Which country in the 1970s made the best hifi components?

[Arkless Electronics]

Ultimate company on Jap list would have to be Matsushita

[Marco]

Yup.... Some of it anyway. The higher the tech the lower the lifespan and serviceability really. CD players, DACs, DAB radios... anything digital really then no. Definitely not. Same for anything microprocessor controlled or with a remote generally. There are plenty of amps, turntables, arms and speakers that I would expect to be around in 30 -40 years though yes.

Oi - my Sony CDP and DAC are still going strong, and have been since 1987!

Can't see why they won't go on for many more years yet still...

Marco.

[Barry]

How could you leave Techincs and Denon out of the Jap list, Bazza?

Technics, at the very least, for their superb SP10 motor unit, and Denon, at the very least for their iconic DL103 cartridge, which has spanned many decades and is arguably the biggest selling MC cartridge of all time, perhaps second only to the SPU - oh and you've not listed Denmark for that particular triumph either!

For the UK, I'd also add Harbeth and Spendor to your list, as in their heyday, some of which was during the 70s, they also produced some iconic, world-renowned designs.

Marco.

I neglected Denon, since their 103 MC cartridge was designed in the '60s for NHK; though the 103S and 103D were available in the '70s. For the same reason, I omitted the Ortofon SPU; it was only available in Japan in very limited numbers in the 1970s, whereas in Europe and the USA it had been superceded by the S15TE and SL15E, and later by the SL15E Mk. II.

The Technics SP10 TT, yes OK. And I'll admit the Harbeth and Spendor speakers as well, though some don't agree with the BBC school of thought on speaker design.

[Marco]

I understand your thinking, but if you read the title of the thread again, I don't take it that it needs to be when the items in question were first designed, but rather if the manufacturers concerned were actually producing their products during the 1970s, so using the DL-103 as an example, 103s would've still been produced in the 1970s, which indeed they were, and therefore are relevant to the thread topic...

Ditto SPUs. Oh, and there were a few places in the UK where you could buy SPUs, during the 1970s, at least I certainly knew of some in Glasgow

Marco.

[Arkless Electronics]

Oi - my Sony CDP and DAC are still going strong, and have been since 1987!

Can't see why they won't go on for many more years yet still...

Marco.

I can. They won't

[Marco]

Yes, but you didn't even think they'd keep going for as long as they have already, so what are the chances you'll be right this time?

£100 says that in 5 years time they'll still be going strong... Are you man enough/confident enough in your own judgement to take the bet?

Marco.

[Marco]

Marco.

[Jac Hawk]

Speaker wise the US wins.

Not sure I agree when here in good ole England we had Tannoy, B&W, Kef, Rogers, Harbeth to name but a few, there was a lot of crap that came out of England in the 70's, but in my opinion our speakers were world beaters

[nthall]

Not sure I agree when here in good ole England we had Tannoy, B&W, Kef, Rogers, Harbeth to name but a few, there was a lot of crap that came out of England in the 70's, but in my opinion our speakers were world beaters

We just have a different styles of listening. I thought this was an opinion thread.

For the type of music I like, big speakers and high wattage would have been my choice in the 70s.

I run lower wattage amps with more efficient speakers now. You can almost get the best of bost worlds. I got rid of my Monitors, and went with Klipsch a few years ago. The Monitors were great speakers, but they came up short on bass.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

[Marco]

Hi Nathan,

I know where you're coming from, but you don't get much bigger speakers than, say, a pair of Tannoy Westminsters!

I'm a big fan of (big) JBLs, which I believe are US-made

Marco.