Welcome!
I love audiophiles that come in out of the cold. Lots has changed in 38 years (I've been around all that time and stepped out in the 90's).
Since '72 digital audio has come about, first as CD's via CDP (CD players), then separate DAC's (digital analog converters), then the onslaught of various high-resolution formats, and now streaming over the internet at CD (also known as Redbook) quality. Now-a-days CDP's are getting quite rare as are Redbook only DAC's, yet nearly all music is still recorded at Redbook resolution, so there's a sound quality gap between gear and available recordings. OTOH (on the other hand) Redbook has never sounded better thanks to technical improvements. Nearly all streaming is via subscription services such as Tidal, Qobuz, or Amazon HD that each have tens of millions of albums available. Almost everyone uses a computer to stream but alternatives exist.
Vinyl isn't dead, but albums have gotten expensive, and new material on vinyl is rare. Cleaning of records has become a high priority with folks using for instance ultrasonic cleaners. Playback gear can run over $500,000 but most is very much more reasonable. Few preamps exist that include a phono stage, so dedicated phono preamps are the norm. Other media (Tape - open reel or cassette, minidisks, ) are all but extinct. Now-a-days convenience is king, so digital rules.
The price of admission to modern really good sounding gear has never been cheaper/easier thanks to the digital revolution. Check out the Cheap and Cheerful Circle here at AC (Audio Circle).
Various wires (interconnects, speaker cables, and various digital cables) have gained lots of attention, but that sector in particular is full of expensive snake oil and little hard science.
Much interest has developed in how speakers interact with the room, so there's much more interest in room treatments and even DSP (digital signal processing) to make "room corrections". Speakers have changed mostly in terms of voicing: leaner/tighter bass and more prominent treble. Cone materials/design improvements have inched along, new technologies have come out for tweeters (ribbons, electrostatics). The general types of speakers (monitors - still the most popular, dipoles - open baffle being popular around here, vertical arrays, and omni-directional) haven't changed. But popularity in self-powered subwoofers has increased.
Headphones haven't changed a whole lot, but dedicated headphone amplifiers now exist. Ear buds (IEM - in ear monitors) have gotten surprisingly good.
Take care and be sure to keep posting.
