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Have we come full circle ?

Posted by Ross (A) on April 7, 2012 at 18:09:11

Have we come full circle ?

HiFi as we know it started as a DIY movement after WWII. Instead of pushbutton convenience you had to read an article in Wireless World then scrounge for parts and then build your own equipment. The first move by the industry to make HiFi simple was to create kits. Heath, Eico and others built their businesses on the desire of the mainstream to build their own without having the background of the true DIY builders. Well thought out designs and step by step instructions allowed HiFi to leave the garage and move to the suburban den.

As easy as kits became, the real money was in offering a simple component or one box solution. By the mid-late 50’s one could buy high quality ready made components that were easy to install and actually worked when you applied power for the first time. For others there were consoles- one piece of furniture that had everything- TT, Amp, Speakers. The mass market product.

To me the demarcation line between HiFi as something that required interactive thought and one box simplicity was the Fisher 500c. This was one of the first stereo receivers that combined elegant style with excellent performance. It was expensive, but just connect a decent TT and speakers and you were ready to go. After this point, the masses seemed to move away from components and embraced the simple solution of a receiver based system. By the mid to late 60’s the Japanese began to make significant inroads into the US Hi Fi business with you guessed it- receivers..

From that point forward, the evolutionary trend for the masses was simplification. Eliminate as many variables as possible. First the 8 track and then the cassette eliminated the need to use a complicated RtR machine. And both allowed content to be made portable and used in the car. Eventually cassettes surpassed the 8 track and began to catch up to the LP, eventually surpassing the LP in popularity. Just think about it, no more worrying about surface noise, cartridge alignment etc etc. Just pop in a cassette and press play. But Cassettes were still fragile, were prone to deterioration and were inferior in quality to the LP.

Enter the CD. In one fell swoop, all of the limitations of the LP and Cassette were eliminated. The sound was promised to be superior to the LP and the CD would sound the same after the 100th play as it did after the first. Insert disk and press play. The absence of surface noise and digital “clarity” virtually ensured the format’s success in the market. LP sales plummeted as did cassette sales within a few years. The CD has reigned supreme for more than 25yrs. Why? Because it was a simple one box solution to existing problems. No fuss no muss.

The evolution of selling HiFi to the masses was about making HiFi as simple as possible for the masses to use. Consumers have come to expect that each succeeding generation of equipment would be easier to use than the previous generation.

However something changed about 10yrs into the reign of the CD. The rise of the personal computer or PC. The PC had previously been viewed as the hobby of nerds with limited social skills. But as computer technology advanced, the computer started to be embraced by suburbia. Mainstream access to the internet, starting in the late 90’s certainly helped, as did the multitude of applications that became available. But, no matter how far computer technology has advanced in the home, computer technology still requires some level of consumer involvement to work perfectly. Consider that suburban housewives can work their way through a computer crash while still being completely ignorant of ways to troubleshoot a home entertainment system if the CD will not play. The masses have accepted the need to have some knowledge of computers, even as home computer technology has continued to advance. Consumers have accepted this as normal.

Now CD is giving way to downloaded, cloud-based or network stored content. All of which requires varying degrees of user involvement to ensure optimum playback. Convergence is the new buzzword among manufacturers. CD players include DACs that can used by external devices. HT receivers include the ability to stream content from the internet and from storage devices in other parts of the house. But NONE of it is as simple to use as just turning on a receiver. The end user is required to navigate network protocols, file locations, audio format conversions, DRM management during playback etc etc. And while consumers still want simplicity, they have been conditioned by the home computer industry to expect that some level of technical involvement will be required in order to make everything work together.

In some ways this is very reminiscent of the early days of Hi Fi, when you actually needed to know how things worked in order to make various components work together effectively. Thanks to the latest in home technology, we have finally returned to where we were 50 or 60 years ago.

Thanks for the space.

Best,

Ross

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