Top 3 hi-fi brands (and "honorable mentions")

[watchnerd]

Come on, you might as well tell the truth. Samsung/Harman. They are behind several products you list.

Sure, no problem.

 

[JJB70]

Phillips is a name rarely name checked by audio enthusiasts yet their role in developing the CD with Sony gives them a real place in audio history as that was one of the most significant developments in audio. I think the achievement of Sony and Phillips engineers in developing the CD standard is one of the most under appreciated in audio in some ways, many audiophiles still hate the CD standard and everything that went with it but all those years ago the red book established a standard for sample rate and bit depth which has stood the test of time probably better than even its creators expected. They also created the compact cassette I think, that is a format that was always derided by audiophiles yet in the 70's and 80's it was hugely popular and opened up a world of possibilities, the fact that it was rendered obsolete by recordable digital media shouldn't lessen the fact that in its day it offered a very usable and convenient recordable format which was hugely popular (and Nakamichi did lift the format up to serious performance levels).

 

[restorer-john]

and Cog rot

Marantz early bitstream player huh?

 

[Wombat]

Phillips is a name rarely name checked by audio enthusiasts yet their role in developing the CD with Sony gives them a real place in audio history as that was one of the most significant developments in audio. I think the achievement of Sony and Phillips engineers in developing the CD standard is one of the most under appreciated in audio in some ways, many audiophiles still hate the CD standard and everything that went with it but all those years ago the red book established a standard for sample rate and bit depth which has stood the test of time probably better than even its creators expected. They also created the compact cassette I think, that is a format that was always derided by audiophiles yet in the 70's and 80's it was hugely popular and opened up a world of possibilities, the fact that it was rendered obsolete by recordable digital media shouldn't lessen the fact that in its day it offered a very usable and convenient recordable format which was hugely popular (and Nakamichi did lift the format up to serious performance levels).

Philips motional-feedback loudspeaker technology has led to DSP active speaker development that we see today. Philips' greatness has passed virtually unknown in the USA.

 

[restorer-john]

...I think the achievement of Sony and Phillips engineers in developing the CD standard is one of the most under appreciated in audio in some ways...

Absolutely. The efforts by Sony, particularly Heitaro Nakajima (RIP) and his team (Doi, Fukuda and Iga) are simply the most significant contribution ever made to high fidelity and reproduction equipment.

He received Japan's highest civilian honor (purple ribbon) for CD development in 1993.

I highly recommend "Digital Audio Technology" 1st edition if you want a great (technical) read.

This listing below I found is likely a first edition, first printing, if it is the hardcover (first english translation McGraw-Hill)

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital...id=5042359&hash=item213d171dd7:i:142758845911

Was originally printed for the JAES in 1979 and then updated with some fantastic prototype shots along with tons of theory and details. Doesn't go into Redbook as such, because it didn't exist at that point. It does go into EFM, CIRC and covers a lot about digital tape recording, early PCM processors and LPF filter theory.

Lots of details on the Sony/Philips working groups, the progress made etc. Written with a slight skew as he was a Sony engineer and by the time the second print run of the book was made, many of the prototype shots were replaced with different Sony images. I have two of the books, one a soft cover, one a hard and there are minor differences.

 

[Wombat]

Telefunken, Siemens and many other big, vertically structured, corporate technological audio brands were virtually unknown outside of Europe.

 

[restorer-john]

Here's some more on Heitaro. A wonderful interview.

https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Heitaro_Nakajima

I like this part. He was able to toil away just far enough away from his boss that he didn't visit often:

"Forty researchers worked under me, and most of them were trying to keep up with our competition in the analog field. Therefore I decided to assign two researchers only to digital research. We started off with them putting together the same sort of large, cumbersome digital recorder that we had done in NHK. We ran up against the problem that there would be other people seeing it, that it was too big, too cumbersome, and too expensive. At that time, Mr. Ibuka was one of those who were very strongly saying, "Give it up! Just leave it, just put it aside." The point was, however, that Mr. Ibuka was in Gotanda and I was here. Because of the Yamanote train line, which runs around here, it's a very inconvenient place to get to. For my purposes, that was very good, producing just enough time for the soup to get cold. "

 

[Blumlein 88]

Here's some more on Heitaro. A wonderful interview.

https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Heitaro_Nakajima

I like this part. He was able to toil away just far enough away from his boss that he didn't visit often:

"Forty researchers worked under me, and most of them were trying to keep up with our competition in the analog field. Therefore I decided to assign two researchers only to digital research. We started off with them putting together the same sort of large, cumbersome digital recorder that we had done in NHK. We ran up against the problem that there would be other people seeing it, that it was too big, too cumbersome, and too expensive. At that time, Mr. Ibuka was one of those who were very strongly saying, "Give it up! Just leave it, just put it aside." The point was, however, that Mr. Ibuka was in Gotanda and I was here. Because of the Yamanote train line, which runs around here, it's a very inconvenient place to get to. For my purposes, that was very good, producing just enough time for the soup to get cold. "

from that interview:

I wanted to carry on with that research because when I heard the difference between digital sound and analog sound, it was as if somebody had removed a veil out of the way. It was a tremendously clear signal, a tremendously clear sound, and that was my reason for wanting to carry on.

