Component(s) you would induct into a "Hi-Fi Hall of Fame"?

[Robin L]

Before the Linn Sondek LP 12 was the:

 

[Robin L]

The Neumann U 47, the first great condenser microphone, still prized as a vocal microphone:

U 47 - Switchable Condenser Microphone

The U 47, introduced in 1949, was a technical revolution and is still considered the indisputable reference for perfect sound. With its well-balanced, extremely vivid response and excellent low-noise performance, this tube microphone raised the bar to a whole new level.

www.neumann.com

 

[Blumlein 88]

I vote for the venerable Marantz 8B.

Why? I'm not really picking on your choice, but why? McIntosh amps of the time were better built performed as well were more available, and more powerful. HK Citation amps were also better built imo. So why the 8B instead of one of these other two? I know it has legendary status. Maybe too much of one. Without some guidelines everyone is just picking a personal fave.

 

[JeffS7444]

I would say: the tape recorder, the radio, the vinyl record, the reel, the cassette, the CD, streaming.
Everything else is technology that was invented or used to adapt to the formats that contain the message.
It is not second in importance, but without support it would not exist or would not be applied.
As for names of components, well I think there are many that have marked an era. I would say that they have already been widely cited in previous posts!

Magnetic tape, good catch: Germans were achieving amazing results with it during WWII.

 

[SIY]

Why? I'm not really picking on your choice, but why? McIntosh amps of the time were better built performed as well were more available, and more powerful. HK Citation amps were also better built imo. So why the 8B instead of one of these other two? I know it has legendary status. Maybe too much of one. Without some guidelines everyone is just picking a personal fave.

The 8B was just a Mullard 5-20. Lots and lots of Mullard 5-20s out there with different brands.

 

[Robin L]

A truly revolutionary component the Sony PCM F1 ADC. This is where portable high fidelity recording begins, leading to the DAT recorder and other even more portable high fidelity recording units.

Sony PCM F1 Digital Audio Converter

In 1978, when I reviewed Sony's first audiophile-type PCM-1 converter, I earned the undying scorn of a large segment of audiophilia by reporting that, on the basis of a rather short testing period (which did however include some live recording), I was unable to hear anything the matter with its...

www.stereophile.com

 

[Esprit]

SEQUERRA MODEL 1 FM

THE SEQUERRA MODEL ONE FM TUNER

www.cfc1962.it

Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck

LPs and 45-rpm singles remained the unchallenged music formats throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and well into the 1970s when the Compact Cassette really took off. Cassettes were more portable and didn’t suffer from scratches and surface noise issues (but tape hiss could be a problem).

www.soundandvision.com

 

[Blumlein 88]

Read the Norman H. Crowhurst article on SOTA audio in May1962 in the Audio 15th Anniversary edition. Page 6 then continued on page 88.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/60s/Audio-1962-May.pdf

Also interesting to look at the annual listing of gear available with specs and prices. Like this one from August 1963.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/60s/Audio-1963-08.pdf

 

[Esprit]

Nagra tape recorder

 

[JeffS7444]

Not initially a consumer thing, but what about Tom Holman's THX for cinema sound?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Surprised no one has listed a class D amp or maybe they did. Here is a mind blower.

Part 1 of a 3 part series on principles of switching class D amplifiers. From Audio magazine in 1964.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/60s/Audio-1964-06.pdf

 

[solderdude]

I'm shocked ... no one mentioned Thorens nor Dual (well unless you count nr 14 and 15 on the list @thewas posted) and TEAC.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

I would put the Yamaha DSP-1 up there.

Yup. To this very day, there is nothing -- including subsequent Yamaha processors -- that matches its versatility, especially when teamed with a DSR-100 Pro and it's motorized seven-gang master volume control.

I also agree about the AR turntable. I got mine as a wedding gift circa 1967 and I was still using it into the 1990s, albeit several belts, one motor, and a major cartridge upgrade (from a Shure M44 to a V15 Type II) later.

 

[Rednaxela]

TAG McLaren AV32R

The TMREQ in which lead to the development of what we now know as REW.

Jack's Place - TAG McLaren AV32R DP

Information about TAG McLaren AV32R DP

www.jackvandijk.nl

Room EQ Wizard (REW) - Looking Back on Audio Measurement Software History

This article revisits 20 years of Room EQ Wizard (REW), one of the mainstays in the audio measurement tool landscape with a strong user base. What started out as a side project for John Mulcahy, the creator and only developer, evolved to become a very complete and useful suite for both...

audioxpress.com

 

[Bruce Morgen]

The 8B was just a Mullard 5-20. Lots and lots of Mullard 5-20s out there with different brands.

More like two of them with lots of "bells & whistles" -- and, if you believe the published specs, a good deal more power (beefier power supply?).

Another influential and widely copied early circuit was the 1940s Williamson amplifier, variants of which were produced by Heathkit, Eico, and Dynaco.

 

[SIY]

Surprised no one has listed a class D amp or maybe they did.

I mentioned the Sony TA-N88 because it was the first viable commercial Class D amp.

 

[egellings]

Why? I'm not really picking on your choice, but why? McIntosh amps of the time were better built performed as well were more available, and more powerful. HK Citation amps were also better built imo. So why the 8B instead of one of these other two? I know it has legendary status. Maybe too much of one. Without some guidelines everyone is just picking a personal fave.

The 8B has such a polite look about it, and like a good bird dog, it never put any tooth holes in the music. I sometimes genuflect in front of mine. The copy I have, I bought used and it was not working. I found that the power transformer (xfmr) was burnt out. Some previous owner thought that the more capacitance in the B+ supply, the better, so he gooped on over 2,000uF worth of it and toasted the poor power transformer with those horrendous peak current spikes. I specified a replacement transformer in a toroidal, rather than E-I type, and got the amp going again, using reasonable amounts of capacitance. I de-potted the original xfmr. I placed it in my kitchen oven set to 450 degrees F and melted the potting material so that I could remove the dead xfmr. I made a mounting bracket structure to support the toroidal xfmr in the original mounting base of the can that held the original xfmr. The new xfmr barely gets warm so I had no need to pot it; the xfmr just sits on the base of the pot with the top part of the can not reinstalled, to allow heat escape. The amp works fine, and has a couple of watts more power per channel due to the stiffer supply voltage afforded by the new xfmr. I also have a pair of McIntosh MC-30 power amps, and those needed nothing other than standard restoration; i.e. cleanup, new 'lytics, and any other small components that needed replacement. I bought a replacement twist prong mount can made by CP Manufacturing, model C-EC80-40-30-20, all at 525Vdc, and made in the USA. It's the same physical size & shape as the original, and fits exactly in its place. I enjoyed restoring both amps to original performance, and listen to both of them every so often. My main amps are a pair of tube type home-brewed circlotron type of design with an output transformer that a friend and I developed and have patented. What's patented on it is the way it's wound.

 

[egellings]

Nagra tape recorder
View attachment 429961View attachment 429962

Those are pieces of jewelry disguised as tape recorders.

 

[eddantes]

http://www.thevintageknob.org/ - pretty much a on-line museum of audiophilia

 

[Robin L]

Why? I'm not really picking on your choice, but why? McIntosh amps of the time were better built performed as well were more available, and more powerful. HK Citation amps were also better built imo. So why the 8B instead of one of these other two? I know it has legendary status. Maybe too much of one. Without some guidelines everyone is just picking a personal fave.

Owned one. Was not impressed. Liked the Scott 299B more. Don't think of that as a hall of fame piece of gear either. As far as I'm concerned, the audio HOF pieces have to be revolutionary, the Marantz 8B was evolutionary.