# How Many Of You Still Have "State Of The Art" Stereo Systems? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610 "2012-04-12T21:34:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/41 "2012-04-15T11:11:25Z")
Does this count as a “state of the art” system?😛 [![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7230/7079526825_334e350747_z.jpg) ](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7230/7079526825_334e350747_z.jpg) [![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7254/6933456686_7e844127fd_z.jpg) ](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7254/6933456686_7e844127fd_z.jpg) [![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6933455664_3bd9294992_z.jpg) ](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6933455664_3bd9294992_z.jpg) It does look nice in the living room. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/42 "2012-04-15T12:46:19Z")
Have you ever come across a Sequeiros receiver? These things were limited production, insanely expensive, and loaded with high-tech eye candy (that had a mini-CRT display showing the distortion level (or something else). AS for B&O, Philips bought them out, and subsequently, B&O used Philips ICs, audio amplifiers, and power supplies. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/43 "2012-04-15T13:04:26Z")
> [@Borzo](#): > > I think people value convenience more than quality. Back in the day, you had to set aside time and sit at home to listen to music. But now, you can just take it with you on the bus/train/car. But most of these places have huge amounts of background noise, however - and as a result, peoples’ need for quality has taken a backseat. This is my thought as well, especially since you still see very hotsy-totsy headphones being sold. Sequester yourself in your best possible mobile audio world. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/44 "2012-04-15T15:24:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > We’ve got shit to do, and we’d rather be able to take all the music we own wherever we go than listen to it in uber-squiddly-ultra-super-high fidelity. Especially since we’re probably too drunk or high to appreciate the nuances anyway. That’s admirable. Because we never got drunk or high back in the day listening to Pink Floyd, Rush or Motley Crue.😃 But yeah, nowadays you can get about as good of sound out of PC spearkers or one of those iPod docking stations. We didn’t have any of that when I was in college. You had to buy the whole CD player, tuner, amp, tower speakers combo. And if you were going to buy all that, you might as well muy shit that lasts. The exception I can think of is home theater surround sound. ---
**Author:** ![moldmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@moldmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/45 "2012-04-15T16:29:41Z")
I still have my Klipsch KG2 speakers I bought in 1990(?) while in the Army. I left my Luxman integrated amp at home because it needed repairs and my Mom threw it out.:eek: The speakers are hooked up to the Sony receiver I replaced it with out in my shop building. They used to be part of the TV setup but SWMBO didn’t like the look. I most often use it to play music off my Ipod (through the DAT channel, that idea didn’t exactly take off.) I still have a CD player and turntable around somewhere. I used to read Stereo Review and lust after the top-end stuff. There was a store in Monterrey CA that carried McIntosh (sp.) where I loved to window shop. Stereo Review had great album reviews and I discovered music that I never would have otherwise. I do remember one article that was honest and said that the nuances of the high end stuff were beyond the hearing of the average person. That reality and the cost kept me from buying anymore equipment. Nowdays the convenience of having a bunch of music on a Ipod and listening to it anywhere I go trumps the lesser sound quality. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/46 "2012-04-15T16:35:10Z")
**Ralph124c** Are you trolling, I ask because the comments you have made twice, the second without any reference to a refutation by me, strikes me as either wilful ignorance or a deliberate attempt to get a reaction. In particular > [@](#): > > Philips bought them out, and subsequently, B&O used Philips ICs, audio amplifiers, and power supplies. This statement is not true at any level, B&O is still an independent manufacturer and the fact that this or any other company that uses components manufactured by a third party does not have the slightest bearing on the ownership of the company. Since I have seen Phillips parts in many other mainstream manufacturers products, from microwave ovens, through radios, radars medical equipment,photocopiers to high power heavy duty power generation and distribution electronics are you seriously suggesting that they too are all owned by Phillips? I’ll bet Trane (a division of Ingersol- Rand) would be most interested in your conclusions. Perhaps all the major component manufacturers have joint ownership of end product manufacturers, Siemens, Intel, Texas instruments, International semiconductors, Sharp, Sony, Ferranti, et al perhaps they all work together to claim ownership of Apple, Sony, Quad, Pace, and every other electronic end user manufacturer. Your points are wrong, badly made and stupid - please cease and desist spreading ignorance! BTW **Crafterman** That Sansui system is still worth over $5000 if its in pristine condition today - and I really wish I owned one. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/47 "2012-04-15T17:30:18Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > **Ralph124c** BTW **Crafterman** That Sansui system is still worth over $5000 if its in pristine condition today - and I really wish I owned one. A couple years ago I sold the BA-3000 amp for $1000 on eBay. I still have the pre-amp, which is actually a CA-2000 (not CA-3000 - my bad). Other than some dirty pots and switches, it still works well. I’d like to get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/48 "2012-04-15T23:58:34Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > This is a myth. > > Unless you wish to consider the manufacturers of almost every hifi system to be made up of Phillips parts. > > Sadly, the cost of B&O on EBAY is not all that cheap either, for Hifi that is getting on for 30 years old - and it is worth comparing the cost of it to all the other stuff that was on the market at the time - actually you don’t see