AR's 50th Anniversary

[tysontom]

Acoustic Research was co-founded during the summer of 1954 by by Edgar Villchur and his student at NYU, the late Henry Kloss. Villchur was president and director of research; Kloss was vice president and production-engineering manager. August 10, 2004 marks the true 50th anniversary of Acoustic Research, the date in which it was incorporated.

Following are product introductions and milestone dates during the first years of AR through the end of the “Classic AR” period:

1954 AR founded and incorporated

1954 Introduction of the AR-1, AR-1U and AR-1W

1957 Introduction of the AR-2; departure of co-founder Henry Kloss

1958 Introduction of the AR-3

1959 Opening of the AR Music Room in Grand Central Terminal, NYC

1959 Introduction of the AR-2a; AR sales increased 217% in 1959

1959 Introduction of the AR-3t and AR-3st

1960 Opening of the AR Music Room on Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts

1960 Beginning of AR Live-vs.-Recorded concerts (AR-3s) with Fine Arts Concerts

1961 Extension of the AR guarantee from one year to five years (retroactive to 1956)

1962 Introduction of the AR-TA Turntable

1963 Introduction of the AR-XA, two-speed Turntable

1963 Books *Reproduction of Sound* and *High Fidelity Systems* made available

1964 Introduction of the AR-4, AR-2x and AR-2ax

1965 Introduction of the AR-4x

1965 Live-vs.-recorded concerts (AR-3s) with Gustavo Lopez, Guitarist

1966 Live-vs.-recorded demonstrations with the 1910 Nickelodeon (AR-3s and AR-4xs)

1967 June 20th, AR acquired by Teledyne, Inc., a large aerospace conglomerate.

1967 Introduction of the AR-3a

1967 Introduction of the AR Amplifier

1967 AR extended the Turntable warranty from one to three years

1968 Introduction of the AR-5

1969 AR opens manufacturing plant in Amersfoort, Holland

1969 Introduction of the AR Receiver

1970 Introduction of the AR-Deutsch-Grammophone GmbH Contemporary Music Project

1970 Introduction of the AR-6

1970 Introduction of the AR-2x and AR-2ax new versions

1970 Introduction of the AR Tuner

1970 Introduction of the AR-8

1971 Introduction of the AR-LST

1971 AR opens manufacturing plant in Bedfordshire, England

1973 Introduction of the AR-7

1973 Introduction of the AR-4xa

1973 Closing of the Music Room on Brattle Street, Cambridge, Masachusetts

1974 Introduction of the AR-LST-2

1974 Introduction of the AR-XB Turntable

1974 Closing of the Music Room in Grand Central Terminal, NYC

I'm sure I have missed a few milestones; if so, please add them to the forum!

--Tom Tyson

[Guest Droog]

Thanks for the timeline. An interesting note about the begining, according to Henry Kloss, he and Edgar Villchur had some philosophical differences. Villchur wanted to modify 'Best Company' woofers. Kloss wanted to build a speaker from scratch, which is the way it was done. They had real talent at AR, Tony Hoffmann-solid state physicist, Malclm Low had been in the same teaching unit as Kloss at Fort Monmouth N .J. and of course Villchur was one of the best technical writers around. As Kloss recalled in a 1996 interview..."That first magnet was magnetized on a great big two-story-high generator.....once completed, Hofmann systemized the whole thing about closed-box, low frequenct design."

It must have been exiting times during developement in 1954. AR fans can be greatful today, because prior to this, Bozak, Altec Lansing, and University all passed on Vilchur's proposal of a acoustic suspension loudspeaker system! If one of them had bought it, there would have been no Acoustic Research.

[tysontom]

>Thanks for the timeline. An interesting note about the

>begining, according to Henry Kloss, he and Edgar Villchur had

>some philosophical differences. Villchur wanted to modify

>'Best Company' woofers. Kloss wanted to build a speaker from

>scratch, which is the way it was done. They had real talent

>at AR, Tony Hoffmann-solid state physicist, Malclm Low had

>been in the same teaching unit as Kloss at Fort Monmouth N .J.

