Most music lovers first obtained acquainted with digital audio in 1982, the 12 months the CD got here out. TV remained 100% analog from the very earliest broadcasts proper up by way of 1997 when the DVD debuted, and analog over-the-air broadcasts within the US solely began to be phased out in 2009. That is not so way back, however since then analog TV has vanished and not using a hint. Audiophiles, however, nonetheless love LPs — and never simply outdated ones they decide up in thrift shops. Gross sales of recent LPs and turntables go up 12 months after 12 months.
New tube amplifiers are nonetheless going robust, tube TVs are yesterday’s information.
All of that illustrates simply how far aside audiophiles and videophiles are. I’ve but to see any videophiles clamoring for the return of analog tape codecs like VHS or Beta, or all-analog LaserDiscs. I doubt any video firms will likely be releasing “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” on VHS tape, however new music from
Woman Gaga
, John Legend and the “Jackie” soundtrack can be found on LP. The audiophile/videophile gulf extends to the {hardware}: massive and ponderous CRT (tube)
TVs
aren’t coming again, however audiophiles are nonetheless shopping for new tube amplifiers.
From the place I sit, there’s not a lot love on the video facet for outdated tech. Nobody companies 10-year-old TVs; damaged shows are unceremoniously dumped within the rubbish. To ensure I wasn’t lacking one thing, I checked in with CNET Senior Editor David Katzmaier, and he stated one thing that stunned me: “There may be undoubtedly a ‘You may should pry this plasma TV from my chilly, lifeless fingers’ mentality on the market nonetheless. That has every part to do with the truth that they’re [plasma displays] are nonetheless actually good televisions, although they’re older, and solely 1080p, yada, yada, yada.” So I realized {that a} small group of videophiles nonetheless have an appreciation for outdated tech and are not speeding out to purchase the newest 4K TVs.
Even so, I nonetheless assume that, for essentially the most half, audiophiles and videophiles come from very completely different locations. There are numerous high-end audio firms making brand-new tube amplifiers, however there are not any indicators that tube TVs are going to make a comeback.
I do know a lot of audiophiles that desire decades-old
audio system
, turntables and amplifiers, and even a number of the historical ones from respected manufactures have at the very least some likelihood of being repaired. McIntosh companies its electronics from the Seventies, and even earlier — that is why McIntosh amplifiers maintain their worth. Against this, a $12,000 panel from the early 2000s is sort of nugatory. When my good friend’s Runco IDP800 video projector stopped working, he could not get it mounted. It bought for $15,000 when it was new in 1993; now it is junk. I guarantee you {that a} equally priced high-end amplifier of the identical classic would nonetheless be value hundreds of {dollars} right this moment.
Fifty-year-old vinyl data, in the event that they’re in good situation, nonetheless sound superb. The perfect of them, performed on first-rate audio programs can sound awfully near dwell music. VHS and Beta tapes, even when they nonetheless work, seem like crap. Previous tube TVs, even restored ones, are nowhere as sharp as an LCD show. Progress in video know-how is unimaginable to disregard.
Nothing will get older quicker than the newest new know-how, however the most effective classic high-end audio ages gracefully — aside from digital parts, that are extra like video and get no love from audiophiles.
So it seems that audiophiles and videophiles do not equally share an appreciation for analog media or classic tech, or as my good friend Allen famous, “Listening to and seeing are vastly completely different sensory processes!” Perhaps that has one thing to do with it.