When did the Hi-Fi sound mature?

Knowknothing...GREAT QUESTIONS. I would love to know some of there answers as well. For me the sound has almost always been digital. When I was a kid my dad had a cheapo Magnavox stack...my only exposure to records. I didn't really get into the whole stereo thing until this decade, so all of this maturation of stereo sound came well before I was aware...the DAC I am use now came out before I entered Highschool.

1. When did quality "HiFi" first enter people's homes in reasonable numbers?

2. When did "HiFi" or full spectrum recordings become widely available?

3. When did turntable and cartridge technology achieve a moderate level of accuracy in speed, noise level and frequency range?

4. When did Solid State amplifiers finally become recognized as competitive with tube amps in terms of "HiFi" reproduction?

5. When did digital reproduction start to close in on analog in terms of that "you are there" essence (or has it in your mind)?

My earlier posts in this thread, and some of the others, partially addressed these questions, but I'll try to summarize more explicitly here:

1)1950's.

2)1950's. I believe the 33-1/3 rpm long-playing record was first introduced in 1948, in monophonic form. Stereo was introduced around 1957.

3)My opinion is ca. 1980. But certain special cases such as the Garrard 301 turntable from ca. 1957 can be singled out as being capable of providing excellent sound when well restored and used with a modern cartridge.

4)1975-1980, imo. Noteable examples include the early products of the original Mark Levinson company, designed mostly by John Curl. These were very influential with respect to subsequent high-end products. They are now very collectable, like the better tube equipment of the 50's and 60's, and go for considerable $ on eBay.

5)As I indicated earlier, my feeling is the early 1990's. Opinions will differ.

Regards,
-- Al

Al,

Thanks for the summary, especially interested in your answer to no. 4.

My first experience with HiFi was my dad's HH Scott tube receiver and his tank-like Garrard turntable around 1962. He had mounted large full range speakers in the rafters of our house. I thought it sounded great!

I got into hot water early on by climbing on top of a stool as soon as I was able and "messing" with his system in the cabinet (a budding audiophile!?!). He quickly bought me one of those Westinghouse portable record players to keep my hands of his stuff. I seem to recall that he was only partially successful at that...

Re no. 4, I should also have mentioned the name of the late Tom Colangelo, who succeeded John Curl as Mark Levinson's chief designer, and was responsible for most of the "ML"-designated models.

The original company (under Mark Levinson the person) existed from 1972 to 1984, when he was forced to sell it amidst financial problems and power struggles. The terms of the sale included the provision that he could no longer use his own name on products at companies he later founded (Cello, Ltd., and currently Red Rose Music). Tom Colangelo remained with him through the Cello years.

During that 1972 to 1984 period, Mark Levinson Audio Systems (which made only solid state products) was instrumental in furthering the high-end concepts of minimalist circuit design, no tone controls, no power switch on some or all of the preamps, very high quality parts, construction that was simultaneously tank-like and beautiful to look at, and emphasis on sound quality rather than measured parameters.

I still have an ML1 preamp, and I use its phono stage (accessed via a tape out jack) into a more modern line stage preamp in my main system.

I should add, in case anyone may wonder, that I have never had any connection whatsoever to any of these people or companies.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks Al, good stuff. I had read somewhere that the early Mark Levinson JC-1 preamplifier (John Curl one?) was one of the first pieces to be acknowledged as challenging tubes for use in "high end" systems. One of the reasons Parasound raised eyebrows when they came out with a "JC-1" model amplifier (and JC-2 preamp) of their own not so long ago.