Quote:
Stereophile is a very good read but I really miss reviews of Classic American hifi brands. Be a bit more proud on your heritage !!

Plenty of those reviews in there but thank goodness reviews are done based on initial indications of likely quality of sound, interesting approaches, good value, etc etc. - and not on jingoistic concerns. Thank goodness new companies (from USA and elsewhere) also arise to make cool products that are the current and future classics.
I liked my old Plymouth but my new Toyota is better. Was it made in Japan or in the plant in Tennessee? Can't tell unless you look in the fine print. Drive it and live with it and then tell me if it's a classic or not.
My "heritage" has little to do with the business success of this or that dudes' company 50 years ago.

I don't think that will happen anytime soon but it would be cool to have a "flashback" writeup or old review posted now and then.

Mark

This website has dozens of vintage reviews. Do you really need to see them in the magazine?

Carl, I go back a ways. I am always interested in past and present contexts. I always love to see modern reviews of ancient equipment, since standards change over time. I listened to all of this stuff during the 1960's and 1970's, and it is always interesting for me to read about what I remember of my impressions, as opposed to what modern standards (usually technical, but, occasionally, aural memories as well -- remember, JA was just a pup when he first heard the equipment we now refer to as "classic", and he is still alive and well for the modern improvements...and, yes, they ARE usually improvements) reveal when compared to the best of the modern gear.

It was interesting to read Sam Tellig's review of the Klipsche speakers awhile back, because he noted that the upper midrange glare he remembered from the past (my memory, too) is now gone. It was interesting to read about Advents, since stacked Advents were quite realistic, in my memory. It was interesting to read about the KLH electrostatics (Model 9's, as I recall -- God! I'm getting old, since I OWNED these beauties for about 18 months!), although I remember them best in their "stacked" version, but only from memory.

Modern commentaries should never make editorial concessions to nostalgia, unless the comparisons are instructive. I always found them instructive, but only because I lived in that ancient world.

In sum, I enjoyed the hell out of that feature, while it lasted, but I do understand why it is gone...

I just hope we never lose the perspective of historical continuity in this hobby and passion. What is now obsolete was once ground-breaking, and what will be possible in the future will result from current, albeit flawed, leaps into unexplored technical territory.

But, remember, Toscanini conducted in the same great concert halls that now grace our culture. How much has live music changed over the decades?