The fact that there are so many people picking late 60s/early 70s here is kind of telling why I rarely agree in gear discussions.
I think there was some truly magical and revolutionary material done then...BUT...sonics? Really? Jimi Hendrix records sound terrible to me. Beatles hit and miss. Zepplin...good SOUND? Did someone just mention Rod Stewart? Unless the CD translations of these completely killed them...I can't call MAggie May or Stay With Me or Castles Made of Sand or Whole Lotta Love great sonic recordings. Have you actually heard the acoustic guitar on Fire and Rain? You're gonna tell me that Taylor's own Hourglass (digital recording, I might add) doesn't slay it sonically? Sure, there are exceptions--Dark Side of the Moon has really fab sonics. Some Beatles stuff sounded very nice in a "best that era's tech could" way. Moving into the mid 70s, Rumours has a very warm embracing sound. The Eagles records really excelled, as well. Jackson Browne had moments. As did Linda Ronstadt. By the late 70s...the world had pretty well mastered the 24 track multitrack production. Certainly by the time Paghdam added SSL cleanliness in the early 80s.
...but, then, IMO, it slid backwards. Due to not to digital recordings...they weren't the majority until the early/mid 90s. Jagged Little Pill was the big tunring point for that, IMO. Sure, Nashville was an early adopter of SHIT digital tech...but, the majority of that sterile, overly effected, robotic 80s music was cut to 2" tape. Just FYI. isten to the flutter on some of those 80s new wave tunes for proof. It was the source that changed...and the manipulation after the fact. Gated verb reshaping drums. Long reverb tails on vocals. Hollowing out of guitars. The first and second and third wave of digital synths-say 83-88. I noticed as a teen that things started to improve around 89. What I was hearing was the beginnings of a revival of older production styles--intermixed with more "current" synth tech.
I think Don Was was a big part of the 90s intermingling of old and new tech for a new and better sound. Until all digital and plug ins and look ahead limiters and "digital remastering" of older works, and yes-home studios, came in to take it all back down a notch...or three.