Today 99% of the public does not care about better sound quality (Hi Fidelity). And only the 1% can afford the outrageous prices of the so-called "Hi End" gear. When I attended the NYC shows in 1976 - '80 the attendees were predominantly middle-class and lines were out the door waiting to get in!
New York HiFi Show: Tubes and Turntables
I was at the New York HiFi Show today. It was hard to find many CD players, despite one with a price tag $40,000. Virtually every room featured turntables and tubes. Sonically, it was a definite improvement over shows in the past. Not too much sizzle and boom, although a lot of systems demonstrated big bass. Natural sounding components were the rule.
There were hardly any systems affordable by the average audiophile. $100,000 rigs were not unusual. It seems demonstrators were prone to showing their best.
With all the myriad of exotic stuff, I’m sorry I can’t remember too many names, but the re-introduction of sophisticated treble and bass controls and room-conditioning processors were impressive.
Of course, streaming was featured in many displays.
It wasn’t a large show, so it was comfortably do-able in one day.
There were hardly any systems affordable by the average audiophile. $100,000 rigs were not unusual. It seems demonstrators were prone to showing their best.
With all the myriad of exotic stuff, I’m sorry I can’t remember too many names, but the re-introduction of sophisticated treble and bass controls and room-conditioning processors were impressive.
Of course, streaming was featured in many displays.
It wasn’t a large show, so it was comfortably do-able in one day.