Caroline along with all the other so called "pirate" stations were closed down by the Marine Offences Act of 67 brought in by the Wilson government. The BBC had, at government urging, to start a pop music channel that they didn't want and which to this day is a pretty poor imitation in comparison (IHMO). FM began in 1955 and in stereo from 1962 but even then it is steeply band limited to 15kHz, not that I can hear that these days, and apropos of nothing much has been digitally distributed by a NICAM PCM link for probably the last 50 years. My comment re English language was meant in terms of hifi journalism rather than usage generally, I don't think the writ of HiFi News et al is that great.
I would most certainly agree that decent hifi was generally more affordable 50 odd years ago, the idea that a £50k amplifier is inherently better than a £2k one is risible. It might have a more expensive box and have more facilities but once the noise and distortion are at practically low levels and things like slew rate adequate for the task, then beyond that it's marketing. The thing either works properly or not within the laws of physics applicable to electricity. We'll disagree about adjectives, nor lets discuss analogue v digital.
Regards
Martin
I would most certainly agree that decent hifi was generally more affordable 50 odd years ago, the idea that a £50k amplifier is inherently better than a £2k one is risible. It might have a more expensive box and have more facilities but once the noise and distortion are at practically low levels and things like slew rate adequate for the task, then beyond that it's marketing. The thing either works properly or not within the laws of physics applicable to electricity. We'll disagree about adjectives, nor lets discuss analogue v digital.
Regards
Martin