The hifi system in the house of Frank Sinatra

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, America was producing some of the world’s best-sounding hi-fi gear by famous brands like Marantz, McIntosh, Fisher, Eico, Scott, Acoustic Resarch, and Altec-Lansing. Then in the 1970s, with the advent of transistors, many of the great tube amps, preamps, and speakers disappeared as they were replaced by mid-fi Japanese brands. Fortunately, since the 1990s, America’s hi-fi cottage industry has been re-emerging. McIntosh, an iconic American brand founded in 1949, continues to be made in USA at their longtime facility in Binghamton, New York.