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When everyone was an audiophile: do you remember your first stereo system?

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Debbie Harry, the lead singer of the new wave band Blondie, sits in front of the stereo, around 1977 (Photo: Linn Goldsmith / Corbis / VCG via Getty Images)

Hi-Fi components … large stereo speakers … something called a receiver … and an equalizer … archive them all “things that children do not know today.” Sure, listening to an album in the modern era is easier, as is putting the phone into the app, but the music doesn’t sound as good as the great analog Hi-Fi sound. In the 1950s and 1960s, stereo equipment became available to mass consumers, making everything audiophile. Even if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on your dream system, you can still make a good adjustment. Whether you use a roller or a robust phonograph to listen, your system is personal; there was no other like it, it was yours.

High fidelity is a state of mind.

Frank Sinatra with his cute hi-fi house. Source: kcrv

What does “high fidelity” really mean? We hear little when we talk about music and sound quality, but it’s one of those phrases that seems like nothing, unless you’re in the world of audiophiles. A “hi-fi system” is how audiophiles describe a stereo system designed to reproduce sounds as close as possible to the original source. If you have great sound and listen to a classic live recording, it must be like sitting in an orchestra audience. This search for the perfect sound can be a trap, one man’s high fidelity can be another man’s low fidelity system. Everything is in your perspective.

1950s stereos were usually improvised

source: pinterest

In the period immediately after World War II, people who wanted to listen to music had to do so on musical equipment that came from various sources. The war then gave audiophiles many new pieces and technologies. New pipes and valves have appeared, and even new ways of recording on tape. With the right knowledge, you can create a receiver or amplifier, a pair of speakers and connect it to a music source of your choice (turntable or reel) and you’re ready to go.

At the time when everything that was released was mono, there was only one channel, but in 1957 there was a stereo system with limited editions, with two channels, one left and one right. Although I had enough money to put this device in my hands, there were no mixed stereo recordings at the time.

 In the sixties of the last century, hi-fis became a designer

source: flickr

The American economy did so well in the 1960s that people finally had the money to spend on top-quality electronics, and a decade passed when electronics manufacturers and audiophiles made great strides. world of sound. In many cases, the tubes were gradually removed in favor of the transistor, while the receivers and amplifiers got the face of the elevator. Suddenly everything was elegant. There was a grain of wood in the receivers holding a brushed metal fish and magnificent door handles. If you were bold enough to connect the receiver to a graphic equalizer, you could have even more control over your sound.

Speakers did their thing in the late 1960s

source: rocket roberts

As the electronics market grew in the 1960s, sound companies refined their products until they were seamlessly adapted to the sound one was looking for. Someone who understands the power and complexity of sound can put together a very good sound system for a small part of the change. Although this type of shopping is addictive (and still exists, if you have the money), adults who have caught a hi-fi bug can be like children buying toys or comics. When buying paired speakers, tweeters and stereo speakers, an audiophile can create an entire room filled with the most perfect sounds. This kind of search for the perfect sound continues today, with caves and caves equipped for impeccable listening possibilities.

Setting up your sound system meant understanding how your equipment works

source: cnn

Hi-Fi systems in the mid-20th century were not like the plug and play stereo systems of the 1990s. You couldn’t just take the Hi-Fi out of the box and start blocking it, we had to put all the right components together during the performance. I followed the positive and negative sections of the speaker wire and, once installed, it didn’t work. I don’t want to move it because the sets of the first speakers were too heavy. The owners of medieval hi-fi basically had to be amateur electricians. If something was wrong with your system, it meant taking it to a reseller or learning how to fix it yourself, and after a while it was easier. Many audiophiles have learned to use emergency welding.

All assembly

Today, if you want to go back in time and play your old (or new) vinyl, you can choose an all-in-one turntable with an amplifier and speakers. It does not record the desired original sound, but it is an option. Middle-aged hi-fi configurations can be as simple or complicated as needed, but even the smallest systems have a big impact. Most systems had a turntable connected to a preamplifier and, regardless of the type of hi-fi equipment you use, it needed to be grounded, unless you wanted to feel an electric shock every time you plugged in an LP.

Audiophiles using a roller shutter should ensure that the RCA line connectors are connected to the stereo stereo or preamplifier auxiliary input. As long as the roll-to-roll is not directly connected to the speaker set, it is good to go. If you connect one roll directly to another directly to a pair of speakers, it will damage the dictaphone, speakers, or both if you are unlucky and spend more money than you want to replace the entire system.

Hi-fis has disappeared due to the convenience and poor sound quality of pop music.

source: audiostream

Most of the high fidelity systems of the 1950s and 1960s were used to listen to jazz and classical music, something that asked the audience to pay attention to every note. It makes sense: kids with their rock and roll could have fun, but they didn’t have the money to buy a few giant components and speakers. The clear and diffuse rock that began to dominate the waves did not require precise sound. Raw rock’n roll music sounds just as good when exiting a hi-fi system as a small radio.

70s rock and R&B music has matured; The sophisticated multi-layered music of Steeli Dan, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Parliament Funkadelic and Stevie Wonder was carefully recorded and really benefited from the precise equipment. In the eighties, you didn’t need to like jazz or classical music to make good use of the latest music equipment.

For now, the glory days of big home stereo systems are no more. One of the factors that led to their downfall was convenience: while young adults grew up on cassettes, they didn’t want to store or handle large vinyls and their first system was probably just a speaker. It was so good – the sound quality on the cassettes was not as good as vinyl, anyway, spending a lot on a sophisticated installation would be harmful. There were also more and more new consumer technologies, such as home theater equipment, DVD players and, of course, personal computers. There is still a market for state-of-the-art stereo components and speakers, but it is a niche market: obviously the public prefers the incredible convenience of digital files (mp3) or streaming music combined with ever-improving sound quality. . Bluetooth speakers that do not take up half the room.

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