When did the Hi-Fi sound mature?

I think this is really fascinating. Putting a finer set of points on the discussion:

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)?

Interesting that I can't think of a more recent watershed in speaker design to rival the comments above about the early horns and large dynamic drivers. There are so many variations on the solution to this electro-mechanical problem at the heart of music reproduction, that it seems difficult to identify when we "closed in" on where we are now. Maybe when quad introduced the first ESL speakers?

Clearly, the Internet and the iPod have expanded the availability of, and exposure to all kinds of music to people - but also the MP3 has lowered expectations of how music should sound. I submit that the next breaking point in HiFi will come when bytes become so cheap and downloads so fast that iTunes "Plus" will mean true hi resolution bit rate/sample rates, 192 kHz/24-bit, rivaling analogue and far surpassing red book CDs. The only limitation on quality of reproduction will be in the gear used, not the format.

The forces of mass production and mass markets will drive down the cost of higher quality reproduction, whether it is for your head phones, your iPod dock, or your "home entertainment center". As marketers take advantage of higher quality source material, people will begin to expect and demand gear that can keep up with Apple's or Audio Engine's latest thing, or whoever is first to market with the most convenient and exciting "hi-res" gadget.

The next big thing is HiFi is probably not going to come from the hi end, but rather from the mainstream, and we will take it up and push the limits of what's possible.

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...

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.