Obviously we have better picture, sound, and access to content - so from a technical point of view, each passing day is the new 'best ever'. Today, for $5,000 I could buy a 75-85" TV (or very nice projector), nice receiver, great speakers, all the accessories, and still have money left over for every streaming service and a huge stack of 4k discs.
However, from a personal and emotional point of view, the early DVD era was the golden age for me. Few reasons:
--This is when I was coming of age into this world, and I certainly look at it fondly
--True discreet surround sound as standard, a huge step up from Pro Logic
--Easier to setup a HT system in terms of the speaker configurations (5.1 and you were done)
--Larger (better sounding) speakers were common and acceptable
--There was a ton of consumer demand across the price bands, and every audio company was all-in on HT gear
--Because audio and video was still 'simple' and didn't change often, you actually had many of the high-end brands able to make HT receivers or preamps. Much less common now days.
--There was still some 'magic' with analog video in terms of a high-end DVD player, or if you were rich, offboard processor giving you a better picture.
--None of the HDMI gremlins or copy protection issues (if you plugged it in, it worked)
Of course, tons of bad things. 480p video, small TVs (or VERY expensive), no streaming, content was expensive and hard to get in some cases (DVDs), still needed to have an expensive cable or satellite package, etc.
All that said, the Blu-ray era (once HD-DVD died) was great. Even by todays standard, Blu-ray looks excellent and you had better sound. However, it also started the beginning of the end of simple HT gear which pushed most of the selection into mass-market gear...and soundbars...which started to kill off HT gear in general. People traded sound quality for the convenience and design.
However, from a personal and emotional point of view, the early DVD era was the golden age for me. Few reasons:
--This is when I was coming of age into this world, and I certainly look at it fondly
--True discreet surround sound as standard, a huge step up from Pro Logic
--Easier to setup a HT system in terms of the speaker configurations (5.1 and you were done)
--Larger (better sounding) speakers were common and acceptable
--There was a ton of consumer demand across the price bands, and every audio company was all-in on HT gear
--Because audio and video was still 'simple' and didn't change often, you actually had many of the high-end brands able to make HT receivers or preamps. Much less common now days.
--There was still some 'magic' with analog video in terms of a high-end DVD player, or if you were rich, offboard processor giving you a better picture.
--None of the HDMI gremlins or copy protection issues (if you plugged it in, it worked)
Of course, tons of bad things. 480p video, small TVs (or VERY expensive), no streaming, content was expensive and hard to get in some cases (DVDs), still needed to have an expensive cable or satellite package, etc.
All that said, the Blu-ray era (once HD-DVD died) was great. Even by todays standard, Blu-ray looks excellent and you had better sound. However, it also started the beginning of the end of simple HT gear which pushed most of the selection into mass-market gear...and soundbars...which started to kill off HT gear in general. People traded sound quality for the convenience and design.
I dunno, since most folks posting on forums such as these probably have fairly decent internet service, I’d tend to say in terms of selection of programming and resolution, right now is a pretty good time. I'm currently getting 300GBps and dozens of channels of HD, plus Netflix 4K, and Apple TV+, all on a single piece of coax; and except for the Apple TV, all of the normally required functions are controlled by a single remote. Probably gonna invest the $70 CDN on the new ATV remote, as the previous 2 generations were, to be kind, not particularly user friendly; why the fudge do they so often get that part wrong?
I jumped off the FOMO carousel a couple of years ago at 7.1, and aside from occasional HDMI handshake dropouts between my 65” Visio smart TV and Onkyo receiver - a problem apparently not isolated to that brand- it continues to be very satisfying.
Been retired now for coming up to 3 years, and there still isn’t enough time in the day to digest all of the possible program content.