> and of course Villchur was one of the best technical writers

>around. As Kloss recalled in a 1996 interview..."That first

>magnet was magnetized on a great big two-story-high

>generator.....once completed, Hofmann systemized the whole

>thing about closed-box, low frequenct design."

> It must have been exiting times during developement in 1954.

> AR fans can be greatful today, because prior to this, Bozak,

>Altec Lansing, and University all passed on Vilchur's proposal

>of a acoustic suspension loudspeaker system! If one of them

>had bought it, there would have been no Acoustic Research.

Droog, thanks for your update. Some minor corrections, however, need to be made to your post:

(1) Villchur wanted to OEM standard woofers for the AR-1, but there were few companies with that specialized capability at that time. The original AR-1 prototype woofer was a highly modified Western Electric 728. Also, the expense of buying OEM products was too great for a start-up company, so AR decided to build them from scratch. Kloss did the mechanical design work, taking Villchur’s patent and design and turning it into a workable product. It was not a Kloss decision to build in-house; it was matter of financial necessity.

(2) Yes, Kloss and Villchur did have differences. Villchur developed the acoustic-suspension design and owned the patent, consigned to AR in 1956. Villchur did all loudspeaker design work for AR. He also co-owned (51%) the company. Since Villchur was president and director of research, Kloss (who was according to Villchur also “presidential material”) could not also be president, as two presidents cannot co-exist in the same company. There were other reasons as well, but in 1957 Kloss, Tony Hofman (one "l") and Malcomb Lowe were bought out by new investers led by Abe Hoffman (unrelated).

(3) Villchur wrote the disclosure article about the AR-1, which essentially described in detail the principle and electrical-physical analog of the acoustic-suspension system, long before Hofman wrote his piece while at KLH. Hofman’s treatise was important, simplified the design and contributed to the better understanding of the acoustic-suspension principle, but came after Villchur had described it in great detail in his October, 1954 *Audio* disclosure article.

(4) After Villchur had applied for the patent on the acoustic-suspension design, he approached two (not three) other companies, Altec Lansing and Electro-Voice, to buy his design, but neither company was interested: one officer said, “if a principle such as you describe existed, our engineers would surely have discovered it by now.”

--Tom Tyson

[soundminded]

It seems to me that this generic type of loudspeaker system hasn't overwhelmed the market in recent years despite its proven superiority. In fact, if anything, it seems to have died out. Do you agree and if so, what theory would you advance to explain it?

[tysontom]

>It seems to me that this generic type of loudspeaker system

>hasn't overwhelmed the market in recent years despite its

>proven superiority. In fact, if anything, it seems to have

>died out. Do you agree and if so, what theory would you

>advance to explain it?

Hello Soundminded,

If I understand you to mean that the generic "acoustic-suspension" system has died out somewhat, I think you are probably correct. With the great strides and improvements in the cheaper-to-build bass-reflex enclosures, and the wide use of powered subwoofers, etc., there is no practical purpose in having a high-power, low-distortion a/s woofer system for most intents and purposes. "Stereo" and "high-fidelity sound," as we once knew it, is dead and practically gone -- and no one seems to care. Low distortion and flat response means practically nothing these days. Everything is multi-channel surround sound, and audio quality is secondary to the video image -- so long as there is some pounding bass. Only a few people, other than a few audio purists and die-hards, are concerned about high-quality stereo reproduction anymore, and those who do are the people who remember (long ago) how good it really can sound.

Any thoughts on this? I've probably rocked the boat on this posting.

--Tom Tyson

[soundminded]

Of all the products in the electronics industry I can think of, it seems to me that consumer "high end" audio equipment is the only area where prices have gone up and quality goes down or at least hasn't budged. Who could have imagined in the 1960s and 1970s that there would be audio amplifiers and loudspeakers on the market for may tens of thousands of dollars and that people would actually buy them? Who would have thought that people would pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for speaker wires, interconnect cables, and power cords with absolutely no objective proof that they are any better in performing their function than the cheap alternatives we've been using for years. What seems most ironic is that had the 12AX7A preamplifier and the KT88 power amplifier remained the market's ultimate audio amplifiers over the past 45 years, the best available units out there would probably now cost about $50 instead of $5000 and up. As for loudspeakers, the selection of high quality drivers available to the market seems enormous and if you want something custom manufactured, there are an endless number of places to go. Yet the typical audiophile loudspeaker is a two way 8 inch design whith a Theil Small enclosure, a Linkwitz Riley crossover and costs a couple of thousand dollars. And if you say you want bass below say 50 hz, they tell you to buy an expensive subwoofer. What kind of high fidelity is that? At the extreme are products like those from Audio Note. You could spend $100,000 for a pair of 8" two way units to be powered by a pair of 8 watt SET amplifiers costing over $100,000 each. Who would have thought anyone would spend thousands of dollars for a souped up AR4x reincarnated as Snell K and then Audio Note K? A kind of madness seems to have taken hold.

