'New' retro HiFi, especially speakers

[DSJR]

This article is obviously from a mainly UK standpoint, but I found it interesting...

The ugly truth behind hi-fi's growing infatuation with nostalgia

What's the fascination with retro?

www.whathifi.com

Wharfedale have two new 'retro looking' models well up in price from the Linton (which I gather from a good source apparently doesn't sell much if at all in the UK). Th elarge 10" three-way is slightly more than Harbeth SHL5+-XD's but not sure on the smaller two way - probably half that price, so competing with the also resurrected popular LS3/5A and so on. Mission have a new-old 700 and resurrected the 770 stylee and of course the much loved by many 90's UK audio peeps Epos Es14 monika has been plundered in a totally new looking model nothing like the original. In the US, JBL have a range of retro looking Synthesis models, but knowledge falters from thereon, as I'm sure there are more..

Not sure what to think personally. here on ASR, most of us seem to be looking forward towards active models with DSP and other luxuries to help in-room matching and KEF seem to be setting a benchmark with streaming inputs too for admittedly a high £/$6,000 or so price (not sure where B&O fit in these days as prices are much higher again I believe). This retro market is pricing as high as they feel the market will take for old fashioned looking passive (mostly) veneered wooden boxes from nearly half a century ago and apart from the need to mak emoney to justify themselves, I have to ask *why?* (maybe financial hunger is the main reason for doing it!)

Any thoughts?

 

[Rednaxela]

I liked the final statement.

As an industry, I think we should aim to make new products that become classics rather than try to relive past glories.

That said for me a speaker is also a piece of furniture, and retro styling would work a lot better in my living room than the styling of many speakers that are currently topping the ASR charts for their technical excellence.

I wonder how the two could go hand in hand. How to make future classics that work well in today’s domestic environments?

 

[DanielT]

Either genuine vintage or new with a retro / vintage look appeals to middle-aged men who in their youth could not afford to buy that kind of hifi stuff, with that look, but can do it now,? Just a thought. Do not know if it's true. Think mainly of speakers and amplifiers / receivers.To realize an old dream, even if it is not "real thing" but only has that kind of appearance.

In any case, one sees the phenomenon in terms of old sports cars that middle-aged men could not afford to buy in their youth. They buy them now, because they have a fat wallet. It can take quite a lot of money to get them in nice, almost original new condition.

 

[DSJR]

Not sure 'middle aged men' buy audio gear like this in the UK... Alexa's and similar tech yes, but I reckon that specialist high fidelity audio is more for mature to elderly men now (occasionally with their partners).... Will the UK side of the industry fade away with the passing of 'my' generation? It's contracted so much...

 

[jhaider]

What Hi-Fi has a technical editor?

 

[DSJR]

What Hi-Fi has a technical editor?

LOL!!!

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I'm kind of fascinated by the retro thing in general. Perhaps, like the movie industry, designers have just run out of good ideas and to regurgitate stuff which has already established itself in the past is easier than taking the riskier path of coming up with original ideas.

I noted that Disneyland is re-theming its Downtown Disneyland to look mid-century. To me, this styling just looks like the bowling alleys I saw in Inglewood CA in my youth. I thought they looked boring then and I think it looks even more boring now.

For myself, it means that all the 'old' stuff I already own is suddenly 'cool' again.

 

[Rednaxela]

I'm kind of fascinated by the retro thing in general. Perhaps, like the movie industry, designers have just run out of good ideas and to regurgitate stuff which has already established itself in the past is easier than taking the riskier path of coming up with original ideas.

This reminds me of the Um 1800 movement in Dutch architecture. When Berlage and his peers were being highly innovative during the the first decades of the 20th century, people preferred a style that harked back to a century before. If you’ve ever been in Amsterdam, big chance you have walked past the Beurs van Berlage (1903) to the Bijenkorf building (1915). Two styles that couldn’t have been further apart.

 

[Rednaxela]

In this context I’m quite fascinated by KEF’s 3000 series egg speakers. They seem to really combine innovative design and technical excellence with contemporary living room friendliness. Perhaps a good example of a modern day classic?

 

[sergeauckland]

As a now old fart who was once a young fart, the 'classic' look appeals to me. Possibly because of the era that I grew up in, but the styling that appeals most is that of the late 1960s and early '70s, going on to the mid '80s. After that, stuff got boring, too many bells and whistles, screens, menus, all sorts of stuff that whilst functional (I suppose) isn't visually appealing. Loudspeakers made of painted and sculpted MDF or moulded plastic just don't appeal like the wooden monkey coffins of my youth.

If I were buying a new system now, I would either stick with genuine vintage equipment and restore it myself, or look for retro-styled current equipment.

I particularly despise modern open racks, where all the cables are visible, compared with the consoles of the 1960s and '70s. I have always used enclosed cabinets, open-backed for ventilation, certainly, but the equipment panels poked through the wooden front. Equipment used to be designed specifically to be mounted that way, not just stood on a shelf.

I currently have all my equipment 19" rack mounted in wooden racks.

S.

 

[Angsty]

There is a huge sense of nostalgia in the US now within the Gen X and older Millennial ranks. They can finally afford systems that remind them of the ones owned by their Baby Boomer progenitors in the late Sixties, early Seventies. Vinyl has made an enormous comeback and vintage hi-fi systems of all stripes have skyrocketed in price. Even reel to reel systems have edged back into view. Those producing "vintage-like" designs are capitalizing with new systems that look old.

