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Is HiFi getting better ? Or stagnating?

Yes, I noticed that ^^ too. Sounded quite good through the TV, which normally sounds shite.
About a week ago, there was something on BBC4 about Vivaldi (IIRC) and they had a small group of about 6-7 players in a small church. The quality of the sound made my ears prick. Really nice, clear acoustic.
 
FWIW this year's Proms have been a pretty good set as well, although I'm puzzled by some of the omissions/inclusions for the choices broadcast on TV, though!
 
Unfortunately I haven't heard a good room correction and I have tried many of them.
Standard in ProAudio Speakers for a very long time inside the Speaker or Cloud based Hedd/Genelec etc
Simple 2.0 , 2.1 or Atmos 5.1.4 setup in a small room or OB truck to a 31‑channel film‑mixing system comprising LCR mains, 16 surround speakers, 12 ceiling speakers and three subwoofers.

Genelec_8361A_03-bYVHp_qiTyEWMSvI.uVTRIfDSU_goO1k.jpg
 
I see room correction as a way of improving an already sensible setup. Silk purses and sows ears come to mind when the speakers are very asymmetric and there are big alcoves
 
Having just secured a lovely Rotel RQ 970BX phono stage and a Creek T40 tuner for all of £70, I’m tempted to say I’m not sure it’s improved. Startling value for an old fud like me!
 
Or another play on the jokes (equally transferable to any vocation): he’s a 20 year audiophile, 1 year’s experience 20 times. I once heard my boss say that to a recruitment agent who phoned asking about the qualities of a person that had recently left (with a rather high opinion of themselves and going for a senior role elsewhere).
 
I'm with Curtis here. Most of todays recordings are crap, including Jazz (but Jazz aren't as awful as others).

BUT. The good old recordings hasn't left us and died, they are still available and 100% possible to listen to. We live in the best of worlds!
 
I think my main gripe with hifi these days comes to speaker design and size.
Due to small rooms and aesthetic’s a lot of us have to use small ported speakers with 5-6 inch drivers.
I long for a good old box with 12 inch drivers but alas I’m stuck with speakers that pretend to make real music.
 
I think my main gripe with hifi these days comes to speaker design and size.
Due to small rooms and aesthetic’s a lot of us have to use small ported speakers with 5-6 inch drivers.
I long for a good old box with 12 inch drivers but alas I’m stuck with speakers that pretend to make real music.
You need some Maggies,;) Curtis.
 
I think my main gripe with hifi these days comes to speaker design and size.
Due to small rooms and aesthetic’s a lot of us have to use small ported speakers with 5-6 inch drivers.
I long for a good old box with 12 inch drivers but alas I’m stuck with speakers that pretend to make real music.
I broadly agree but to me the real gripe not with "speaker design and size" in an unqualified sense. It really arises from your point that domestic rooms are nowadays typically smaller.

I think that modern design techniques for drive units and enclosures have, broadly speaking, made loudspeakers potentially better today than all but the very best from the past. But only if the manufacturer doesn't decide to compromise the improved products they could offer to cater for differentiation, fashion or modern domestic acceptability.

To me, progress has certainly not been enough for 6-inch drive units to create a sufficiently satisfactory mid/far-field experience. However I have been rather happy in a slightly larger than usual room with 9-inch drive units made using a combination of traditional and modern materials/techniques. IMHO they do as well or even better than the 12-inch drive units I used to have.
 
Shorn of the neurosis around measurements and upgradability, I find myself truly enjoying just what I have.Digging through EBay and snagging little gems that I’d always wanted as a younger man(like the Creek and Rotel), I find myself truly in love with Music again. I feel almost privileged to listen through gear that was probably made with more motivation, love and dedication than much of the gear that is made nowadays.
I’m even looking at doing the Grove Mods on the Rotel. I’m sure Arkless would say if this is a worthwhile move.
 
This little Creek is remarkably adept. Loving its warm, fluid and silken sound. Still some sinew which helps with the detail.
 
It really arises from your point that domestic rooms are nowadays typically smaller.
Smaller than when though? I've lived in a few Victorian / Edwardian terraced houses with really small living rooms, and can't think that I've been in many/any modern houses that have been smaller. Mind you some of the new houses seem to have internal walls made of matchsticks and cardboard, and that can't help things. Plus they can have odd partially open plan arrangements that may make positioning a traditional hifi system more challenging.
 


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