High fidelity

: High Fidelity is also the title of a book by Nick Hornby and a film directed by Stephen Frears, based on Hornby's book.

History

The 1920s saw the introduction of electronic amplification, microphones, and the application of quantitative engineering principles to the reproduction of sound. Much of the pioneering work was done at Bell Laboratories and commercialized by Western Electric. Acoustically-recorded disc records with capriciously peaky frequency response were replaced with electrically-recorded records. The Victor Orthophonic phonograph, although purely acoustic, was created by engineers who applied waveguide technology to the design of the interior folded horn to produce a smooth frequency response which complemented and equalled that of the electrically-recorded Victor Orthophonic records.

Related Topics:
1920s - Electronic amplification - Microphone - Engineering - Bell Laboratories - Western Electric - Acoustically - Disc records - Frequency response - Victor - Phonograph - Waveguide

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Meanwhile, the rise of radio meant increased popularity for loudspeakers and tube amplifiers, so you had the curious anomaly of a period of time during which radio receivers commonly used loudspeakers and electronic amplifiers to produce sound, while phonographs were still commonly purely mechanical and acoustic.

Related Topics:
Radio - Loudspeaker - Tube - Receiver

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The advent of the microgroove vinyl record with low surface noise and quantitatively-specified equalization curves created the conditions for a major improvement of home-audio quality through the application of electronics to phonographs. In the 1950s, the term high fidelity began to be used by audio manufacturers as a marketing term to describe records and equipment which were intended to provide faithful sound reproduction. To synthesize a definition, the term high fidelity, if it had a definite meaning, probably meant that the amplifier incorporated the proper LP-equalization curve and that equipment characteristics such as frequency response and distortion had at least been measured.

Related Topics:
Vinyl record - Noise - 1950s - LP-equalization curve - Distortion

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The ordinary consumer simply interpreted high fidelity as fancy and expensive equipment and bought high-fidelity records such as RCA's New Orthophonics and London's ffrrs, and, if they could afford them, high-fidelity phonographs. Audiophiles paid attention to technical characteristics, bought individual components like separate preamplifiers and power amplifiers, and frequently assembled their own loudspeaker systems. In the 1950s, hi-fi became a generic term, to some extent displacing phonograph and record player. Rather than playing a record on the phonograph, people would play it on the hi-fi.

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In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the development of the Westrex single-groove stereophonic record led to the next wave of home-audio improvement, and in common parlance, stereo displaced hi-fi. Records were now played on a stereo. In the world of the audiophile, however, high fidelity continued and continues to refer to the goal of highly-accurate sound reproduction and to the technological resources available for approaching that goal. A very popular type of system for reproducing music from the 1970s onwards is the integrated music centre--the successor to the older stereogram or radiogram. Purists will generally avoid referring to these systems as high fidelity, though some are capable of very good quality reproduction.

Related Topics:
1960s - Stereophonic - 1970s - Music centre - Stereogram - Radiogram

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