Is Hi-Fi dead

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Discussion

The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,845 posts

213 months

Friday 5th June 2015
quotequote all
Talking today about the dearth of hifi shops. When I was a nipper I used to love visiting the local hifi store and listening to the demos.

Now there are no shops and no opportunity to hear proper hifi.

With advances in technology these days making a good quality system need cost peanuts.

Hifi to the current generation is low fi MP3 on an iPhone with those hideously bad earphones.

If the kids of today had the chance to listen to a decent hifi costing no more than the iTunes ste would they still get it?

Still remember the first time I heard Rumours on a budget system. Brothers in arms on a proper setup.

With the current loudness war induced pain and stefi. Would they care?


HOGEPH

5,249 posts

185 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
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I spent a long time choosing my set up in the 90's.Played the same 5 cds to compare different components. Read lots of hi fi reviews. Ended up with a Marantz cd player, Arcam amp and separate tuner, a Marantz cd burner and B&W speakers on sand filled stands.

It sounded fantastic.


castex

4,935 posts

272 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
I think the problem might be the components. Kids these days don't like separates. They like togethers.

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
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I was well into my teens before I heard my first "proper" hifi audio (made my dad's Blaupunkt system look decidedly ordinary by comparison); it was the Last of The Mohicans soundtrack.

I'm sure most kids aren't that bothered whether they're listening to their latest One Direction track in 320 or 128.

OldSkoolRS

6,718 posts

178 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
castex said:
I think the problem might be the components. Kids these days don't like separates. They like togethers.
Looking at all the posts about soundbars and things like Naim Muso, plus multiroom stuff I tend to agree. If you're coming from a TV speakers then fair enough they are a step up, but never going to match a proper hifi. I have a 19" rack full of separates (though granted it is a sub/sat system albeit with MK150 series and a pair of 15" subs) since I enjoy hearing decent music at home when I do get chance.

ianrb

1,529 posts

139 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
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There are still a few independent HiFi shops around; the sort of places you can go and get a proper demo and occasionally an item or two on loan. And there's Richer Sounds, which is fine if you know what you want, but not as good on the demo front.

There's a bit of a sub-culture of upmarket portable players, which are not always iPods, and decent headphones. Once those people get flats or houses of their own they may be tempted by proper separates HiFi. I don't think it's dead yet.


ianrb

1,529 posts

139 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
There are still a few independent HiFi shops around; the sort of places you can go and get a proper demo and occasionally an item or two on loan. And there's Richer Sounds, which is fine if you know what you want, but not as good on the demo front.

There's a bit of a sub-culture of upmarket portable players, which are not always iPods, and decent headphones. Once those people get flats or houses of their own they may be tempted by proper separates HiFi. I don't think it's dead yet.


bristolracer

5,528 posts

148 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
I went to the Bristol hi fi show a few months ago which is one of the big national shows and it was packed.
Yes hi fi has changed the sources we now use are different but there are plenty of people out there with cash to buy proper kit.
Ironically the biggest outlay seems to be on digital to analogue convertors to give us back the "warm" sound that was engineered out in pursuit of convenience.
We have four or five hi fi shops in Bristol and I think the vinyl revival will help to keep them all going

Crackie

6,386 posts

241 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
I don't think Hi-Fi is dead, access to quality sound is arguably easier than its ever been.

£250ish was the cost for good entry level back in the early eighties; something like Dual CS505 + NAD3020 + Mission 700. £150 will buy a pair of active Tannoys today, and if you don't care too much about looks, high end state of the art sound quality is available for less than £2K.

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/hifi-and-ho...
+
http://www.minidsp.com/products/dirac-series/ddrc-...
+
http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/ldeka15auk-ld...





Edited by Crackie on Saturday 6th June 18:52

craig1912

3,273 posts

111 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
Crackie said:
£250ish was the cost for good entry level back in the early eighties; something like Dual CS505 + NAD3020 + Mission 700.

Edited by Crackie on Saturday 6th June 16:18
That's what I had but a Sansui SR222 deck as I preferd the look and feel over the Dual. Not just have Sonus

The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,845 posts

213 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
Plenty of those old 3020s still going to.

Trouble is the kids these days have no exposure to hifi at all.
If you don't know it exists there is no want for it.


The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,845 posts

213 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
quotequote all
Plenty of those old 3020s still going to.

Trouble is the kids these days have no exposure to hifi at all.
If you don't know it exists there is no want for it.


Turn7

23,503 posts

220 months

Saturday 6th June 2015
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Run evrytinh though an NAD amp and B&W speakers, its getting on in age, but I see no reason to change.

Business mist be hard won in that sector now I reckon.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 7th June 2015
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Hi-Fi is dead to me, disruptive technology has changed the way I listen to music.
First big change in my music listening behaviour was the iPod and now its Sonus.

I have just sold my arcam separates system, mainly as it sat in its boxes in the garage for the past three years, which is odd as it always the first thing to be unpacked and setup whenever I moved house. It was never going to be used or upgraded.
I used to rave about the quality of separates but technology has overtaken that, and any loss of audio quality hasn't been noticed.