[Guest Droog]

Tom, thanks for a more detailed history. I got my info from the David Lander interview with Kloss done in 1996 and he may have been trying to make himself sound more in charge then he in fact was. Great speakers by a great bunch of people.

I'm just 38 miles North of Boston and I seem to find some pretty nice AR and KLH speakers at Yard Sales and flea markets, but have yet to find some early AR units from the 1955-56 era but am pleased with a very early pair of KLH model 6's....ser #'s 684 & 711 with cabinets of furniture grade plywood (12 ply) blond cabinets in mint condition for a mere $20. at the flea market.

Has anyone seen or have any of the AR prototypes done before the AR1...square cabinet, there's something for an AR collection!

[Guest Barrydor]

I think you hit the nail right on the head with this post, Tom. It is a clear and accurate description of the sad state of high fidelity

In my opinion, the transition to home theater did a lot of damage to the world of high fidelity. Cheap and poorly designed speakers intended for home theater systems have become far more predominant than offerings designed for high fidelity use. Speakers designed for high fidelity have become a niche market because interest in the hobby has waned

The melding of audio and digital technology has not helped either. Young listeners carry MP3 players which reproduce a format distorted by compression into cheap headphones or cheap computer speakers. One can pop a CD into their computer and listen through the same cheap computer speakers while they do other work. The low cost and the convenience of this type of music listening make it attractive to many

I think the state of the music industry also has a lot to do with the demise of high fidelity. If one enjoys classical or jazz, that is one thing. In terms of popular music, it seems there is very little to listen to that justifies a high fidelity system. The music industry does not nurture their talent any more and many bands are manufactured, not formed from raw talent

I remember a day when teenage sons and their dads would listen together to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Chicago Transit Authority, Miles Davis and others and compare the sound on their different systems. Most systems of the day sounded great out of the box without thousands of dollars worth of tweaks

By contrast, much of the rap, hip hop and other trash (which is seriously compressed into distortion during the recording process these days) is not worthy of a high fidelity system to reproduce it. It seems that good popular music it in this day and age has become rare instead of commonplace

There, now I have rocked the boat

Barry

[soundminded]

There is not much left of music education in our schools either. You'd be surprised how many high school age children have never even heard of Beethoven let alone heard any of his music. OTOH, maybe you wouldn't be surprised.

[Guest russwollman]

Yes, good comments. I understand that radio audiences for classical music are in decline as well. Oddly enough, there is a great station here in Raleigh, NC: WCPE, which is all classical, entirely listener-supported and volunteer operated—an amazing operation in this era. You can hear them online in various ways. http://www.wcpe.org/.

The culture, especially the American culture, is all about bang for the buck. The subtlety index is 'way down. We are all overstimulated and just can't get enough.

If you think a bit about this direction—and it has been years in the making—you can being to understand how the political climate has evolved.

Now...does anyone remember the little booklet written by Ed Villchur entitled "The Reproduction of Sound"? I had it once and lost it along the way. I would like to read it again.

[ninohernes]

Thats a great book, I have a copy of it around here somewhere.

Also, to add to the above posts, I agree. The HIFI industry, and music in general is in a sad state. I am 18, and just graduated from high school, and I have to say, the music department was crap. I practicly knew more about music than the teacher did. He also felt that traditional music was a waste of time, which upset me very much. It really dissapoints me that the younger generation has no clue what great works of music are out there. There is nothing wrong with pop, and rock and roll. I love it! But there is just so much more than that out there. I love going to see the symphony, some of my friends think I am silly, but they just are not familliar with the literature. I tell them, you wouldent go to a rock concert if you did not know who was playing, and what they will be playing. Its the same with traditional music, if you are familliar with the literature, you can go to a show and enjoy it. It needs to be tought in school, and its not being done! I can tell you first hand, its not being done!

