What is Hi-Fi?

High Fidelity – hi-fi for short – as we know it now means many things to many people. To some it signifies a big beautiful cabinet, full of shiny gadgets and records which represent a status symbol. To others it’s a hobby which gives an opportunity to drive themselves and their friends crazy with their attempts to prove they can hear distortion at a frequency usually only heard by dogs. To still others it’s a mean of breaking their lease. To me hi-fi means the most faithful reproduction of live or recorded sound. Thus to me hi-fi means that, with my eyes closed and with my rig playing at what I call a comfortable level, I can picture myself sitting in Carnegie Hall and listening to Brubeck playing his heart out.

“Ah” you say, “but that’s a purely subjective definition of hi-fi. “What’s the technical definition of the term?” Technically hi-fi means the most faithful duplication of sound that is possible to obtain. This can be accomplished through the medium of direct broadcasting, records or tape recordings.

“OK,” you say, “so hi-fi means that I can hear just about every note played, every tone sung or spoken! But who needs it? I’m perfectly happy with my little old transistor portable; I just listen to the ball games anyway.” If that’s the way you feel about it, this article is not for you. But if you want to learn something about hi-fi, or if you’ve been looking for a good rig for yourself, or if you want to improve or repair your present rig, then we’re in business.

HI-FI HISTORY

When did the hi-fi story begin? One man’s opinion is as good as another’s. It couldn’t have been, of course, before 1876, when Edison invented the phonograph, for without sound reproduction, we couldn’t have hi-fi reproduction. We can also cite the date of August 30 1881, when French engineer Clement Ader received a patent on a method of transmitting music from the concert stage to telephone subscribers. Ader’s system used two groups of microphones on the stage, and the listener had two telephone receivers. It was true stereo. Ader further has the honour of having suggested the term ‘stereo’. “This double listening,” he said, “….. produces the same effects on the ear that stereoscope produces on the eye.”

A further step ahead came in 1899, when the Danish scientist, Valdmar Poulsen, invented the wire recorder, the ancestor of our tape recorders. We first began to hear of the “amazing life like quality” of recorded reproductions in the 1900’s. A little later, some great strides were taken with diamond styli, improved record surfaces (Amberol), and microgroove recording on cylindrical records. Or, we might begin with electrical reproduction introduced in Britain in the late 1920’s; perhaps in 1931, when RCA began work on the first long-playing record; maybe in 1948, when our LP’s were first sold commercially; even in 1949 when magnetic tape began to take over.

The origin “High Fidelity” is also in doubt – we hear of it being used earlier and earlier. The first commercial use of the term however, appears to have been in connection with the RCA Photo phone sound motion picture equipment in the early 1930’s.