The Death of the Home Stereo System
The Death of the Home Stereo System
In this video, I explore the evolution of audio technology, diving deep into the shift from traditional home stereo systems to modern, compact devices. I discuss the importance of affordability and accessibility in introducing HiFi audio to newcomers. Join the conversation as I seek solutions to ensure the longevity of this beloved hobby, balancing superior audio quality with modern convenience.
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#stereosystem #homeaudio #hifi
When I was in college, a lot of people had stereos in their rooms. I visited a college dorm about a decade ago and was shocked how quite it was.
Got the tv sound bar, Bluetooth speakers here and there, but still have a bunch of home stereo seperates. I use all these things as i like, enjoy all of them, when off from work. Thanks for the video 👍
I recently cleaned up our basement and got a pool table and a few arcade machines, but when I went to buy a new stereo system all I could find was Bluetooth speakers. 😢
I have a lot of Bluetooth speakers including expensive ones but i Prefer stack components with large speakers
Home stereo was best to listen
"… sometimes they can actually just be complete dicks…" Lol. Well said.
Will always have stereo till i die….
I hated itunes and home theaters. I just wanted a traditional home stereo with turntable, cassette deck , big equalizer and big wooden speakers. Never cared about 5.1 or movie sound, just wanted stereo cristal clear and powerful/loud classical music experience.
Music has to change too. There are way too many swifties out there.
I was producing as a hobby long before I built a pair of 3-way floor speakers. My two cents are, modern music (especially EDM which I like) has a lot of phase- and delay-based effects that complete its sound, and are only reproduced well in headphones, on full-range drivers like Bluetooth speakers, on really friggin’ big VLAs, or in *very* well-treated rooms. Also digital streaming has well surpassed vinyl in objective quality, nobody would admit for years vinyl is very lossy, it’s just lossy in a way that’s more aesthetically pleasing than digital loss, especially with t- t-transients.
Another aspect of this is that we are in a low point of good music production. However this is made up for by the largest and most accessible catalog of older great music in history.
I still miss my compact Emerson w auto shut off turntable-8 track recording-cool speakers-PA-70’s
I miss having a stereo system and listening to my music in real stereo. I just get it with headphones now. I don’t even know where to begin to buy anything now.
I miss a good old stack system with cd and cassette tapes, MP3 sounds like crap after listening to CDs
I remember how most of my friends 15-20 years ago jumped onto Bluetooth speakers and iPod Docks from Bose etc. and how I was laughed at for being extatic for getting my grandfathers Mitsubishi MC-8000 and HiFi set-up. It still is a great feature in my living room setup with Klipsch speakers and a wonderful JBL Subwoofer. It is what got me into building PA/Soundsystems as a hobby and trying to nowadays start a bussines in dry-hire, setup and supporting soundsystems around my area.
I have seen a lot of people being very surprised and amazed whenever they hear good sound. This happens a lot with people how like House or Techno or Drum & Bass. They know their favourite tracks from their headphones or small chasis bluetooth speakers and are in shock when they physically feel subwoofers push air and a kicksub hit their chest. It is super cool that HiFi does not go away and that enthusiasts keep it alive.
People under about 36 CAN’T HEAR ‘High-fidelity sound" from BLASTING their ears with earbuds, crap(auto) "stereos", 3 kilowatt "sub-woofers" in cars/trucks/vans/SUV’s and 135 dB "Dance clubs". My EENT doc says that and ‘ear drainage toobs" put into infants ears for BAD TONSILS have produced FIVE generations of "hearing impaired" INFANTS!!! I’m 71, have had 6 SUPER severe strokes, and this month my hearing is STILL in the TOP 90 percentile of ALL HUMANS. I can very literally hear my Guinea Pig fart in the dining room through a solid wood interior (2") door and FOUR TRUE 4" thick drywall over PLASTER AND LATH walls (full of rock wool insulation) and he wishes HE had HALF my hearing ability. I’m down 4-6 dBA at 17,000 Hz from 12 dBA ABOVE normal at 24KHz and go down to 17 Hz (as low as is measurable) as measured by the USAF in 1974. I build $10,000+ a pair custom loudspeakers to listen to "QUAD 4" records and 15 IPS four track tapes I own, but RARELY above 88 dBA playback levels. I have two pair of "antique" headphones, a pair of Audio-Technica $4600 (1971 price, 50% more than my NEW 1974 Dodge Dart HARD LOADED) electrostatic ‘phones and a pair of hand-made/matched Sennheiser 1998 $16,000 ‘phones. My EENT used MY Sennheiser’s for my hearing tests NOT his $54,000 Koss, as they are FAR BETTER THAN HIS by HIS $190,000 test microphones.