I was fortunate enough to have parents that love music, and exposed me to the arts. Records are allways spinning at my house, and we go to concerts regularly.

As I type this, I am listning to Haydn's symphony #66, I enjoy Haydn very much.

[Guest OpusX]

Tom,

Thanks for the post on the eve of what is the 50th Anniversary. For certain it has touched a few nerves, but in a good thought provoking way. We can lament the demise of high fidelity and music we see around us today or we can celebrate the history of this company, the products, innovations, and quality that it brought us and the enjoyment we still experience today. For those of us who follow these threads - we know why we are so passionate about these great old speakers - that feeling we get when you REALLY hear the music and just smile and silently say 'WOW'. We can really celebrate that a couple of men with an idea and a dream took a gamble. The gamble paid off and we still enjoy that rewards today in the sounds we are able to listen to. Pete

[Guest dogmeninreno]

>Yes, good comments. I understand that radio audiences for

>classical music are in decline as well. Oddly enough, there is

>a great station here in Raleigh, NC: WCPE, which is all

>classical, entirely listener-supported and volunteer

>operated—an amazing operation in this era. You can hear them

>online in various ways. http://www.wcpe.org/.

>

>The culture, especially the American culture, is all about

>bang for the buck. The subtlety index is 'way down. We are all

>overstimulated and just can't get enough.

>

>If you think a bit about this direction—and it has been years

>in the making—you can being to understand how the political

>climate has evolved.

>

>Now...does anyone remember the little booklet written by Ed

>Villchur entitled "The Reproduction of Sound"? I had it once

>and lost it along the way. I would like to read it again.

Here is a link to Ed Villchur's book at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-lis...7?condition=all Dale

[Guest OpusX]

yes...I was going to make this point, but will now expand on it slightly. How many schools still have an orchestra program? Yes, there are still band programs, but when is the last time you saw a kid carrying a violin to school for orchestra class. I'm afraid this does not bode well for the future of performance of classical music. I like sports as much as the next guy, but when was the last time that given the choice in cutting a budget that a school district elected to cut football in favor of music or art. I have been elated and disappointed by the outcome of sporting events, but I have never been moved to tears (not ashamed to admit it) by sports, but I was by performances of a high shool marching band in competition. We go for the glory....but we miss the nuggets of pure gold. My humble two cents worth... Pete

[Guest dogmeninreno]

>Yes, good comments. I understand that radio audiences for

>classical music are in decline as well. Oddly enough, there is

>a great station here in Raleigh, NC: WCPE, which is all

>classical, entirely listener-supported and volunteer

>operated—an amazing operation in this era. You can hear them

>online in various ways. http://www.wcpe.org/.

>

>The culture, especially the American culture, is all about

>bang for the buck. The subtlety index is 'way down. We are all

>overstimulated and just can't get enough.

>

>If you think a bit about this direction—and it has been years

>in the making—you can being to understand how the political

>climate has evolved.

>

>Now...does anyone remember the little booklet written by Ed

>Villchur entitled "The Reproduction of Sound"? I had it once

>and lost it along the way. I would like to read it again.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-lis...7?condition=all has the book. Dale

[tysontom]

>Tom, thanks for a more detailed history. I got my info

>from the David Lander interview with Kloss done in 1996 and he

>may have been trying to make himself sound more in charge then

>he in fact was. Great speakers by a great bunch of people.

> I'm just 38 miles North of Boston and I seem to find some

>pretty nice AR and KLH speakers at Yard Sales and flea

>markets, but have yet to find some early AR units from the

>1955-56 era but am pleased with a very early pair of KLH model

>6's....ser #'s 684 & 711 with cabinets of furniture grade

>plywood (12 ply) blond cabinets in mint condition for a mere

>$20. at the flea market.

> Has anyone seen or have any of the AR prototypes done before

>the AR1...square cabinet, there's something for an AR

>collection!

