As a boy I got the opportunity to visit the Firato HiFi exhibition. Overwhelmed by all the impressions of sounds, lights and knobs my love for audio equipment was born. This was around 1983 when Sony and Philips introduced the first CD-player. When record player and MC cassette were mainstream and color TV was there for just a few years. It was the time the video recorder was introduced: Philips pushed Video2000, Sony Betamax and in the end it was VHS that won the race. It was the time the walkman was introduced. Infrared remote control made our lives easier. The transistor and IC made smaller and cheaper equipment possible. Interesting times.
Of course I could not afford much, so I started out with a small stereo radio/cassette player. With my first earned money I bought a CD-player: the Sony CDP-950. Just below the ES range. All I could dream for. All I could afford. Over the year I earned more, allowing me to buy more nice stuff. But the landscape changed. Audio became a commodity. Build quality less. On the upside: technology improved. Record players where banned. DAT was born, MiniDisc, DCC came to live and vanished. And now everything is MP3 and digital. Not bad, but not interesting either.
My love for the 80’s and 90’s remain. I own around 30 cassettedecks. Useful? No. But I love it. I have or have had most of the equipment from the 1983 brochure, including the first ES CD-player the CDP-701ES in combination with the PCM-701ES digital processor. That allows you to record digital onto a video tape. Useful? Again no. Revolutionary yes. I also have the PCM-F1 / SL-F1E portable version of it. Yes your iPone does the same thing and does not wheigh 20 Kg.
And then there is my special love for the APM speakers. I wanted the buy the APM-66ES since they came out in 1986, but did not have the money for it then. It took me 18 years to buy the APM-66ESG in Germany. Nice, but not 100% what I wanted. And another 7 years later I found the APM-66ES MKII. Also nice, but all black and not the same as the MKI. Luckily I found a pair of MKI in the same month! I also was so lucky to have owned a pair of APM-8. 96 Kg loudspeaker. Each. ninetysix kilo. 1 meter 10 high and 65 cm wide. They really took a lot of space. In they end they have found a better home, but I'm lucky to have had them! If anyone has a APM-77W they want to get rid off: I’m more than happy to take care of it. Again is this APM technology useful? No, APM is definitely not the best speaker ever made. There is a good reason Sony stopped making them. But it’s a very interesting technology and I just love the design.
Then there is the TC-K777ES the ultimate cassette deck to me, the TC-K88B the ESPRIT cassette deck with LCD VU-meters and motorized frontloading drawer, the TA-N88 digital amplifier, the PS-X555ES record player. I can go on and on, but I’m not going to. Just enjoy the site.
What’s audioidiots.com? It’s not a commercial company. There is nothing to sell. It’s just
sharing the information and images of audio equipment from the era I love so much. You can
browse and search it in different ways. I hope it can be a reference for other enthousiasts.
Most of the information comes from catalogs and from actually owning the equipment. So it’s
a reliable source of information. There is no interaction, no web 2.0. Why? I don’t have the
time to build that.
|