OFF THE LEASH!

摘要

Towards the end of last year [HFN Nov '20] I was writing in this column about the challenge of buying one's first system. I want to follow this up with an issue which has hamstrung hi-fi for over a half-century. Nurtured on both sides of the Atlantic it concerned multiple brand liaisons, and how they restricted freedom of choice, whether deliberately or inadvertently. It started out as a well-intentioned, if commercially-motivated, means of ensuring that consumers could assemble systems without fear of mismatches. It seems this was not a primary concern in the 1950s and '60s, because hi-fi enthusiasts were then arguably more knowledgeable and less sheep-like. That said,precious few brands were able to supply one-make, source-to-speaker systems of real merit, though many certainly tried.