Well, one of these days you will see some AR-1s for sale. They appear on eBay all the time, but they usually sell for over $1000/pair -- mostly because of the beloved (and highly overrated) 755A -- but they are out there. What you have, however, is also very rare and unusual. I think from what you describe you have a pair of very early KLH Sixes in the "Korina" blond finish. Those speakers would date from somewhere in 1959 or 1960, right at the beginning of the KLH Six. This vintage KLH speaker had the epoxied-in woofer and tweeter, so be careful not to blow a driver. This blond finish was popular with Jensen, Altec, AR and others in the fifties and early sixties, and then suddenly dissapeared. There were relatively few KLH's done in that finish, I believe.

I asked the very same question about the original prototype 19" x 19" speaker enclosure that Villchur fabricated for his patent application and original testing. That speaker had the modified Altec Lansing 728 driver in it with the cloth-ticking surround sewed together by Villchur's wife, a draftswoman during WWII. I think that was the only one before the first AR-1 factory speaker. Strangely, for many years that prototype provided music (with no high frequencies, I assume) in the men's room in AR's main Cambridge, Mass factory, but was later dismantled or lost during the move to Norwood in 1973 or 1974 (another important date in the chronology section). I have two relatively early AR-1s: #0006 and #0074. AR also had some "cutaway" AR-3s and AR-3as. I think there were only one or two of the AR-3 cutaways, and they were in the Music Room in New York, and were later dismantled and destroyed. There were three or four AR-3a cutaway used in shows here and in Europe. I have one; the fate of the others is unknown.

--Tom Tyson

[tysontom]

>Thats a great book, I have a copy of it around here

>somewhere.

>

>Also, to add to the above posts, I agree. The HIFI industry,

>and music in general is in a sad state. I am 18, and just

>graduated from high school, and I have to say, the music

>department was crap. I practicly knew more about music than

>the teacher did. He also felt that traditional music was a

>waste of time, which upset me very much. It really dissapoints

>me that the younger generation has no clue what great works of

>music are out there. There is nothing wrong with pop, and rock

>and roll. I love it! But there is just so much more than that

>out there. I love going to see the symphony, some of my

>friends think I am silly, but they just are not familliar with

>the literature. I tell them, you wouldent go to a rock concert

>if you did not know who was playing, and what they will be

>playing. Its the same with traditional music, if you are

>familliar with the literature, you can go to a show and enjoy

>it. It needs to be tought in school, and its not being done! I

>can tell you first hand, its not being done!

>I was fortunate enough to have parents that love music, and

>exposed me to the arts. Records are allways spinning at my

>house, and we go to concerts regularly.

>

>As I type this, I am listning to Haydn's symphony #66, I enjoy

>Haydn very much.

Joe, at your age of 18 you are "one in a million" who cares about and understands music. Congratulations! I'm sure that when you talk to friends your age about music or sound reproduction, they probably glaze over with a blank stare. Perhaps by the time they turn 28 or 30 they will begin to appreciate some things you already know and understand.

--Tom Tyson

[Guest russwollman]

It is a strange era. We have great classical music now owing to support of the arts 'way back when. But today, with vastly greater wealth in the world, we have...we have...ah, I'm straining down here.

So it will be in the hands of a very few that what is great, what is truly lasting, gets passed along. And that's a crucial element in society, that what's real, what's worthwhile, is passed from generation to generation.

This is something worth thinking about and acting upon as best we all can. Perhaps the world is on the verge of something very great, a new level of knowledge. Knowledge has always been the foundation of society: the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Industrial Age, each had a unique level of knowledge available for structuring progress and modes of activity.

I could go on, of course, but this is a loudspeaker forum, and it's all about sound, which is vibration, which is what everything in the universe is, which means it is crucial what sort of speakers YOU hear during your lifetime, or you're not going to hear the universe very well, are you? ;-).

[soundminded]

"There is nothing wrong with pop, and rock and roll."

