Ads of 1958, also, how to buy Hi-Fi in the 1950's. A review of how to prepare for your Hi-Fi visit.

[@mikecampbell5856]

Thanks again for more great audio history! I was born in 1957, so I remember most of these brands but in 1958 I wasn't quite able to read these ads. LOL

[@stereoniche]

Glad you enjoyed it! A few years before my time, but what a great milestone in Hi-Fi, STEREO!

[@jodydoakes8754]

Thanks for this trip down memory lane. I probably saw all of those ads first hand as I could not get enough of the catalogs and the magazines back then. I built Eico kits, Knight kits, and Lafayette kits and learned a lot in the process. One Saturday in around 1960 a friend and I drove 4 hours to Chicago to visit the Allied Radio store/warehouse. In addition to all of the Knight stuff on display they had a really weird looking console stereo with highly lacquered cabinet made by that unheard-of company called Panasonic. It stood out like a sore thumb. Everybody looked at it as somewhat of a novelty and surely nobody would buy such a thing!

[@stereoniche]

Thanks for watching!

[@TonyHarrison-dk1ey]

What fun that was. Brings back many memories... Well done and much appreciated!

[@stereoniche]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@MarkMiller-i8q]

I collect old hifi stereo magazines. Mags up to a certain time also featured long record reviews and interviews with musicians. One of them from 1964 featured a lengthy profile on 21-year-old Barbara Streisand, then on the cusp of becoming a super-star. Another article featured Giuseppe Verdi - his life and music, including reviews and available recordings of his operas.

[@stereoniche]

They certainly dedicated a LOT of ink to reviewing new and interesting artists of the day. It was the only way to really find out about new genres/artists. As well, some fun articles on cultural music of specific regions, etc..

[@MarkMiller-i8q]

@@stereoniche Yes, a bygone era when we had the attention span and focus to read that sort of length and detail. Life and Look Magazines, known primarily for their photos, also ran lengthy articles and even serialized books of the day.

[@Book-Mark]

I'm quite envious of those days.

[@peacetrain3320]

This was great! I have my uncle’s 1959 Pilot amp and his large diy Karlson cabinet speaker.

[@stereoniche]

Sounds like a great combo!

[@dalemettee1147]

Thanks so much Scott for bringing back all of those fond memories. I had a Garrard type A turntable with a Shure n7d cartridge The next TT was a Dual 1019. Still heard the motor when the volume was cranked up. The next TT was a Dual CS 721. Absolutely the very best unit in its class. Direct drive was the secret. No hum, no noise, no nothing but beautiful music A Shure V15 Type III was in it. You can still get one of these tables but you'll have to pay A LOT!

[@stereoniche]

I very much like DD units as well and you can't beat that Shure V15!

[@dhpbear2]

11:00 - Acoustic Research had started that year. This is several years before they hit their stride with a complete line-up including the AR-3a (of which I own a pair!)

[@phonatic]

It's fun to flip through these old ads. I have the 1959 Knight-Kit 20-watt stereo amp, which looks very close to the advertised 1958 mono version at [6:42]. Works flawlessly since being rebuilt and has a pleasant midrange sound signature with a nice roll-off. Great for 1950's jazz recordings with overemphasized highs. The original ECL82 Mullard tubes gave up after a couple months and it's running on a set of very inexpensive Svetlana 6Ф3П/6F3P NOS ones, which sound really awesome.

[@stereoniche]

The great thing about the old tube gear is there are no proprietary components to worry about failing. A little rebuild effort, some new tubes and many years of great music!

[@len9518]

I got into this stuff in 1960, had the big 3 hifi magazines, and saw all these ads. I have a 1964 Lafayette catalog, that I look through once a year

[@stereoniche]

Great, fun times.

[@5argetech56]

Fisher is the brand I really remember. Their headquarters was in L.I.C Queens NY. (1968) - Growing up in Brooklyn, my mom bought a brand new. Fisher 250-T Tune-O-Matic Stereo Receiver. 30 watts RMS per channel. She had a custom built Breakfront Cabinet with built in speakers.

[@stereoniche]

A Fisher 500C I acquired from a woman that lived in NYC. She had an issue with it, so called their office and talked directly to Avery Fisher who instructed her to bring down for repair. Upon pickup, they gave her a new set of power tubes which she never used and then gave them to me with the unit.

[@chrislj2890]

I got a kick out of the artwork from the buyer's guide; takes me back to the '50s. The questionnaire is still useful for today. We had a Lafayette dealer in Dayton, Ohio in the early '70s and that's where I put together my first hifi rig on the paltry income I made back then. A Lafayete receiver and cassette deck, an AR-XA turntable with Pickering cartridge, and AR speakers. I can't remember model numbers anymore. Unfortunately all lost to a broken water pipe., along with a Garrard Zero 100 with Empire cartridge. Bummer.

[@kennixox262]

One thing on the questionnaire and children: Remember, vacuum tubes were the mainstay of that era and exposed power tubes get hot and some of these old units did not have cabinets. I remember my parents system that the preamp, amp and tuner were unboxed, exposed tubes and sat on top of a cabinet credenza type piece of furniture. Any mention of staggered stereo reel to reel tapes? That is the first true home stereo format I think as far back as 1955 until standard two and later four track stereo tapes became standard. 1958 was several years before my time but much of this stuff, I do remember.

[@stereoniche]

Indeed, my chuckle when I mentioned it was due to the cartoon picture of the child with a hammer. But it was quite serious business to ensure no small fingers found their way into tube era gear. Some ads show tube amps sitting on the laps of young ladies who are casually "enjoying" the stereo as if that were a real way anyone actually did it.

[@kevmichael2064]

I remember Bogen and Fisher...they were good brands....in the 1960s and 1970s stereo receivers were good....I wonder what TV audio would be like?

[@kevmichael2064]

I remember Garard turntable and BSR too

[@socksumi]

I would love to hear a pair of 1950s ribbon corner horns made by Acoustical Manufacturing (popularly known as Quad). This corner speaker predated their legendary electrostatic. I've only seen them in 1950s ads.

[@stereoniche]

I've neither seen the speakers or the ad that I can recall. I will need to look those up. I do have a set of the Quad stats though.

[@stumpydog87]

Did they ads for BSR Birmingham Sound Reproducers, turntables?

[@stereoniche]

At the moment, I cannot recall any, but they may have just not advertised in the magazines I am seeing. As well, BSR was quite big as in providing tables for other manufacturers, so they may have advertised in industry magazines instead.

[@kevmichael2064]

Bad thing about these in the 1950s is the tubes....😮...I remember we had to get tubes for our TV

[@stereoniche]

Many would say that is the good thing about them. :-)

[@johngjesdahl-xx2gb]

It mattered little what type of music. Good sound was and is good sound.

[@stereoniche]

Um, sure, I agree with you.

[@MarkMiller-i8q]

One thing that hasn't changed is the hype. You see it in advertising for everything from hifi to automobiles. Companies figure that most consumers will always look for the the Next Big Thing.

[@stereoniche]

Of course! Planned Obsolescence started a LONG time ago! :-)

[@kevmichael2064]

In the United States they made good sound apps....but in the radio area they did not have any thing on them only FM and AM...no Long wave and shortwave 😮

[@Badassvidsz]

there will be the same for the hi-fi / hi end of nowdays 50-70 years in the furure

[@stereoniche]

True, but most of it will not be repairable.

[@Badassvidsz]

@@stereoniche Excactlly for the reason they don't built that quality anymore , middle 70's and 80's were the best era bmo