The Wharfedale Lintons are a great example in that they have been very popular in the U.S. at a price point that is accessible by many people between 30 and 50. I think it can be argued that they are not the most technically superior at that price point; the Revel M105 would likely wipe it out in a technical battle. The Linton's just have a look and sound that invokes nostalgia.

 

[DSJR]

I have a pair of original Denton W20's up in the loft. They're surprisingly smooth but perhaps a bit 'foggy' with it... Designer Peter Comeau had a talent for getting involving sounds out of not a lot in his Heybrook days and he's come a very long way since then. I suspect the Linton and it's new more expensive siblings will be quite 'modern' in tonal balance and I suspect the likes of good Spendor and current Harbeth will be the target market rather than the more 'genteel' past generation products.

 

[Angsty]

I belated read the "What HiFi?" article. I think the author genuinely understates the power of nostalgia in both purchases of audio gear and music selection. Look at how "Silk Sonic" swept the Grammy's this year as an example. The idea of being transported to a "simpler", more evocative time is extremely persuasive even in a time where change and progress are on-going. Alternatively, the Linton review in the same periodical directly points to how certain types of period music may be preferable on vintage designs. I don't see the Linton's being a fit for the EDM crowd, but the Tekton's are likely not what people seek first for 1970's Soul and fusion jazz.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The idea of being transported to a "simpler", more evocative time is extremely persuasive even in a time where change and progress are on-going.

Having lived through the 60s and 70s I can confidently state that those times were neither simpler nor more evocative. In many ways they were downright miserable.

Audio during that period was not necessarily any simpler either. In many ways audio is simpler now because there are more black box types of audio appliances.

 

[DanielT]

I'm not so nostalgic but big horns, old radios ... well hm..there is a sweet spot in my heart.
Old radios not so much for nostalgic reasons but more for my interest in sound history, I might add.

Good job charbug!

Please provide feedback.

I am working on my listening room and I have been placing absorption and some diffusion. I have attached some REW data and I am looking at what the data is telling people about the room. Is there any major issues that I need to go after. I am not the best at interpreting the data. The system is...

audiosciencereview.com

Picture of charbug's system, from that thread:

 

[Angsty]

I'm not so nostalgic but big horns, old radios ... well hm..there is a sweet spot in my heart.
Old radios not so much for nostalgic reasons but more for my interest in sound history, I might add.

Good job charbug!

Please provide feedback.

I am working on my listening room and I have been placing absorption and some diffusion. I have attached some REW data and I am looking at what the data is telling people about the room. Is there any major issues that I need to go after. I am not the best at interpreting the data. The system is...

audiosciencereview.com

Picture of charbug's system, from that thread:

View attachment 209037

Big horns, indeed! That's commitment!

 

[sergeauckland]

Having lived through the 60s and 70s I can confidently state that those times were neither simpler nor more evocative. In many ways they were downright miserable.

Audio during that period was not necessarily any simpler either. In many ways audio is simpler now because there are more black box types of audio appliances.

It did take a certain amount of knowledge to get the best out of equipment of that era. Setting up a good turntable like a Garrard 401/SME3009/Shure V15 was something that enthusiasts did, or had a good dealer to do it for them. Ditto setting up a reel-reel tape machine. Today, unless one of the rare remaining vinyl enthusiasts, people stream from the 'phones and home recording has all but gone away, as it's just not necessary.

High quality music reproduction had gone from an activity for enthusiasts, to something anyone can do just by buying a black box, with no commitment required in knowledge or much money. However, it's also gone from something aspirational, to something so generic that the very activity of dedicating time to listen to music has largely disappeared. It's now done on the train, in the car, in the kitchen, not sitting still for several hours in front of a pair of decent loudspeakers. More music may be consumed than it ever was, but I think less appreciated because of its ubiquity. Music listening has become the fast-food of entertainment.

S.

 

[Angsty]

Having lived through the 60s and 70s I can confidently state that those times were neither simpler nor more evocative. In many ways they were downright miserable.

Audio during that period was not necessarily any simpler either. In many ways audio is simpler now because there are more black box types of audio appliances.

Nostalgia and reality have a way of diverging over time.

 

[Angsty]

Today, unless one of the rare remaining vinyl enthusiasts, people stream from the 'phones and home recording has all but gone away, as it's just not necessary.

"Rare" is not a word I'd apply to vinyl enthusiasts these days, but still not as common as streaming or digital downloads

Infographic: Despite Comeback, Vinyl Is Still Far From Its Glory Days

This chart shows the rise in LP sales in the United States.

www.statista.com

 

[sergeauckland]

"Rare" is not a word I'd apply to vinyl enthusiasts these days, but still not as common as streaming or digital downloads

Infographic: Despite Comeback, Vinyl Is Still Far From Its Glory Days

This chart shows the rise in LP sales in the United States.

www.statista.com

I would apply the term 'rare' to proper vinyl enthusiasts who take the trouble to own and set up a proper turntable. I wonder just how many of these 41.7m LPs end up being played on Crossley or similar dross, are for DJ use, or just collected as objects rather than played.

S.