Comparing "rock music" with great classical music is like comparing comic books with Shakespeare or Tolstoy. The simple ditties sung by untrained, un-beautiful voices, sometimes not even sung but shrieked, often to a droning mind numbing BOOM BOOM BOOM quickly becomes very tiresome and boring, at least to me. Every time I think about rock concerts, I get a vision of Madison Square Garden packed to the roof with screaming young disinterested people often high on drugs or alcohol bearly hearing anything at all even though the sound is deafening. Sometimes the highlight of the evening comes at the end of the performance when the "musicians" set fire to their equipment. Maybe this is unfair but I lived through an era when this was common.

It seems to me that as time went on, the popular musical genre targeted younger and younger audiences who were less sophisitcated than those who were interested in classical music. Less thoughtful, less educated, shorter attention spans. That's OK up to a point. I also love the songs written by the likes of George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter. And I have many recordings of their music in my collections. By the 1950s and early 1960s, the targeted audience was in their teens. By the age of acid rock, it reached for the cradle crowd being more of a plaintive cry than recognizable sound I could characterize as music.

For anyone who attends live concerts of classical music, you become quickly aware of what recording engineers who recorded it have always known and that is that the best efforts of our technology, even today over 100 years after the invention of sound recording, are entirely inadequate to reproduce the aural experience of a live performance. No matter how carefully contrived, the mere inability to record or reproduce the 90% or more of the sound resulting from the acoustics of carefully (if not always successfully) designed and constructed concert halls is sufficient to give us recreations which are qualitatively far from complete or adequate (delusions of some audiophiles notwithstanding.) Whether or not reproductions of music IS or IS NOT music itself is a philosophical arguement I will leave for another time although what I've said about that in the past tends to anger some people.

OK, there's more than enough fuel for a flame war. If it's been a little dry and dull around here lately, this should start a good bonfire.

[ninohernes]

Happy 50th AR!!!!

[Steve F]

One minor correction to the timeline: The AR-8 was not introduced in 1970; it was introduced just after the 4xa, in the 1973 timeframe. High Fidelity Magazine’s test report of the 8 was dated 1/74.

Also, ported speakers are more expensive to manufacture than sealed boxes, not less expensive. There are the additional manufacturing steps of routing the cabinet panel for the port flange, installing the port tube, and sealing around the flange. Often, depending on the system’s tuning and length of the tube itself, there needs to be internal support for the tube, to prevent it from rattling or falling off. Then also, there is the assembly labor to do all of this.

In addition, most of today’s ported speakers use the plastic port itself as a cosmetic element, whereby the port flange conveys some sense of sophistication and high technology to the potential customer. The port flange must be tooled (often at a cost of several thousand dollars), and this tooling cost, plus the cost of the part itself, is amortized across the production run of speakers.

Remember, every $1 of material cost translates into $4.00 at retail. Having been involved in consumer goods marketing and manufacturing for the past 30 years, I know that this is the normal yardstick of comparison between material cost and retail price. Therefore a $4.00 port tube is a $20.00 retail increase, just to get back to cost parity.

Sealed speakers, in addition to their obvious acoustic superiority, are less expensive to manufacture. The growth in popularity of ported speakers has more to do with their lower 3dB down point vs. sealed for a given cabinet size, which then translates into a more effective retail demo, especially if the store doesn’t use efficiency compensation when A-B’ing speakers—which very few do these days. (Heck, most stores like Best Buy and Circuit City barely have the ability to perform speaker A-B’s anymore! Very sad.)

As far as the ‘death’ of high fidelity is concerned, remember that markets progress and change as part of their normal evolution. Sure, large numbers of people don’t necessarily tweak and fuss with ‘hi-fi’ anymore, but decent sound is accessible and used by a far larger number of consumers today than ever before. Maybe not as good as the halcyon days of stereo (circa 1968-73), but the twin 5” 10-watt system built into your Sony 42” LCD is far better than the 2” speaker in your Dad’s 1967 19” RCA. Both sets would be considered excellent TVs in their day, but today’s Sony sounds incomparably better. The thing that you are ruing is that one out of fifty 1967 Dads also had a pair of 3a’s in the living room, where today that’s probably not the case. Today’s 42” Sony owner has a wireless laptop computer with wi-fi Internet access—that’s his “hobby,” not 12” 3-way speakers. Things just change over time, that’s all.