My wife was an older 42” Sony in her bedroom, and I installed a cheap little Sony sound bar for her the other day. While she initially rolled her eyes at the thought, after watching a recent episode of Handmaid’s Tale she commented - “uh, yeah the music sounds much better, and I can actually hear the dialog”
Now, if the question was “golden age of audio”, I’d imagine a much different set of answers; mine might include “before the internet, and all those forums telling me what I was doing wrong”
I jumped off the FOMO carousel a couple of years ago at 7.1, and aside from occasional HDMI handshake dropouts between my 65” Visio smart TV and Onkyo receiver - a problem apparently not isolated to that brand- it continues to be very satisfying.
Been retired now for coming up to 3 years, and there still isn’t enough time in the day to digest all of the possible program content.
My wife was an older 42” Sony in her bedroom, and I installed a cheap little Sony sound bar for her the other day. While she initially rolled her eyes at the thought, after watching a recent episode of Handmaid’s Tale she commented - “uh, yeah the music sounds much better, and I can actually hear the dialog”
Now, if the question was “golden age of audio”, I’d imagine a much different set of answers; mine might include “before the internet, and all those forums telling me what I was doing wrong”
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Blu-ray for me, and it’s still going strong. Streaming e.g. Netflix is good enough for a lot of stuff but soundwise it’s hard to get really good quality. Best I’ve heard was Blu-ray ‘Master and Commander’ analogue out from Sony disc player to my own amp and speakers. My self-modified HT receiver is far mor convenient but until I redesigned the internal amplifier the sound was not good enough.
Care to share the details on your tweaked HT receiver?
I’m currently using only 4 of the onboard amp channels in my Onkyo for surrounds; 3 x “200” ICEPower for the front row, and 2x Hypex UCD180 for LFE sounds a $h!t-ton better. Should finances permit, I might yet outboard all 7 amp channels.
Several years ago, while still experimenting with bi-amping configurations, the receiver’s digital XO / bi-amping feature was pretty handy.
While no doubt there are some limitations/ deficiencies to be found, the convenience of Audyssey auto calibration is a functionality that us old farts find very appealing.
I’m currently using only 4 of the onboard amp channels in my Onkyo for surrounds; 3 x “200” ICEPower for the front row, and 2x Hypex UCD180 for LFE sounds a $h!t-ton better. Should finances permit, I might yet outboard all 7 amp channels.
Several years ago, while still experimenting with bi-amping configurations, the receiver’s digital XO / bi-amping feature was pretty handy.
While no doubt there are some limitations/ deficiencies to be found, the convenience of Audyssey auto calibration is a functionality that us old farts find very appealing.
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TGM6 - modified Pioneer HT amplifier
It’s in this thread. I did it twice, with two generations of receiver, both in the same thread. The one I’m still using today starts at post #13.
Theoretically, it would be better to build a dedicated multi-channel amp from scratch. In that case I would go with this one
TGM8 - an amplifier based on Rod Elliot P3a
‘pronk’ built a multi channel version.
It’s in this thread. I did it twice, with two generations of receiver, both in the same thread. The one I’m still using today starts at post #13.
Theoretically, it would be better to build a dedicated multi-channel amp from scratch. In that case I would go with this one
TGM8 - an amplifier based on Rod Elliot P3a
‘pronk’ built a multi channel version.
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the fun bit was having some of the guys around to watch Master and Commander with some period correct hats and a a supply of Navy rum whilst the HT was cranked up loud!
I think I had a pair of my Apollo open baffle speakers (long since retired) set up for the surrounds and it was spooky good, one of the main battle scenes early on was dramatic from a sound perspective. I believe the soundtrack won awards.
from wiki
“Sound designer Richard King earned Master and Commander an Oscar for its sound effects by going to great lengths to record realistic sounds, particularly for the battle scenes and the storm scenes.”
“King worked with the film's Lead Historical Consultant Gordon Laco, who located collectors in Michigan who owned a 24-pounder and a 12-pounder cannon. King, Laco, and two assistants went to Michigan and recorded the sounds of the cannon firing at a nearby National Guard base. They placed microphones near the cannon to get the "crack" of the cannon fire, and also about 300 yards (270 m) downrange to record the "shrieking" of the chain shot as it passed overhead. They also recorded the sounds of bar shot and grape shot passing overhead, and later mixed the sounds of all three types of shot for the battle scenes.”