much becuase most of it is worthless. Check out how much JVC is on there, or maybe Sanyo, then compare the prices. > > You need to remember that the patents and standards for the cassette and the audio CD and most of the VHS and betamax recorders are all owned by Phillips, and that anything using these as major parts of their systems either uses Phillips components directly, or pays a royalty - all of them without any exceptions whatsover. > > Since I own and have repaired many hifi systems, and I am very well aware of the manufacturers of the components from which they are made, your statement \*\* Ralph\*\* is an extreme exagerration of the truth. > > Care to apply that statement to SONY, BOSE, Yamaha, Akai, Sansui and just about every other manufacturer, because it is as true for them as for B & O. > > Are we also going to say that all these manufactuers were just rebadged Siemens products, because gues who made many of the semi-conductors for them? > > I’ll even mention a specific component for you, the earlier laser head mechanism the CD 104 was a Phillips produced part, however it was used by many other companies. > > Its almost like saying that the Land Rover is a Buick since it used the Buick engine on license, even though it was used in a modified form, yet no-one would truly decribe Land rovers as Buicks. > > To link B&O to Phillips is to attempt to do something very similar. > > Even so, even if it were rebadged Phillips, what is does reveal is the sneering contempt held by so-called ‘experts’ in audio engineering who have never taken the real trouble to attend high level college or university courses and do the hard work to understand the design, construction and the real meanings of specifications.If Phillips sounds good, then it sounds good, the badge is completely irrelevant. Sneer on dude! > > What has always mattered is the sound quality that can be objectively measured, not opinionised. Hifi buffs are self educated idiots with lots of prejudices and no formal technical knowledge - they are wannabee technicians who can’t actually cut it when it comes down to the maths. They speak with an authority that conceals their ignorance. > > This, as you have probably guessed, is one of my pet peeves. I hate the approach of the ‘faux engineer’ because it is unscientific, because it is the easy way out of doing the hard graft it takes to understand a complex subject. Its the sort of lax thinking that leads to the conspiracy theorist, to the fools thinking that sitting in their homes and looking at a few charts and images, they can debunk the idea that we went to the moon, or a host of other stupid pseudoscience trends. > > Knowledge is hard won, it is far easier to have a little bit of stolen glory by pretending to know something, by repeating some canard that has been smokescreened in some meaningless pseudo-gobbledygook. The hifi world is awash with such people. > > B&O stuff was expensive, and still is, you can get more for your money over the shorter term, but other stuff tends not to last as long or hold its value as long and also other stuff soon looks old. > > Even so there is some better sounding stuff out there, plenty of it - but the stuff that sounds better and lasts as long also holds its value too, you just look up some of the Audio Fidelity stuff, or Quad, or NAIM - in fact this is likely to be even more expensive than B&O - but at least is can measure objectively why it is better with the right equipment - it is not a matter of opinion. I just wanted something to play the new Shins CD on.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/49 "2012-04-16T14:20:01Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Ralph124c > > … > > Your points are wrong, badly made and stupid - please cease and desist spreading ignorance! I see you’ve never encountered ralph before… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/50 "2012-04-16T17:12:50Z")
I have an old BSR receiver and equalizer from the late 80’s/early 90’s. I wish it had more inputs but damned if it still doesn’t look fairly good, it doesn’t look dated. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/51 "2012-04-16T17:50:42Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You really have to ask? More comfortable, allows for freedom of movement, can talk on phone with speakers going, allows more than one listener at once, and I’m sure there are more… Yeah I did. It seemed like a valid question. I don’t know much about speakers but I think the noise isolation on a pair of headphones will go a long way to improve your listening experience. Furthermore, if you’re spending money to get a great sound, why would you listen to it while talking on the phone? ---
**Author:** ![King\_Ghidora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@King\_Ghidora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Ghidora)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/52 "2014-02-17T15:11:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you trolling, I ask because the comments you have made twice, the second without any reference to a refutation by me, strikes me as either wilful ignorance or a deliberate attempt to get a reaction. Good grief. I know this thread is old but I registered just to point out how wrong you are. Read this o’ master of sound: [http://www.europolitics.info/philips-sells-25-of-bang-olufsen-stake-artr165615-9.html](http://www.europolitics.info/philips-sells-25-of-bang-olufsen-stake-artr165615-9.html) Here’s a quote just to make it easy: “The Dutch company said that B&O had steadily increased its purchase of components from Philips since the agreement started in 1990…” It’s people like you with their superior attitude that make audio discussions the most contentious on the net. I know two audio nuts that have been going at each other tooth and nail for well over 20 years. They argue every day all day long. What killed the audio equipment industry was the “audiophile” and the quest for ever more expensive status symbols in the form of audio equipment. And you seem to be one of them. Let’s talk about the equipment you suggest. NAIM speakers run about $3000 a set or more. No one wants to spend $10,000-$20,000 on a stereo system. Not many do anyway. When the “high end” craze hit a few companies sold ridiculously priced equipment and the big companies saw the dollar light at the end of the tunnel and they jumped on the bandwagon. Instead of making a fortune they killed the industry. And it was all driven by “audiophool” thinking. There was never going to be a mass market for stereo systems that expensive. They weren’t content to build systems people would pay for. Yes “some” of the high end stuff sounds better and it has driven an increase in quality but the prices are coming back to earth. The trouble is people have moved on long ago. Now the best, affordable systems are found in cars. And people pushing $3000 a set speakers had a big hand in killing a once thriving industry. I don’t know a single person that bought that audiophile equipment. I knew a lot that bought the nearly as good stuff we had in the 70’s and 80’s and a good part of the 90’s. People are still using the old stuff. This thread is proof. I know lots of people with money. They buy that Bose stuff because it’s relatively cheap and convenient. It sounds awful but they buy it because it’s hard to even find decent equipment at a decent price now. The “experts” that told us we needed flat response systems and that we didn’t need tone dials and that it was better to have detailed high end sound rather than full spectrum sound and that the bass in the old systems was awful. Those things are only a part of what makes for a good sound system. Presence and response time can’t be measured with pink noise generators. I’ve been a sound man for successful bands among other things. I was asked to run a major recording studio at one time. I have produced CD’s that sold very well. I think I know a thing or two about what sounds good and I didn’t need to learn it from a book on the quality of capacitors. I used my ears. And I learned by trial and error. And I bet my system sounds way better than you would think if I told you what it was. I’ve listened to high end stuff. Some of it does sound very good on the high end. Some of it doesn’t. And very little of it has true bass response. It’s equipment for status nerds. My son has a master in engineering physics which was largely about electrical engineering. Surprise. I bet he knows far more about this stuff than you. His friends had high end systems when he was in college. He said none of them sounded as good as my system. So there’s your highly trained response. It isn’t about how much money you pay. It’s about sound quality and there were some great sounding components around for years until people started calling themselves experts and telling the world a good stereo needed to cost at least 10 grand. All that did was kill the industry. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/53 "2014-02-17T15:13:42Z")
I had a Marantz Gold system that was top of the line in 1985 when I got it as a birthday present. It finally died last Spring and I’ve just been using my laptop since then. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/54 "2014-02-17T15:20:27Z")
It’s not ‘state of the art’ but damn good. Yamaha NS-1000M speakers, Sony TA-N55ES power amp, Sony XA-20ES CD player, Stax Lambda electrostatic headphones. and about 1500 CDs. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/55 "2014-02-17T15:23:35Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/56 "2014-02-17T15:41:24Z")
> [@King\_Ghidora](#): > > It isn’t about how much money you pay. It’s about sound quality and there were some great sounding components around for years until people started calling themselves experts and telling the world a good stereo needed to cost at least 10 grand. All that did was kill the industry. Snipped for brevity. I agree with this, for what it’s worth. When I could finally afford decent speakers back in the 80s, I thought Bose was the way to go. Luckily, I ran into a guy at the base PX who actually knew what all that equipment could and could not do. He took the time to hook up a Bose speaker on the left channel of an amp and a Cerwin Vega on the right. The difference was startling and educational, especially the response of the CVs at lower volumes. Years later, I bought a set of Bose 901s because some guy was selling them for $400, which was a steal. They were okay, but the CVs still blew them out of the water. I sold them all in the 90s, along with my wife’s old Klipsch 100s. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/57 "2014-02-17T15:53:15Z")
My best friend spent more on his receiver than I spent on my car, and I bought my car brand new. ---
**Author:** ![iMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9c0ed/32.png) [@iMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iMouse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/58 "2014-02-17T16:03:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > My best friend spent more on his receiver than I spent on my car, and I bought my car brand new. Probably an ancient McIntosh tube system, rare and very sought-after. My speakers are all that remain of my ‘classic system’, Electro-Voice Marquis bass-reflex. They turn 50 this year. 😃 Amps, receivers, tables have changed over the years, but these puppies keep pounding out the sound without a hitch. I’m using them right now as a matter of fact, feeding my receiver via iTunes Radio through my iMac. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/59 "2014-02-17T16:04:11Z")
> [@King\_Ghidora](#): > > I think I know a thing or two about what sounds good and I didn’t need to learn it from a book on the quality of capacitors. I used my ears. And I learned by trial and error. Audio is a science, not an art. Anything you hear can be measured. And we can measure things you can’t hear. Suffice to say, the quality of an audio system can be completely & objectively determined by professionals using modern measurement equipment designed and built for that purpose. It’s all in the numbers, not on what someone claims to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610/60 "2014-02-17T16:09:52Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Audio is a science, not an art. Anything you hear can be measured. And we can measure things you can’t hear. > > Suffice to say, the quality of an audio system can be completely & objectively determined by professionals using modern measurement equipment designed and built for that purpose. It’s all in the numbers, not on what someone claims to hear. But you need to measure the right things. My Yamaha NS-1000M speakers are absolutely stunning, and they were made around 1976! I have heard newer high-end speakers and most of them sound screechy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-you-still-have-state-of-the-art-stereo-systems/618610.md?page=4)