Remember also this immutable law of consumerism: Once quality reaches a certain minimum acceptable level, convenience reigns supreme in the mass market. Absolutely and every time. Cassette tape was lower ‘fi’ than a well-recorded LP, but cassette took off, because it could be conveniently used in cars, in boom boxes, in Walkmans, etc. Quality? Decent. Convenience? Superb.

Youngsters on this forum may not remember, but Sony came out with a format in 1977 called the Elcassette. This was essentially open reel tape housed in a large plastic “cassette” shell about the size of an 8-track, running at 3 ¾ IPS. The thought was to offer open reel performance with the convenience of a cassette. It had Sony’s marketing muscle behind it. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

It was a total flop. Cassettes killed it before it ever got off the ground. Cassettes were smaller, more convenient, and of ACCEPTABLE quality.

How about Sanyo/Fisher’s attempt to offer 2-speed cassette machines in 1978-79?

1 7/8 and 3 ¾ IPS units. Again, a total flop. Convenience over performance.

The CD, my good friends, was a tremendous hit with Joe average consumer because of its durability, its small size, its instant access to individual tracks, its freedom from pops, clicks, and needle skipping. Convenience carried the day. The CD’s better sound was just a bonus, but can anyone seriously doubt that if the CD sounded the same as an LP, but offered all its other durability/size/convenience advantages it would have been any less of a smash success? Of course not—there’s no doubt whatsoever. The CD was a hit because of convenience first, and sound second.

Look at any other industry: VHS/Beta tape, auto-focus cameras, automatic transmissions, orange juice from concentrate, etc—convenience is KING, not ultimate performance. MP3, IPODs and the like are simply a further reflection of this aspect of consumer behavior.

I’ll continue to enjoy my 3a’s and I’ll continue to enjoy swapping tales of old speakers with my valued compatriots on this forum, but I recognize the nature of both changing markets and buyers’ attitudes. It’s not something to be sad about. It’s simply something to acknowledge the existence of.

Steve F.

[soundminded]

If you keep it up Steve, you're going to make me cry.

In an article in the Sunday NY Times Arts section about a year or two ago, the writer proclaimed the death of classical music. Well it may not be exactly dead yet but it is almost comatose. What else would you expect given the lack of including music in education, the preoccupation with entirely other matters by most people, the prevalance of a 30 second attention span? It's a wonder anyone even sits down to read a book anymore considering the other diversions, distractions, and the amount of time it takes. Even serious jazz seems to have dwindled in popular interest. The striving for accurate reproduction of serious music has diminished with the market for it and at almost every level from the interest basic science takes in researching it to the innovative spirit of experimenters, there doesn't seem to be much activity advancing the state of the art any more. The industry has become extraordinarily conservative exploiting every possible variant of its existing technology while introducing little or nothing new in decades. Yes, it's enough to make a baby boomer ex audiophile cry with nostalgia for different times.

[Guest Bret]

>Comparing "rock music" with great classical music is like comparing comic books with Shakespeare or Tolstoy.<

As Bill The Cat of comic books might say, “Cry Havoc! Ackthrthrrrrp!.”

If classical music is something like an elegant lady in formal regalia who knows which spoon to use when; then rock music is a young woman running-around in a string bikini eating cake with her fingers. I have time to appreciate both.

You guys have expressed well most of the reasons I imagine for the demise of music and hi-fi. As I see it, there is but one thing missing from this conversation and that is this: How do we educate those in need? Things like “support the arts in your community” ring hollow since we can’t control the experiences offered or where the money is spent.

We should take heart knowing that the situation we enthusiasts find ourselves in today isn’t totally without precedent. I suspect fifty years ago there was an even lower density of hi-fi systems in homes than there is today. Hi-fi was a niche filled by the likes of hobbyists turned entrepreneurs, such as David Hafler, in those days. His spirit lives-on in some. All is not yet lost.

As for the demise of classical music, it has been dead for a very long time, but has only in my lifetime begun de-composing. (pun intended) One could argue it was dead almost entirely before the advent of hi-fi.(pun unintended) All the great symphonies seem to have been written and most of them have been recorded dozens of times. If someone could write another inspiring piece like Beethoven’s 9th, would there be noone to record it, nowhere for it to be played, and no audience to come hear it?. Was Copeland the last composer draw an audience?