im in the process now of piecing together my home system Thank GOD for Ebay
Soundbars are just bullshit for the stupid people.
Why did those stereo systems die? Well, I don’t think it’s all due to convenience that the new Bluetooth and bookshelf speakers offered, there’s more to it. Initially the mini hifi stereo system brands did add USB input and Bluetooth for source. Didn’t they provide convenience? If they wanted to continue selling those types of systems, they could have just added wifi and streaming capabilities to those systems.
I think those systems died because people’s lifestyle changed, those big boomy heavy-bass machines were no longer appealing to people. People took the beauty of compact speakers that blend with their home decor over the power & presence of those big stereo systems.
Also, people started consuming videos far more than audio. TV screens got bigger opening up a new residential space for multichannel audio systems for movies and shows. People no longer needed so much music as their time was now invested in TV watching. Music became a source of entertainment while working or travelling, hence the earbuds.
And now Apple is trying to make spatial music popular which again attempts to make stereo obsolete.
However, many people (including me) have started to realize that a good quality stereo system trumps all kinds of soundbars, Bluetooth speakers, and Dolby Atmos speakers (for spatial music) etc.
It sucks because I can’t play my home stereo system loud as hell without getting fines and jail time in the town we live in. I’m a independent music producer.
If you don’t want quality in music you buy junk like Bluetooth Wireless Technology, where you can’t hear a lot of things
I have a turntable, a single disc CD player, a tube amp, and a solid state pre-amp. Occasionally I use an FM tuner. Phooey on anything Streamy…..Plus I primarily listen to vinyl, so there. Who cares?!?
I’m a eighties rock kid! So when i built my system i bought second hand eighties gear so i could hear like i did in the eighties.
Maybe home stereo system death but evry thing who temporary death be cool again later so the home stereo system be cool again.
this video could have been 3 minutes
Ahhh the dreaded paradigm shift.
I searched "what happened to stereo speakers". Very hard to find anyone touching this issue. Thanks. I’m glad I was able to hear great stereo sounds in the 90s, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer etc all used to make good quality Hifi systems at affordable prices. Multi-channel and mono "party speaker" are both a bad idea for normal listening, we need just stereo because God gave us…2 ears.
You said a lot, but not.
Ignorance is bliss 😂
Not only is hifi stereo increasing in popularity with younger people, the turntable (always stereo source) has doubled year to year
Since 2015 consistently son!
😂
I am new to Audio circuits – just want to clarify if I use a 2,1 pre-Amp with just 2 Speakers (sub-woofer excluded) – How does it affect the output Audio (stereo) Quality ?
How SAD! Big difference when listening on your phone.
I broke my mom’s stereo system back in high school and am still looking for one. But they don’t make them anymore. And it had cd player and I now hav 21 music cd and nothing to play them in. It was Philip’s 3 disk. The price for a cd player is $550 USD
One thing about the smart phone that actually IMPROVED audio quality was equalizer apps. They allowed you to increase the deep bass dramatically which unleashed a new capability in older speakers that we never knew was there.
I still use my home system..I don’t do downloading or soundbars.. I use records,CD’s even cassettes- sound is still better
You’ve Just Gained A New Subscriber…Made Me Feel Like Feel Part Of The Community Immediately
I have gotten a nice good quality system. Its nice to just sit and get a high quality listening experience.
I still have a home Stereo its all Sony…..Cd player Tape player Record Player and 2 tower 8" double Sub plus 2 Sony book shelf speakers for more sound….nuthin like Home Stereo sounds….i remember my first Home Stereo was a Fisher set up nice 10" subs complete….should of kept that one too ….this Sony one i got now bought in the 2000 little by little
Trends cycle in order to keep the market going. Once every house had a decent hi-fi system (and many of those made in the 80 will outlive us), then it was time to make everyone believe they had 8 ears. After the home theater trend passed then we got a new ones, the latest being these terrible, terrible soundbars. People now don’t know how to differentiate a mono sound from a stereo one.
