Hi-Fi: The History of High-End Audio Design

A beyond-cool look at the world of high-end audio design for passionate collectors, obsessive audiophiles, and design fans

At a time when sales of vinyl records have hit a 25-year high, and analog technologies are providing the kind of extraordinary audio experiences that our increasingly digital world has started to remove, Hi-Fi is essential reading. This unique book explores just how, when, and why the world fell in love with the look, feel, and sound of top-of-the-line audio equipment.

Hi-Fi traces this fascinating evolution from the 1950s to today (and tomorrow), taking readers right up to the current renaissance of all things analog and the emergence of cutting-edge designs for die-hard audiophiles.

The founder of ultra-high-end audio equipment company Audioarts in New York City, Gideon Schwartz has been credited with conceiving and creating synergistic music systems for some of the most exacting creative individuals in the world. Though coming from wildly disparate fields of cultural influence, all of them have one thing in common - their love and appreciation for music and high-quality audio reproduction.

Schwartz is a former attorney who retired from law to pursue his passion for music and audio equipment. He has authored Hi-Fi: The History of High-End Audio Design and Revolution: The History of Turntable Design and has passionately promoted audio as a distinct expression of compelling industrial design and cultural impact and significance. His books highlight generations of audio equipment, while imbuing in the reader a sense that audio serves as an important conduit for the musical arts.

His work has led him to create home music systems for the likes of record company boss and Johnny Cash, Metallica, U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers producer Rick Rubin; along with fashion house Supreme CEO James Jebbia; art collector and founder of the Maharam textile company Michael Maharam, in addition to many other high-profile individuals in the commercial and creative arts worlds.

His knowledge of the international hi-fi world is without equal. If you want to learn more about the quest for perfect sound, you need to read Gideon Schwartz.