Regardless of the style, I insist on being able to hear what I’m listening to. My contention is the same as that of several other contributors - Most people today have never heard what they listen to. If they could hear it, they might choose better.

On the 50th anniversary of AR’s incorporation, we might imagine ourselves in a situation much like Misters Vilchur and Kloss found themselves in back when. We know we have something special; how do we get the word out?

Due to a social obligation it will be late this evening before I get the opportunity - but I fully intend to open a bottle of Cabernet I’ve been saving for some special occasion, play Saint Seans’ “Organ” symphony (or something similarly demanding. . . I haven’t decided) and drink to Mr. Vilchur’s health, the memory of Henry Kloss, and my great fortune in experiencing the fruits of their labors and its legacies.

Bret

[JeffS]

>I think you hit the nail right on the head with this post,

>Tom. It is a clear and accurate description of the sad state

>of high fidelity

>

>In my opinion, the transition to home theater did a lot of

>damage to the world of high fidelity. Cheap and poorly

>designed speakers intended for home theater systems have

>become far more predominant than offerings designed for high

>fidelity use. Speakers designed for high fidelity have become

>a niche market because interest in the hobby has waned

>

>The melding of audio and digital technology has not helped

>either. Young listeners carry MP3 players which reproduce a

>format distorted by compression into cheap headphones or cheap

>computer speakers. One can pop a CD into their computer and

>listen through the same cheap computer speakers while they do

>other work. The low cost and the convenience of this type of

>music listening make it attractive to many

>

>I think the state of the music industry also has a lot to do

>with the demise of high fidelity. If one enjoys classical or

>jazz, that is one thing. In terms of popular music, it seems

>there is very little to listen to that justifies a high

>fidelity system. The music industry does not nurture their

>talent any more and many bands are manufactured, not formed

>from raw talent

>

>I remember a day when teenage sons and their dads would listen

>together to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Chicago Transit

>Authority, Miles Davis and others and compare the sound on

>their different systems. Most systems of the day sounded great

>out of the box without thousands of dollars worth of tweaks

>

>By contrast, much of the rap, hip hop and other trash (which

>is seriously compressed into distortion during the recording

>process these days) is not worthy of a high fidelity system to

>reproduce it. It seems that good popular music it in this day

>and age has become rare instead of commonplace

>

>There, now I have rocked the boat

>

> Barry

I think that one great thing about this day and age is the body of recorded music available. While some music and recording techniques aren't worthy of a high fidelity system for reproduction, there's far more that are.

Personally, there is a lot of recorded music out there that I have yet to enjoy and I'm sure there are many others that feel the same.

And while people used to complain about the price of new CD's, look at how cheaply recorded music can be purchased. Music that is not new can be purchased used for a substantial savings through Amazon, Half.com, etc. Used goods shops often sell CD's for two to three dollars each, and I've seen some good yard sales where some interesting CD's sell for fifty cents!

I'm probably just as interested in hi-fi now as I was when I first became interested in it back in the mid 70's. Blame the internet, I guess. I've seen and purchased many used components over the last few years from used goods stores, yard sales, eBay, etc., that I never would have had exposure to if I had to purchase them at new prices. Often, with minor repair, the units are completely serviceable again. One problem can be finding room for all of it!

So, while the hi-fi and music industry has changed in ways that may sadden many readers on this forum, there is still plenty of ways to enjoy these pursuits. Of course, having a wife that doesn't mind having a pair of 303's in the living room, or various other speakers around the house at any given time, helps a lot.

[Guest russwollman]

That's the key question, Bret. How do we educate those in need?

The tastes and preference of humanity will always be varied, and they should be. Diversity is great stuff—but only when it is well supported by a widely shared, underlying unity. And that unity is what's needed.

We value AR loudspeakers because of their 'truthfulness", faithfulness to the source. It's time to train people to know the source of their existence so that they may remain faithful to that level of life. It is a level of peace, calm and truth, the basis of all appreciation, evaluation, and creativity.

I could go on, but...another time, maybe.