History of Audio

[MiTT]

Yesterday when I was returning home from a business trip to San Francisco I came upon an exhibit in the terminal (Terminal 3 I think - the one United fly's out of) called "The History of Audio". I had some time to kill so I bought a big cup of Peet's coffee and checked it out. There was some stuff relating to advances in loudspeaker design - horns, acoustic suspension etc. Nothing on electrostatic speakers though.

Not a whole lot of stuff pertaining to the high end audio scene, although they did have a Meridian G series Pre/Pro in one display. I was kind of floored in one display where they mentioned that the high watermark for the analog LP was in the late 70's, but that they had been obsoleted by the introduction of the CD. Most of us vinyl junkies would argue that it was in the late 50's to early 60's, or possibly even now - and by the way, they aren't obsolete.

Lot's of stuff pertaining to studio recording and Film recording. There was a huge Ampex recording console with what looked like 2" tape on it. Probably 60% of the displays had some sort of Dolby equipment in them - not suprising since Dolby Labs is right there in the city.

At any rate, if you're flying out of SFO it's worth a casual browse...

 

[roberto]

Yesterday when I was returning home from a business trip to San Francisco I came upon an exhibit in the terminal (Terminal 3 I think - the one United fly's out of) called "The History of Audio". I had some time to kill so I bought a big cup of Peet's coffee and checked it out. There was some stuff relating to advances in loudspeaker design - horns, acoustic suspension etc. Nothing on electrostatic speakers though.

Not a whole lot of stuff pertaining to the high end audio scene, although they did have a Meridian G series Pre/Pro in one display. I was kind of floored in one display where they mentioned that the high watermark for the analog LP was in the late 70's, but that they had been obsoleted by the introduction of the CD. Most of us vinyl junkies would argue that it was in the late 50's to early 60's, or possibly even now - and by the way, they aren't obsolete.

Lot's of stuff pertaining to studio recording and Film recording. There was a huge Ampex recording console with what looked like 2" tape on it. Probably 60% of the displays had some sort of Dolby equipment in them - not suprising since Dolby Labs is right there in the city.

At any rate, if you're flying out of SFO it's worth a casual browse...

Hola Tim...I have a little problem with my cds...when I play AAD, is right here where I get the most of the scenario...and with my lps, the truth is, and I am going to be nailed here, if I want to enjoy digital, I have to stop listening analogue...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[SteveInNC]

I think that the high water mark in LPs was when they started doing direct-to-disc, assuming that the engineers were worth a damn. Mobile Fidelity fits in there somewhere too with their half-speed masters and better quality vinyl. I still remember the "1812" where you could see the actual groove offsets where the cannon fire happened. They had to allow for extra spacing between grooves to accomodate the extreme tracking.

 

[Beat_Dominator]

AR was one of the first to use a dome tweeter

...and they are partially given credit for the 'table that has become the basis of current belt-drive tables today.

 

[Statman]

I think that the high water mark in LPs was when they started doing direct-to-disc, assuming that the engineers were worth a damn. Mobile Fidelity fits in there somewhere too with their half-speed masters and better quality vinyl. I still remember the "1812" where you could see the actual groove offsets where the cannon fire happened. They had to allow for extra spacing between grooves to accomodate the extreme tracking.

Steve,

Your story brought back a funny memory. I remember watching the stylus/tonearm "jump" while playing the Telarc 1812 overture on a couple of turntables at the local audio stores that had too light a tracking force setting!

 

[twich54]

I think that the high water mark in LPs was when they started doing direct-to-disc, assuming that the engineers were worth a damn. Mobile Fidelity fits in there somewhere too with their half-speed masters and better quality vinyl.


Shefield labs not only produced some of the few "great' CD's from the early years but produced some of the finest LP's as well. As Tim said, alot of us don't believe vinyl is obsolete !!

 

[lugano]

somewhat related to this thread...

... are the contents of this article (interesting read imho):

http://www.mindspring.com/~mrichter/dynamics/dynamics.htm