Culture of Stereo hifi in India....building up or fading away....

[firearm12]

Any individual in his childhood is heavily influenced by the environment he is brought up in, the kind of home environment, the kind of friends he have the kind of exposure he gets to the world etc etc. That reflects in his nature and choices he makes all through life and might as well change a little bit during his lifetime if his environment changes. The irony comes when we see ourselves as fighting and standing by our own choices throughout life and then expect others to follow same principles we have been following. Simply speaking in terms of audio no matter how much costly and better our equipment is we cannot say we enjoy music more than someone who is really enjoying on cheap headphones.

 

[msaab90]

You write very well! Also you have put things in perspective - with which there’s always a risk of losing because hobbies and passions become so consuming.

Can you help understand why you say “aesthetic sensibilities evolve from generation to generation and take varying shapes in terms of associated equipment”? I’d think it’s ‘values’ that evolve/change from generation to generation and also within the same generation as we age. For example, a teenager is likely to value mobility and freedom while mid-ager might value leisure and relaxation. And these are likely to influence their choice of equipment and listening environment. But when it comes to aesthetic sensibilities (that influence our choice of music and musicians), I’ve found it to be more individual specific than generation (era) or age specific. I find many youngsters with heightened (aesthetic) sensibilities as well as many in their forties and fifties with blunted sensibilities.

One could argue against this pointing to how aficionados in their seventies today would listen to Shamshad Begum, those in their fifties to Lata Mangeshkar, and those in their twenties to Shreya Ghoshal. But I don’t see it as a result of different aesthetic sensibilities - all three choices reflect fine /classic sensibility. The difference is only because of the attendant factors that are era specific - and those include (but not limited to) lyrical content, musical arrangements, recording techniques etc.

Thanks for triggering this reflection.

Thanks for the compliment, no one ever tires of them and your thoughtful comments. The "aesthetic sensibilities" mentioned by me have a heavy lean towards group perception. For example generously proportioned women were appreciated in a certain era. These sensibilities heavily influence the art of the times being referenced. In the same vein, Victorian era appreciated hour glass figured women hence the change in their depictions. Art reflects preferences of the period leading to invention of tools to make and enjoy that art form, these might be disruptive or just iterative changes. Of course there might be pockets of significant departure from these sensibilities. Influential patrons are important in survival or demise of art forms for example western classical orchestral music was championed by European monarchy and lead to modulation of aesthetic sensibilities in it's favor. In my world view "values" are more a reflection of moral make up and adherence to certain ideals prescribed and accepted by the society. Values dictate our way of life leading to our preferences which eventually can also effect aesthetic sensibilities. Both evolve from generation to generation but value systems are much less amenable to reform in a generational span whereas aesthetic sensibilities can evolve within a lifetime (elucidated by FM firearm 12). I appreciate your explanation of "classic sensibility" but therein lies the inherent judgement factor. Our sensibilities might be towards classical music but people enjoying metal or any other form of musical expression do not inherently have inferior aesthetic sensibilities, just different from ours. Put simply "my music" is not superior to "your music", it is simply music and the way I choose to consume it is my business. I understand this judgmental attitude is thoroughly ingrained in our psyche (myself included) and guides our everyday interactions and choices. But I am afraid it is this very attitude expressed subtly or overtly that drives youngsters away from what they might describe as a "snobbish" hobby.

 

[puthuraja]

I believe definitely in long-run quality wins. My 9 yrs old son is easily telling the difference in listening between the mp3 files in the pen drive and audio cd played in the car. If I am right, not more than 10 years ago a trend of watching a movie with a DVD in the home evolved as a trend and eventually now again more people are turning towards theatre for the gala experience. I hope the same will happen to music too provided the coming generation will receive the knowledge of stereo experience in one way or other.

The only thing I may wish at this point is, stereo listening should become more affordable.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Thanks for the compliment, no one ever tires of them and your thoughtful comments. The "aesthetic sensibilities" mentioned by me have a heavy lean towards group perception. For example generously proportioned women were appreciated in a certain era. These sensibilities heavily influence the art of the times being referenced. In the same vein, Victorian era appreciated hour glass figured women hence the change in their depictions. Art reflects preferences of the period leading to invention of tools to make and enjoy that art form, these might be disruptive or just iterative changes. Of course there might be pockets of significant departure from these sensibilities. Influential patrons are important in survival or demise of art forms for example western classical orchestral music was championed by European monarchy and lead to modulation of aesthetic sensibilities in it's favor. In my world view "values" are more a reflection of moral make up and adherence to certain ideals prescribed and accepted by the society. Values dictate our way of life leading to our preferences which eventually can also effect aesthetic sensibilities. Both evolve from generation to generation but value systems are much less amenable to reform in a generational span whereas aesthetic sensibilities can evolve within a lifetime (elucidated by FM firearm 12). I appreciate your explanation of "classic sensibility" but therein lies the inherent judgement factor. Our sensibilities might be towards classical music but people enjoying metal or any other form of musical expression do not inherently have inferior aesthetic sensibilities, just different from ours. Put simply "my music" is not superior to "your music", it is simply music and the way I choose to consume it is my business. I understand this judgmental attitude is thoroughly ingrained in our psyche (myself included) and guides our everyday interactions and choices. But I am afraid it is this very attitude expressed subtly or overtly that drives youngsters away from what they might describe as a "snobbish" hobby.