So here perhaps we have the first ever in history removal of a veil in digital audio!!!!!!!!!

 

[Soniclife]

I think for a time, and maybe that time has passed a little bit, McIntosh was selling rep and pretty cases and poor quality. This article about extremely high jitter digital sources nails it. From 10 years ago. I think they are back onto to good quality mostly now.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/case-jitters-less-cd-quality

A $6000 McIntosh media server had the honor for highest jitter they'd tested. It was very outclassed by the next worst unit. An early Sony Playstation 1. A $25 second hand item. So if that Mac is built heavy duty like most Mac gear you'll get to have that performance level for a long, long time.

This perfectly illustrates why the word brand has no real value to the customer, all too often as soon as they are seen as a quality brand they exploit it. And why independent testing is required.

On the other hand surprised no one has mentioned Rega, quality products usually at sensible prices, what the market needs more of.

 

[watchnerd]

On the other hand surprised no one has mentioned Rega, quality products usually at sensible prices, what the market needs more of.

I dunno about that...is making a turntable that (intentionally?) ran fast for decades the mark of quality?

 

[svart-hvitt]

Some people have mentioned Apple, and I will do that again. Apple made computer playback easy. As @amirm has shown repeatedly, Windows is still, in 2018, plug and pray, with buggy drivers, incompatibilty etc. Mac has always been and still is plug and play. In terms of computer audio, Apple is the natural choice and has been so for years.

 

[Thomas savage]

Marantz early bitstream player huh?

It was my quad 67 CDP actually, I think they were Philips but can’t swear to it.

 

[Grave]

1. schiit
2 audio-gd
3. nuforce

 

[JJB70]

I have finally had time to read the transcript of the Heitaro Nakajima interview, wonderful stuff and truly inspirational, thanks to Restorer John for linking it!

 

[vert]

Well if there's any validity to the following review of a few ~$150 FDA amplifiers
http://audiolalies.blogspot.com/2015/03/derriere-le-micro-exactement.html?m=1
the people and brands behind those devices (and their components) would seem to deserve a spot in history, or is it too early to tell? In any case, recognition mustn't be easy to get for talented engineers toiling away in faraway China.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

See, I told you this would be fun.

 

[vert]

I know

 

[JJB70]

I think the link to the Nakajima interview and book reference made this thread worthwhile in themselves.

 

[JJB70]

Arcam are generally a good, solid, brand and some of their gear is excellent. I had some of their older stuff and it was solid, reliable equipment.

 

[restorer-john]

I think the link to the Nakajima interview and book reference made this thread worthwhile in themselves.

In his later years, he established a space where older, retired engineers like himself, would come together and develop some of the ideas they had never brought to market. It was to be a collaborative, free thinking and not constrained by commercial interests, group. NHLab.

After his death, it appears his son vowed to keep nhlab (Nakajima Hitaro LAB) running, although I don't think it is funded enough to keep pursuing their speaker designs. (https://www.nhlab.jp/speaker) Plenty to see and read here, although I don't know how long it will be around on the internet.
The English content translations have mostly disappeared, but I had bookmarked this one https://www.nhlab.net/english/heitaro-s-column/ as it was a place where Heitaro would write whatever came into his head. Read the speaker diaphragm factory one. https://www.nhlab.net/english/heitaro-s-column/a-loudspeaker-diaphragm-factory/ This was the dedicated, purpose built pulp/paper factory and manufacturing facility for Sony, when they introduced the SS-G7 loudspeaker in 1976. An unbelievably good speaker, all 48kg of it. My best friend has my pair in his loungeroom where he enjoys them every day.

https://www.nhlab.net/sitemap/
https://www.nhlab.jp/

A memorial page https://www.nhlab.jp/memorial

The JAS held a special dinner to celebrate his life. There, sitting next to his picture is the Sony CDP-101.

It's the passionate, dedicated, true engineers like this man, backed with the resources of huge companies, that gave us the audio advances we were so fortunate to have experienced during the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

Heitaro gets my honorable mention.