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In Reply to: RE: Legacy Products That Out Perform Their Modern Counterparts posted by geezerrocket on September 02, 2014 at 10:45:40
I was thinking about this again today. Someone posted a quantifying statement. " High end today is better than high end of yesteryear" .. That statement makes sense to me.("High end" being the operative). I guess one way to look at it is "pedigree". I would rather have that vintage Ferrari than an evolved Volkswagen. As I mentioned earlier its about passion. Great things have evolved into .. well.. great things. And junk evolves into.. well... junk. It is a mish mash.. as companies change and get bought and sold. New Infinity is a different company than old. It was about the man.. the visionary, the one who put it all on the line because he/she believes in something.. Everyone here can name the human element that was responsible for the gear they run. And with the humanity ... was the passion. Integrity is timeless. When we appreciate anything, we are hearing it on whatever level we want to, and debate it endlessly. We can measure and clock and scrutinize, but specs mean nothing when one describes a sound that has "warmth". Its the amalgam of our systems that vibrate our ears, not any one part...And it is unique to each.
Follow Ups:
Well stated; now you you have me thinking - that could be dangerous.
The men (we are talking audio after all) that started many of these great companies (often with their names on the product), had passion and vision that came through in the products they brought to the public. Sometimes, as you pointed out, things can "devolve" into something (mish mash) that is nowhere near what the founder had in mind when he started the company in the garage or kitchen. Boards of directors, leveraged buyouts, internal power struggles, publicly traded stock etc, can muddy up what the man that has his name on the box originally wanted.
Men like Ed Miller and John Snow (Sherwood), Frank McIntosh and Sidney Corderman (McIntosh), Saul Marantz (Marantz), Avery Fisher (Fisher), Paul Klipsch (Klipsch), David Hafler (Hafler & Dynaco), Stu Hageman (Harmon Kardon & Lafayette), and many many more, all had passion. They would in many instances be shocked at what has become of their vision and passion. Some would be shocked and awed, some would be shocked and saddened.
All in all, audio is better than ever performance wise. As a viable industry, it probably longs for the glory days of yesteryear.
Good post POLYPHONIC!
........I was a vegetarian for 15 minutes... until the main course.
You have left out of your list of manufacturers two of the most important Gilbert Briggs Wharfedale & Peter Walker Quad , jointly gave demonstrations of Live v recorded sound at Royal Festival Hall & Carnegie Hall I was very fortunate to have known both of these audio greats and many others.
Edits: 09/06/14 09/06/14
Disbeliever;
I'm sure I left out many high end audio pioneers. I just thought in the interest of brevity I would say many, many more. :)
........I was a vegetarian for 15 minutes... until the main course.
Maybe but the two I mention are probably in front , especially for speakers , I also knew Dave Hafler quite well but IMO GB & PW are among the very top pioneers they also were most influential in publicising Hi-Fi World Wide.
Edits: 09/07/14 09/07/14 09/07/14 09/07/14
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