Vote

Way up in the future. Lets today High definition format dust settle down, Records companies learn from today looses and Hi-end audio manufacturers come out with real life prices.

The true roots of hi-fi occurred in the 1930's in large movie theatres which utilized Western Electric triode tube amplification and huge, horn systems. WWII delayed the golden age until the 1950's when the great golden Marantz, McIntosh, Fisher, Eico, Scott, etc. gear came about. Great speakers included Tannoy dual concentric, JBL, Klipschorns, EV (Patrician), etc! Even though most were mono set-ups, the musical passion they produced may exceed numerous systems of the 21st century! The 1970's was a bad trend. Sand, transistors, high powered, unmusical systems. Amplifiers that made the revealing horn systems sound bad. Of course, "Garbage In, Garbage Out"! Check out the value (sound & monetary) of used 1970's gear versus old, vintage gear of the 1950's!

More and better equipment than ever. More formats and the old ones still work great! I am worried though that this is the peak. The next generation of the audio buying public does not seem to care about quality

The best memories I had was during the 60's with tube audio. I still own a Fisher 500c receiver,they made some really cool stuff!Like your magazine!

Records from the late 1950s and early 1960s had a realism that over-production later killed.

its always now

Dunno if it's peaked yet, since LP playback is still improving. But the '70s through '90s were definitely a Dark Age, when half-baked solid-state and digital technologies tried to replace good sound with buttons and LEDs, hoping we wouldn't notice. They're still trying, of course, and reviews still involve mouths more than ears, but some of us know better. The best sound of today is better than ever.

I would say "Now", simply because at every times great audio things did see the light. Being in the past, now or in the future, no matter. Great things are great things!

I would qualify my vote for now by pointing out that better gear is available to more people, but poorer, gimick laden gear is all too readily available too (computer 'sound systems'), & many do not realize the difference.

I was just a little one in the '50s but this was my introduction to audio. During the '60s I acquired my very own Stereo with HK components and weird Jensen speakers. I even upgraded the AM radio in my car with a STEREO tape player, (a full sized reel-to-reel vacuum-tube monster mounted in the back seat). But things started to get "golden" during the '70s when I started hearing speakers that produced a real soundstage and downright awsome sound. Although the '80s and '90s have tweeked this quite a bit, the real golden age moniker belongs to the good ol '70s.

The answer very much depends upon what you mean by "golden age." In the classical sense, it refers to an older time that was superior to the present (eg the 19th century's view of the Greek and Roman culture). If you consider it from the perpspective of audio quality, there has never been a golden age. The '50s could be argued to be a golden age because technology developed and made high-quality reproduction possible. However, this was available to very few and existed mostly in recording studios, etc. One could select the '70s because the technology became available to the general public (although not all who wanted it could afford it). In that decade, hi-fi was more on the forefront as a high-tech project without competition from video, computers, and so on. I think now is the best time. I couldn't get something similar to my Ortofon Kontrapunkt cartridge in 1970, not at the same price and maybe not for any price (in real value, not dollars). What 1970 amp had a better phono stage than any new medium-price phono amp? My 1980 Hafler kit was a bargain at the price but cannot compete with what I have now at roughly the same price. CDs have been a problem of the last decade, both regarding the audio quality of players and recordings (deceptivily detalied, dynamic, no surface noise but some ugly noise within the music). This could be fixed if the CD is by a better format as SACD. The scary thing is that different technologies may compete without the best winning, with a end result like MP3.

The seventies were golden in that there was a bounty of gear with many retailers to show it off. But mostly, it was a time when I could only dream of aquiring the gear that I am now purchasing.

There probably never was a "'golden age." I would direct you to the archives of various magazines, to check out the opinions of people at that time. Chances are they'll be moaning about how things ain't what they used to be. Creating an imaginary greatness out of the past is the first sign of your impending death. Try to live in the present, while looking to the future. If that future involves buying some old equipment, just enjoy it for what it is.

The golden age of audio ended when the equipment became more important than the music.

I was born in '69. From growing up with a ton of records from that era through the 70's, I see such thing s that we now take for granted like stereo and higher quality turntables that came out of that age.

The work of Leak, Quad, Klipsch, Marantz, HK etc. was all at its peak during the 50s.

Tubes, Klipsch horns

www.avhifi.com rocks!

The '50s. Some of the best and most sought after equipment was built in those years, especially later with the advent of stereo. Thorens, Fisher, Harmon, Lowther, Klipsch, JBL, Altec, Mac, and many others were manufacturing equipment that these days seems to take a fortune to duplicate. The great designers were designing equipment that these days all of us would like to call our own. Yes, there are some wonderful products out there but no one is buying any. The industry seems to have priced itself into obsolescens with no new buyers coming into the field. Back then people could afford to experiment with very good equipment that they could purchase at their local electronics shop. These days you can only go to decicated "High End" retailers who then scare you out of the store with $100 interconnects. Yes I think there was a golden age for audio. Regrettably it seems that any future golden ages will attract a progressively smaller market.

Real hi-end audio was available/affordable to the average consumer.

Hopefully, the not-too-distant future, when (finally) a consumer medium will deliver essentially all of the information on thousands upon thousands of classic master tapes from the '50s, '60s, '70s, and onward—and all that for less than the price of a weekend stay in a 4-star hotel.

I'm sure everyone will harkin back to the "good old days" when they first encountered the true joy of musical discovery on a system that was much better than they were used to. That may be the golden age of audio in there mind, but it's only getting better.

its always now

I think the question is too simplistic in that perhaps the different decades may only define a "golden age" for specific areas of audio equipment. It could be argued that the most musical amplifiers were built in the fifties but not the pre-amps or speakers or front end devices. Maybe the best speakers are yet to come. Front end bits, both analogue and digital are obviously better now than ten years ago. I think you see my rationale.

The '70s was the time designers realized that engineers' basic circuitry assumptions were often audibly flawed. The rise of the high end paralleled a maturation of component design beyond basic physics and basic engineering concepts.

1955: Dynamic corner horns driven by sweet vacuum tube amps. Most of today's loudspeakers compress music and deprive it of life. Only the very best solid state amps approach what a simple vacuum tube circuit can accomplish musically--IMHO.

High Fidelity became HiFI and stereo became attainable; frontiers were reached and pushed back, true quality audio reproduction became accessable. Kits or pre-wired, amps,FM tuners or speakers, audio had a personality-your own. Not some faceless "black box wonder", rather a tactle experience that somehow always brought us to the music. The discovery of Audio Reproduction as an art form, was a true and exciting time. And the music played, whether via FM-all hushed and exotic in its newness or dynamic recordings--there was always the excitment of discover. No doubt, todays equipment enjoys countless technical improvements. But back in the 50's-and 60's, the experience was brim-full with wonder and a certain sweetness that we will not see again. Thank you for this opportunity.

It's always been now if now is when one hears music through high end gear for the first time. Ten years from now it will still be "now". During my 25 years listening through higher end audio there's never been more great equipment available.

KLIPSCH HORNS- LIVE ON--

Audiophiles on a tight budget have never had it so good. Killer speakers under $500? "Tube-like" SS integrateds also under $500. Fine sounding CD players under $300. Great turntables starting at $300. And when you start spending big bucks, things get very interesting. Hi-Fi ain't dead, it's very much alive!