The definitive greatest step forward was absolutely the electronics of the golden age off HI FI. bewteen 1955 and 1965. Before 1955 or there about everything was mono.
Stereo took root from the late 50s through the mid 60s. The amps were in general low powered except the few that didn't rely on a variant of the EL-84. These amps also didn't make tons of deep shake your guts bass but had a very sophisticated input or preamp section. By the time 965 rolled around Solid State was widely used providing much more power but the amps sounded very flat and dull.
The ultimate advancement in Amp Gismos had peaked with the late 1970s Japanese solid state amps and giant all in one reievers. The best quality amongst them were the luxury brands such as Accuphase and Luxman .
The speakers that were used with the circa 1960 tube integrated amps were very efficient. The Corner Horn by Klipsch the JBL Hartsfeld 1957, The JBL 075 aluminum /alloy compression horn, with a phase plug "bullet tweeter" came out a year or two before that and the D-130 extended range 15 inch woofer with a passive radiating plate for a dust cover making some midrange were all developed by the mid 50s.
The D-130 stayed in production for 40+ years and the Bullet tweeter has yet to be discontinued. Paul Wilbur Klipsch built his horn speaker in 1948 and James Martini AKA B Lansing developed his D-130 driver that same year. The landmark in speakers that set the speaker industry racing forward was introduced 20 years earlier with a coaxial design by Guy Fountain in 1928. The speaker is simply called the Tannoy Black. They were all very efficient taking aim at using the low output amplifier signals that were the norm for that time and providing less tiney more full sounding "Concert Hall" music at realistic volumes.
Whether or not that represent a system that sounds like one made in 2009 is really not the question. Of course it doesn't but getting to this point was always a matter of quantum leaps. Thus it was the big steps that happened which culminated, so far anyway, in SOTA audio.
I for one liked the freedom that all those amplifier controls gave you. Despite the fundamentally poor sound.
I freely admit my volume and source selector preamp only. My current tube power amps with speakers made here and France are sound more to my liking than the low definition that typified the clouded sound of the mid fi from the peak of the imported SS amp/receiver.
I still hope however, that people will pull those plugs out of their ears, and we return someday to everyone having audio played out loud.
There was a time when almost everbody owned and played a stereo, believe it or not.
Stereo took root from the late 50s through the mid 60s. The amps were in general low powered except the few that didn't rely on a variant of the EL-84. These amps also didn't make tons of deep shake your guts bass but had a very sophisticated input or preamp section. By the time 965 rolled around Solid State was widely used providing much more power but the amps sounded very flat and dull.
The ultimate advancement in Amp Gismos had peaked with the late 1970s Japanese solid state amps and giant all in one reievers. The best quality amongst them were the luxury brands such as Accuphase and Luxman .
The speakers that were used with the circa 1960 tube integrated amps were very efficient. The Corner Horn by Klipsch the JBL Hartsfeld 1957, The JBL 075 aluminum /alloy compression horn, with a phase plug "bullet tweeter" came out a year or two before that and the D-130 extended range 15 inch woofer with a passive radiating plate for a dust cover making some midrange were all developed by the mid 50s.
The D-130 stayed in production for 40+ years and the Bullet tweeter has yet to be discontinued. Paul Wilbur Klipsch built his horn speaker in 1948 and James Martini AKA B Lansing developed his D-130 driver that same year. The landmark in speakers that set the speaker industry racing forward was introduced 20 years earlier with a coaxial design by Guy Fountain in 1928. The speaker is simply called the Tannoy Black. They were all very efficient taking aim at using the low output amplifier signals that were the norm for that time and providing less tiney more full sounding "Concert Hall" music at realistic volumes.
Whether or not that represent a system that sounds like one made in 2009 is really not the question. Of course it doesn't but getting to this point was always a matter of quantum leaps. Thus it was the big steps that happened which culminated, so far anyway, in SOTA audio.
I for one liked the freedom that all those amplifier controls gave you. Despite the fundamentally poor sound.
I freely admit my volume and source selector preamp only. My current tube power amps with speakers made here and France are sound more to my liking than the low definition that typified the clouded sound of the mid fi from the peak of the imported SS amp/receiver.
I still hope however, that people will pull those plugs out of their ears, and we return someday to everyone having audio played out loud.
There was a time when almost everbody owned and played a stereo, believe it or not.