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HiFi in the late 70s

Jan Cumps

The late 70s are often mentioned as the golden age of HiFi. And I'm a music and music gear lover since forever.
To remind me of what music sounded like in the days, I've made a setup of analog gear of the era. Using decent gear, well maintained.
We've come a long way Slight smile.

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Currently listening to a 1977 recording of the 5th Beethoven Symphony, on a really good turntable (mid-60s Thorens), a good stereo (later 70s Kenwood), and - then - high end Koss headphones.
The industry evolved. Obviously by going digital. But also in the headphones department.
The turntable and amplifier, paired with a decent set of speakers, still sound very good. Pleasing to the modern ear. But I guess that no one would appreciate the headset - one that got very good reviews in the later 70s - these days.

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When listening to the same chain, with decent speakers of the late 70s, all sounds good. Although I 'd like to argue it sounds better with contemporary affordable  speakers.

This exercise helps me to value how music love, and the feel for quality, is partly perception.
Is it the sound quality that changed, or how we like to hear sound?

My personal (warning) opinion: 
Source: Sound quality improved with digital sound sources. Excellent reproduction, without the mechanical quirks. Fidelity somewhat. Reliability, affordability and ease of using it: a lot.
Amplifier: Not that much improvement in sound quality. A lot of improvement in the same quality per Watt burned (see class-D).
Speakers: normal good speakers these days, I think, are better than the best speakers of the golden era.
Headphones: that technology improved a lot too. The headsets I used were (and still are) lusted after. But a decent (not expensive) pair of headphones you get now, will be way better. I doubt if anyone would appreciate the sound of my Koss headphones today.

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Gear used.:

Record: Beethoven's 5th, Berliner Philharmoniker; Karajan, 1977
Turntable: Thorens TD-124 MKII
Amplifier: Kenwood KR-4400
Headphones: Koss KO-727s
Speakers to compare with: Celestion Ditton 15XR
All pre-1980, all in excellent condition

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  • I remember buying my first HiFi in 78. Indeed, I suspect it's unlikely that modern amplification gear is much better (though likely more efficient) in the sound department. But speakers and headphones do age. I recall having to replace my speakers due to the (paper) cones failing. Still they lasted almost 20 years so I have no regrets. The primary impetus for me to upgrade is usually new standards for home theatre (e.g. HDMI vs. component RGB), the hi-fi is still older components (including now 20+ year old speakers) that work just fine. Of course, my hearing has been declining over that timeframe too so perhaps we're just aging together :-).

  • in reply to bradfordmiller
    bradfordmiller said:
    But speakers and headphones do age.

    I think that our memory of how good they sounded aged.

    Not that much with good music sources. Turntables, radio, cassette, reel to reel that were decent in the late 70s, still sound good now.
    Same with good amplifiers.
    But with speakers and headsets: you can still find modern models that use the same technology as then. And they sound like that. Good I think, but there is better now.

    Consumer priced speakers and headsets sound better to my ears now. Have my ears adapted to what music is expected to sound like today? Most likely.

  • in reply to Jan Cumps

    I am sure my ears have adapted and my memory of how good 1970's gear sounded has a rose coloured tint, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor,

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