@msaab90, once again thanks for an enjoyable read! It’s seriously good reading articulately worded coherent thoughts like yours. It’s a small matter whether we agree on what constitutes aesthetics values. In my eyes, aesthetic sensibilities are like the ‘rasas’ - they are various, buy they are eternal too. While there can be shifts from person to person and time to time, we keep coming back to the same set.

And please, when I mentioned ‘classic sensibility’ I didn’t mean it in any absolute/elitist way. Like in a classic furniture taste way - there can be wonderful contemporary trends too! And no, though I do employ it, I am no way limited to it. I love blaring heavy metal or exploring New Age music as much! My music collection is widely diverse and the only genres it lacks is western classical (plan to familiarise myself gradually) and hip hop - not because I despise them, but just haven’t gotten to exploring them. Just clearing the air!

 

[nn_in]

The present situation of stay at home has possibly pushed the consumption of online content significantly. I thought this would encourage next gen folks to explore the world of stereo.However online media-streaming ,social media continues to grip their attention.Guess its not that cool socially yet to get into stereo listen mode . Headphones is possibly the closest music listening choice for now.

 

[unleash_me]

I find this an interesting read; the coming of age of an audiophile, of sorts. I may not necessarily concur with his particular flair, but interesting nevertheless.

 

[arj]

The present situation of stay at home has possibly pushed the consumption of online content significantly. I thought this would encourage next gen folks to explore the world of stereo.However online media-streaming ,social media continues to grip their attention.Guess its not that cool socially yet to get into stereo listen mode . Headphones is possibly the closest music listening choice for now.

This is actually very true especially for the younger generation , most of whom live in rented accommodation and are mobile. The growth in sales of organizations like headphone zone seems to be a testament to that.

I do find the younger lot and older kids very appreciative of sound quality when they hear it and considering they listen to streaming music and on the standard phone earphones, any change to a better quality headphones is vert perceptive to them..and then they do realize the impact of the quality of the medium. Whether it matters enough to them or not is a of course a different question !

Good for the community if they start a pursuit of good sound !

 

[mail2sumanth]

Everything changed from production to how this generation consume music. It is part of change, let’s welcome it. All the portable tech now in everyone’s hand has enabled Music to reach far more compared to old generations with more quality. This opened up new experiences.. if we are a generation who know the relationship between a pencil and a audio cassette then we should feel blessed and embrace change for good.

 

[drlowmu]

This is a lovely thread. Thanks fellow Forum Members, for your posting. I really enjoyed reading it.

I am happy to have been born when I was. I came home from the hospital in December 1944, and my Mother nursed me with the sound of the original ALTEC LANSING 604 duplex playing in the background. It was classical music from New York City's WOR FM station, which my Dad could receive with a good outdoor antenna, from 80 miles away.

To this day, in 2021, I listen to a stereo system, and enjoy it .

It's still an ALTEC LANSING !

It's their original / vintage Voice of the Theatre, a two-way professional (movie theatre) horn speaker, an A7-8 - lightly modded. I grew up with analogue. I feel somewhat sorry for the new generation, listening extensively to digital rigs as I usually see these implemented.

Thank you all, for a fun thread to be exposed to, and to read. Very nice discussion.

drlowmu

 

[Bloom@83]

Hifi two channel audio is a choice that’s dictated by lifestyle , attitude to music and most importantly disposable income. It is not something that would be readily taken up by any kid / young adult even if he grows up in an environment of high end stereo gear of his parent or grandparents , as verified by lot of members on this thread , and even my personal experience doesn’t contradict it. I don’t expect my 5 year old to passionately love vinyls in any foreseeable future, not dedicate some exclusive time to listen to music on my stereo setup. If anything I would expect an active aversion to physical media from him (sons are known to take contrary stances in choices of hobbies with their fathers ). I feel two channel stereo is a choice and a realisation that can come only with a certain maturity of mindset.