record deck, tuner, dual cassette deck, amplifier and separate speakers. Some later midi systems also included a CD player in the main unit in addition to the turntable. The compact disc first appeared in the early 1980s. Towards the end of the decade, rapidly falling prices saw the increasing integration of CD players into cheap all-in-one systems. As CD rapidly eclipsed vinyl in the early 1990s, the bulky record player (common in Midi systems) was increasingly left out altogether. This allowed the resulting bookshelf-sized "mini" systems to be far more compact, and the integrated hi-fi system came into its own. The smaller size of a CD player compared to a turntable also meant that this function could be reintegrated into the main unit of more portable systems without compromising their small size. The music centre has always been rather looked down upon by the hi-fi enthusiast. In the early days the sound quality was far below what was possible using separate components. The main compromise is in the area of the loudspeakers, where small size is favoured over the ability to reproduce an extended low frequency response. Modern equipment has improved in this respect, and such systems are popular. There are still some compromises in terms of what components are used within the integrated unit, compared to what could be fitted in a set of separates, but the differences are smaller than they used to be. There are a few exceptions however and these music centres used parts and designs from their separate counterparts of the time, for example amplifier modules, cassette transports and turntable assemblies that were offered in standalone equipment were often fitted into an all in one enclosure to create a music centre with the same, or close to, quality and fidelity as the individual equipment. The market for these systems is probably now larger than that for "true" hi-fi. Small units take up less space, and are more suitable in urban areas. See also Entertainment center Shelf stereo - a home stereo system that is small enough to be placed on a shelf or similar location, 1980s onward Boombox - a portable suitcase-sized cassette player and AM/FM radio, mid 1970s to 1990s Consumer electronics Audio players