Current music is equalized in ways to take the most gain possible of cheap low quality speakers. People got used to it. Eventually, and we’re probably getting close to this moment, they increase in quality stage will be back and the cycle reset.
Having said that, my hifi set is older than me, and I’m already living my mid life crisis, so that’s a testament to the build quality of such equipment.
Simple entry level into high quality music for those in the US: Buy used 80s and 90s hifi systems. They are dirty cheap, as opposed to other countries.
I still have my Yamaha A-2070 and my Sony CD player and Minidisc deck. Unfortunately, my old NH-1 speakers are blown. I also have an old Proton D540 in storage. I wonder if it still works.
I’m guilty of moving to Apple HomePods out of convenience. Lately I thought a was out recreating a home stereo system and dumping the smart speakers. Anyone else do this?
I still feel good about the sound quality of my home stereo. I added a Bluetooth adapter as a bridge to the streaming universe. Many people, I fear, are not taking advantage of this bridge.
Apple, despite company propaganda… killed Music
I use my pc connected to a Sony MHC-GX450 and i love the sound and bass
Superior? How about the "Audiophiles" who swear they can hear the difference between speakers wired with Home Depot lamp cord and expensive "audiophile quality" speaker cable? Kool-Aid consumed.
I had my vintage stereo system hooked up to my old 42" plasma flat panel via RCA cables and it sounded fantastic. I just replaced the TV with a huge OLED TV that only outputs sound through an eARC HDMI socket, so I got an HDMI audio extractor box with RCA outputs and plugged it all up. It doesn’t work. The software on the new TV has no option to output audio to a "Dumb" amplifier, only to "Smart" amplifiers, so the TV keeps telling me it won’t output audio because it doesn’t sense an external speaker system. I’ve searched through the UI, googled all the work arounds, and realized that the only option was compatible sound bar. Sigh, I ordered one and it’s on its way but I’m not giving up the stereo! I have too many LPs and CDs to give up my cabinet speakers!
Americans no longer care about quality, in anything. It’s become a very unsophisticated society. The high end can charge high prices because they deliver more qualitative characteristics. Metaphorically, unsophisticated shoppers will stick with their boxed wine selection. Some people like the engineering of monster trucks, some Formula 1 race cars. But the sophistication of formula one far exceeds monster trucks.
Home theater and the large flat screen TV killed hi-fi. Sound played second fiddle to the video. This is what caused a lot of hi-fi stores to go under. Speaker companies started selling black tower speakers with six inch woofers to sit on either side of the TV.
It’s completely understandable that people prioritize convenience and make compromises to enhance certain aspects of their setup. I still have my NAD amp and big speakers, but my main system now is a BOSE TV speaker with the Bass Module 500, an AIYIMA A5 Pro DAC, and a Thinkia CD player. I use this for both TV and music, and it works perfectly fine for me. When I want better sound quality, I simply plug in headphones to the DAC. I also have a small Sabaj Da3 DAC and an old BOSE SoundLink Mini for more portable use.
The home stereo hasn’t disappeared; it has just evolved—becoming smaller and shifting to spaces under the TV or beside computers. I don’t see this as a problem, and I don’t think it needs a solution. What we have today is great: traditional large components for those who want the best sound quality, and smaller, more practical setups for those willing to compromise. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
You’re absolutely right—every hobby has its gatekeepers, and that’s unfortunate. When it comes to audio, I don’t consider myself an audiophile; I just have a system that works for me, and I’m happy with it.
SPOT ON! New subscriber! Please keep the "Beginner’s Mind" in mind; too many of these channels assume I already know what they’re talking about!
Thanks
I grew up in the 60’s 70’s with the 8 track and cassettes and of course LP’s I still have my Fisher and Kenwood systems. Nothing today can replace that sound. This is a great video, love your channel 👏
i don’t see why to hold to the old if the performance is the same with the new