.
The white was obviously used for the ultimate contrast. It also afforded the greatest illumination when mixed with radium or tritium on the dial faces and pointers (glow in the dark without underlying lighting). When flying (or driving) in blackout conditions or at night, all the operator saw was pertinent information, with little or no distractions.
I'm sure this military "macho" look had something to do with it's use in audio equipment, although they refined it a bit to make it appealing as opposed to functional. Radioactive isn't good in home stereo.
Black was used in the cockpit of planes or a tanks so there were no distractions. The background was all the same color with no interruptions, and no reflections from inside or outside the cockpit. The matte finish was to further eliminate reflections or ghost images. The "enemy" can sometimes see those as well.
The white was obviously used for the ultimate contrast. It also afforded the greatest illumination when mixed with radium or tritium on the dial faces and pointers (glow in the dark without underlying lighting). When flying (or driving) in blackout conditions or at night, all the operator saw was pertinent information, with little or no distractions.
I'm sure this military "macho" look had something to do with it's use in audio equipment, although they refined it a bit to make it appealing as opposed to functional. Radioactive isn't good in home stereo.
![JimJ[VT]](/forums/data/avatars/m/20/20031.jpg?1443894878){kind=avatar}
Flammaster
DrumCorpsZappaFreak
That is a beautiful Sansui you got there!
dont forget sexy black glass aka mcintosh
McIntosh is really in a class all by itself IMHO:thmbsp: Would love to have me some of that gear:drool:
But speaking of profesional gear, when I was a pre-teen and teen, my best friends dad worked at a recording studio. All the gear there was black and I remember drooling everytime we went. This was probably in the mid to late 70's. I also remember thinking, everyone had silver faced stuff, but that black gear was sooooo cool.
pro-gear is all over the place lately... some black, some beige, some silver, even random colors like blue/purple/red etc...
markd51
Nyuk Nyuk
I'm not so sure about who to single out as any one manufacturer who started the trend, but I believe it was the Japanese-Asian market who started this trend.
I imagine, they concluded that black injection molded plastic was easier, and a whole lot cheaper than nice, clear anodized brushed Aluminum Panels. It was just one was to increase profits. They did the same with cameras as well, but generally the better Cameras, like Nikon, of course used Brass Bodies.
Hence, for the last umpteen years, we've been looking at the cheapo circuit city/best buy black VCR's, Receievers, and DVD-CD Players.
Now, in more recent times, we're seeing a trend getting away from all black. Guess we've all gotten so bloody sick of looking at it! lol Mark
I imagine, they concluded that black injection molded plastic was easier, and a whole lot cheaper than nice, clear anodized brushed Aluminum Panels. It was just one was to increase profits. They did the same with cameras as well, but generally the better Cameras, like Nikon, of course used Brass Bodies.
Hence, for the last umpteen years, we've been looking at the cheapo circuit city/best buy black VCR's, Receievers, and DVD-CD Players.
Now, in more recent times, we're seeing a trend getting away from all black. Guess we've all gotten so bloody sick of looking at it! lol Mark
OLDisGOLD
Well-Known Member
That's what gives me the most problem with it. I always have to grab a flashlight to read it even with moderate lighting in the room.
Arkay
Lunatic Member
JimJ[VT];2808513 said:
Not really overlooking that. The difference is that those monsters of yesteryear were being widely advertised in general-circulation magazines and sold heavily to the general public, even if most people could only afford the smaller, lower-end models. But even those more affordable smaller models (think SX-424 or G-5200 etc...) still had aluminum-slab faceplates, wooden end panels and steel cases.
Today's equivalent is home theater/surround stuff. Two-channel stereo is a footnote and a niche market now; the mass market is all about 5.1, 7.1, THX, etc...
And frankly, as an individual I have to compare the cost of used vintage gear --even after thorough restoration by a top tech-- and find it significantly lower than anything I can buy new. Granted, comparing "old" to "new" is not "fair", but as a consumer --one of the few (AK types) who is into vintage-quality gear-- that is exactly what I do! If a much larger percentage of the market were into stereo, instead of just HT, then the manufacturers would no doubt switch their emphasis back, and we'd see more good stereos made available again.
Witness what is happening with turntables. There was a time when almost no one made them any more, but now there are a number of companies competing to feed the even-more-obvious market of all those people buying newly-released and re-released vinyl LPs. The result is a better selection of new TTs in the market now, than there has been for 15 years or more. But not for 2-channel stereo.
There is another factor which remains unchanged, though, which all manufacturers face. The growth of major new economies in what used to be "the third world" --places like China and India, in particular, but also other parts of Asia and East Europe-- has significantly increased the demand for raw materials like metals (aluminum, steel), and even wood, well beyond any increases in production. This has pushed the prices of these commodities well up above their former levels. Remember all those huge chrome bumpers on 1950s cars? They could be made affordably back then; today, it would be almost unthinkable, because of the increase in materials prices. Those same increased (even after inflation) materials costs face audio makers today who wish to build high-end gear. They HAVE to charge those higher prices to cover those costs, even though often the costs of the insides have actually dropped.
That's funny. I've had the AU-717 for a couple of years, and am still seeking the TU-717 to match. Saw one in a shop recently, but they wanted more than an eBay price for it, so I passed.
Interesting and very logical. Radiation --other than that of sound waves-- doesn't sound so good for domestic audio, but I do get a kick out of people's reactions when I explain to them that the Beryllium in my NS-1000M drivers is a controlled substance, partly because it is extremely toxic/carcinogenic, but also because it is used in making atomic bombs...
:scratch2: I wonder if I should put one of those radiation/hazmat stickers on them?
JimJ[VT];2808967 said:
Black face gear...hmm :scratch2:
Good one! That reminds me a lot of my 1923 Stromberg-Carlson Neutrodyne. Love the look of those oldies! :yes:
Thinking along those lines, who STARTED it? I suppose Thomas Edison really did, since his original cylindrical players were BLACK! But that wasn't really the start of the big market-trend shift the OP was referring to, was it?