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Wikipedia
I think I had a pair of my Apollo open baffle speakers (long since retired) set up for the surrounds and it was spooky good, one of the main battle scenes early on was dramatic from a sound perspective. I believe the soundtrack won awards.
from wiki
“Sound designer Richard King earned Master and Commander an Oscar for its sound effects by going to great lengths to record realistic sounds, particularly for the battle scenes and the storm scenes.”
“King worked with the film's Lead Historical Consultant Gordon Laco, who located collectors in Michigan who owned a 24-pounder and a 12-pounder cannon. King, Laco, and two assistants went to Michigan and recorded the sounds of the cannon firing at a nearby National Guard base. They placed microphones near the cannon to get the "crack" of the cannon fire, and also about 300 yards (270 m) downrange to record the "shrieking" of the chain shot as it passed overhead. They also recorded the sounds of bar shot and grape shot passing overhead, and later mixed the sounds of all three types of shot for the battle scenes.”
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Wikipedia
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So out of curiosity, what’s the HT comprised of these days?
I’m still happy with the compact foot print and performance of my all Mark Audio system, and have been with out access to a decent woodworking shop for well over two years.
Just as well perhaps, as my back and shoulders are starting to be an issue. Those big Alpair MTMs would be a two person carry these days.
I’m still happy with the compact foot print and performance of my all Mark Audio system, and have been with out access to a decent woodworking shop for well over two years.
Just as well perhaps, as my back and shoulders are starting to be an issue. Those big Alpair MTMs would be a two person carry these days.
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these days it’s still the modded HT receiver but streaming has been taking over more and more because of the convenience for ‘casual’ stuff but I will still go on-line and buy a blu-ray disc box collection for something from time to time. I should note, I gave up t.v. 20yrs ago and never looked back - I’m very allergic to advertisements and won’t watch them ever, in any form. So, some tv shows that I might to like to watch result in a blu-ray collection. I use an old Panasonic projector onto a diy-painted basement wall so lighting is well controlled.
In my 5.1 set up the front main speakers are PMC FB1’s, very accurate and powerful hi-fi speakers with a smaller PMC for the centre - a stand mount without the stand. Rear surrounds are B&W 3-way floor standers, an e-waste rescue after somebody’s house got water damaged, had to replace a tweeter. The sub is my own construction
Altair Sub (2x TRIO8's)
I had made my own speakers for front and rear but they were grossly under powered and undersized, that was a fail!
I may bring the PMC’s or B&W over to a dedicated hi fi role and re-jig the ht set up with my Martello-2’s as rear surrounds, no hurry though as I have a pair of Mark Audio boxes I made for the A10 which haven’t had much play yet.
MARTELLO-2, a mini-tower from a single 2' x 4'
I would expect your big MTM’s are just the ticket!
In my 5.1 set up the front main speakers are PMC FB1’s, very accurate and powerful hi-fi speakers with a smaller PMC for the centre - a stand mount without the stand. Rear surrounds are B&W 3-way floor standers, an e-waste rescue after somebody’s house got water damaged, had to replace a tweeter. The sub is my own construction
Altair Sub (2x TRIO8's)
I had made my own speakers for front and rear but they were grossly under powered and undersized, that was a fail!
I may bring the PMC’s or B&W over to a dedicated hi fi role and re-jig the ht set up with my Martello-2’s as rear surrounds, no hurry though as I have a pair of Mark Audio boxes I made for the A10 which haven’t had much play yet.
MARTELLO-2, a mini-tower from a single 2' x 4'
I would expect your big MTM’s are just the ticket!
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+1!
Autonomous working devices that were sturdy built, had play and pause buttons and did not need a network to work. And.... did not need a subscription to anything.
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