All of my CDs and records are packed away in boxes and I haven't listened to a full CD or record in about 3 years now for me its all about playlists and have around 2,500 of them for every mood an occasion.

I really should get shut of my record and CD collection, as they have been replaced by 3 hard drives of tunes. (with a couple of backups) and they are just taking up space.

Looking back a few years i never thought I would adopt such a position, but hey disruptive technology has changed my model.





varsas

4,004 posts

201 months

Sunday 7th June 2015
quotequote all
Vandenberg said:
Hi-Fi is dead to me, disruptive technology has changed the way I listen to music.
First big change in my music listening behaviour was the iPod and now its Sonus.

I have just sold my arcam separates system, mainly as it sat in its boxes in the garage for the past three years, which is odd as it always the first thing to be unpacked and setup whenever I moved house. It was never going to be used or upgraded.
I used to rave about the quality of separates but technology has overtaken that, and any loss of audio quality hasn't been noticed.

All of my CDs and records are packed away in boxes and I haven't listened to a full CD or record in about 3 years now for me its all about playlists and have around 2,500 of them for every mood an occasion.

I really should get shut of my record and CD collection, as they have been replaced by 3 hard drives of tunes. (with a couple of backups) and they are just taking up space.

Looking back a few years i never thought I would adopt such a position, but hey disruptive technology has changed my model.
Oddly this hasn't happened to me yet. Of course I have music on my phone and a portable .mp3 player but if I want to really listen to something I'll either use the CD or a .wav rip of it. This might be something to do with my narrow focus on music, I rarely have music on as background noise as I find it very distracting if it's something I like. I can't listen to music while I run, for example. If I have to set aside time to listen anyway, pulling the CD out doesn't take a lot more time or effort.

page3

4,912 posts

250 months

Sunday 7th June 2015
quotequote all
I like to think I have a "decent" HiFi.

I also have an iPhone / iTunes / Sonos etc, which compliment it nicely. One doesn't diminish the other. Obviously garbage in = garage out, but a decent streaming service (aka Google Play) can sound wonderful. So can a digital out from an iPhone. iTunes is only a music organisation application and as such doesn't impact on playback.

alock

4,224 posts

210 months

Sunday 7th June 2015
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I much prefer the sound of music on my arcam/mission hi-fi but I listen to far more on the sonos 1 in the kitchen. Keep looking at a sonos connect but cannot bring myself to spend £270 when the hardware means it should be cheaper that the £170 sonos 1.

StuH

2,557 posts

272 months

Sunday 7th June 2015
quotequote all
page3 said:
I like to think I have a "decent" HiFi.

I also have an iPhone / iTunes / Sonos etc, which compliment it nicely. One doesn't diminish the other. Obviously garbage in = garage out, but a decent streaming service (aka Google Play) can sound wonderful. So can a digital out from an iPhone. iTunes is only a music organisation application and as such doesn't impact on playback.
Exactly, Sonos enhances the hi-fi not replaces it! Just don't use the ste all-in-one Play:x unots. I have a Sonos Connect that has been modded and then feeds into my main hi-fi system. With lossless and HD material its absolutely brilliant.

https://wyred4sound.com/products/upgrades-and-mods...



caffiend

7 posts

105 months

Monday 8th June 2015
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It's a valid point, but as technology improves so does the sound. Brands like Linn are doing incredible things with speakers that can read a room and produce the sound in the optimum way for the size and shape of the listening space, although I agree that a lot of the 'kids these days' are simply unaware just how good music can sound because they've never heard it in any other way...

There are still a few proper hi-fi shops around, and it's the enthusiasts that'll keep those going!

red997

1,304 posts

208 months

Monday 8th June 2015
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HiFi certainly isn't dead for me;

I have several 'different' listening options at home - ranging from a Grundig kitchen DAB (which is bloody brilliant given it's size), through a Soundcraft studio monitor system, 7.1 AV system, and a Meridian / Linn / Rotel system.
All do a great job, just a bit different !

Re the stuff that Linn are now foinf regaring in room equalization - I'm surprised they've not done this before;
both by studio setup and my Linn setup are RTA'd - you'd be amazed at what frequencies get sucked out of a room when you can actually see a response graph !

After a bit of playing around at the weekend I have now gone fully digital from source (Meridian CD player and Macbook pro) through the RTA, crossovers, only back to analogue on the input to the amps !(all 6 of them - the Isbariks are active)
Again, the sound takes a step up in resolution, extension and percieved quality.
I do listen to CD's - but what with the full library available on the Mac, with playlist control, it's getting used less and less...

IMHO the problem is that we live in a 'want it now' disposable world - and spending time to listen, chose, install, and setup a relatively complex set of kit for real hi fi reproduction is just too much for most - and the easy (and cheaper!) alternatives are now so much better that say 10-15 years ago, that this becomes the default option for most.