Does Today's Mid-fi gear Beat any HiFi gear from the 1970s? Or is it all drek?

caesar · Feb 16, 2018

Thank you

Al M. · Feb 16, 2018

caesar said:
Thank you

The Schiit Modi DAC ($ 99) probably beats any $ 500 turntable from the 1970s. The $ 65 class D amp (see link) that I bought for break-in of my speakers probably beats some decent Hi-Fi amps from the 1970s. Seriously, it's astonishingly good.

So yes, today you can get decent quality for a much cheaper price.

bonzo75 · Feb 16, 2018

The iPod beats most CD players from the 70s

jeff1225 · Feb 16, 2018

Al M. said:
The Schiit Modi DAC ($ 99) probably beats any $ 500 turntable from the 1970s. The $ 65 class D amp (see link) that I bought for break-in of my speakers probably beats some decent Hi-Fi amps from the 1970s. Seriously, it's astonishingly good.

So yes, today you can get decent quality for a much cheaper price.

Haha that's a funny comparison.

katylied · Feb 16, 2018

bonzo75 said:
The iPod beats most CD players from the 70s

morricab · Feb 16, 2018

Al M. said:
The Schiit Modi DAC ($ 99) probably beats any $ 500 turntable from the 1970s. The $ 65 class D amp (see link) that I bought for break-in of my speakers probably beats some decent Hi-Fi amps from the 1970s. Seriously, it's astonishingly good.

So yes, today you can get decent quality for a much cheaper price.

I doubt the Schiit DAC beats a decent 70s TT ($500 was a lot of money for a TT in the 1970s...or do you mean $500 now...doesn't matter, I can take a Pioneer PL50 or Denon DP-47 for $500 today).

I won't speculate on the amps...

Empirical Audio · Feb 16, 2018

Try a Sony HAP-z1es. You would have to spend a lot to match that performance with a preamp, turntable, cartridge.

Al M. · Feb 16, 2018

morricab said:
I doubt the Schiit DAC beats a decent 70s TT ($500 was a lot of money for a TT in the 1970s...or do you mean $500 now...doesn't matter, I can take a Pioneer PL50 or Denon DP-47 for $500 today).

Sorry, meant today's dollars (ca. $ 100 back then).

GaryProtein · Feb 16, 2018

bonzo75 said:
The iPod beats most CD players from the 70s

There were no CD players in the 1970s.

The CD player wasn't introduced until October 1982

The iPod sure beat the walkmen.

bonzo75 · Feb 16, 2018

GaryProtein said:
There were no CD players in the 1970s.

.

That was the joke

twitch · Feb 16, 2018

caesar said:
Thank you

thank you for what ??? You posted a useless thread..... 'thank you' !

microstrip · Feb 16, 2018

Al M. said:
The Schiit Modi DAC ($ 99) probably beats any $ 500 turntable from the 1970s.

"Probably" not IMHO ... We are debating preferences, I can not see how people use the word "beat" in such context. But at that time $500 would get me an excellent Thorens turntable that I risk saying I would surely prefer to a current $99 DAC.

Al M. said:
The $ 65 class D amp (see link) that I bought for break-in of my speakers probably beats some decent Hi-Fi amps from the 1970s. Seriously, it's astonishingly good.

So yes, today you can get decent quality for a much cheaper price.

You are a lucky and happy audiophile - never found anything at such prices that I could like. But yes, we can find decent quality at nice prices.

jeff1225 · Feb 16, 2018

bonzo75 said:
That was the joke

Bonzo.....careful using sarcasm with Americans.

NorthStar · Feb 16, 2018

bonzo75 said:
That was the joke

Obviously, who couldn't seen it.

Al M. · Feb 16, 2018

microstrip said:
You are a lucky and happy audiophile - never found anything at such prices that I could like. But yes, we can find decent quality at nice prices.

Yes, I found it rather enjoyable, even though perhaps not for all music. Quite dynamic and clean, quite good tonality (even though perhaps not without some irritating details), very good bass. Let's look at it that way: My Octave amp costs 200 x more. Is it 200 times better? No

.

But is it much better? You bet.

Al M. · Feb 16, 2018

microstrip said:
"Probably" not IMHO ... We are debating preferences, I can not see how people use the word "beat" in such context. But at that time $500 would get me an excellent Thorens turntable that I risk saying I would surely prefer to a current $99 DAC.

Yes, sorry, I already corrected myself on this one. I meant $ 500 in today's money, which would have been approximately $ 100 then.

BlueFox · Feb 16, 2018

twitch said:
thank you for what ??? You posted a useless thread..... 'thank you' !

LOL. Yes. On the other hand, a thread comparing today’s inexpensive hi-fi to high end hi-fi might be useful. For example, my previous stereo was a Cambridge Audio 840E preamp, and two 840W amps in bridged mono mode. Total price was less than my current Pass preamp. However, I suspect the CA gear was giving me at least 90% of what the Pass does. Only at really insane SPLs does the Pass really stand out.

NorthStar · Feb 16, 2018

twitch said:
thank you for what ??? You posted a useless thread..... 'thank you' !

I don't find it useless; it has some interesting perspective to it...almost fifty years of it.

Al M. · Feb 16, 2018

NorthStar said:
I don't find it useless; it has some interesting perspective to it...almost fifty years of it.

+1

Good topic, Caesar.

BlueFox · Feb 16, 2018

NorthStar said:
I don't find it useless; it has some interesting perspective to it...almost fifty years of it.

What perspective is that? CD players didn’t exist in the 70s? $500 turntables now were $100 then? An inexpensive DAC now is better than an old turntable? WTF kind of a comparison is that? LOL

Does Today's Mid-fi gear Beat any HiFi gear from the 1970s? Or is it all drek?

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