Quoted from Nhpolarbear:First time seeing this thread. Glad to see others are still into audio equipment. When did people start moving away from home systems? Boombox? Walkman? iPod? I must confess I don’t use mine as much as I once did. Too many devices including a Juke.
This is a good question and brings up some interesting history. As one who lived through most of it, with some of the older memories being a bit hazy, here is how I remember it.
In the 70s, it was all about the cool stereos. The main purpose was for listening to LPs. The more determined types used the big reel to reel tape recorders. All those Marantz, Pioneer, Kenwood, and so on. Some liked the elaborate systems with separates (amp, preamp, tuner, etc.) while others liked the integrated receivers. Big speakers also, JBLs, Altec Lansing, Klipsch, etc. It was all ultracool stuff that everyone wanted to have, but the higher end stuff was pretty expensive for the time.
Later in that period, cassette tapes came around, this added the cassette tape deck to the mix. There was a lot of action recording from LPs to cassette tapes, mainly so they could then be listened to in the car.
Then sometime in the early 80s, video melded together with audio, and the AV receiver took over. You also had VCRs. And also, CDs came out so music became digital at that point. But "stereos" were still cool. Now your typical system had an AV Receiver, Cassette Deck, CD player, VCR, turntable, and speakers.
In the 90s, DVDs came out and video became digital. Now you added in a DVD player to your system. Things were getting a bit piled up and messy at that point. The DVRs from the cable companies and such also came round.
Later toward the end of the 90s, it all went south. The digitization of music was met by advancements in technology and the mass audience that was willing to spend their efforts to figure out how to exploit it. Increased hard drive capacity meant you could store songs from the CDs on your computer, and the invention of MP3 increased that capacity by about 10X. Then Napster came around and everything was let loose for file sharing. Finally, the iPod surfaced. Now people were able to take control of their music, break from the LP/CD/Album concept, and even better carry it around with them. Sure Walkmans were cool but they were never really very big. iPods of course became huge.
At this point, the use of the "home stereo system" was turning into a dated concept. A dinosaur. There were (and are) still AV receivers, but their primary tasks are to watch TV, movies, etc.
This then advanced to the current state, where the masses listen to their music on their phones, mostly by streaming, or through Bluetooth speakers. The idea of a stereo system is now completely obsolete and most likely sneered upon by the new generation.
Various levels of dedicated audiophiles of course keep the dream alive, but they are a teeny minority. There is somewhat of a resurgence of playing analog LPs by various groups, including younger hipster types, but it is still niche as of now.
As to whether all this is good or bad - debate.
Naples, FL
Leduc, AB
