Is this really where we are going?

[Deczor]

I hear that Karmaman. I get a lot of my gear delivered to work, so the boy racers (Ricers I think you call them) and other dumbasses see what I'm buying. Half the time they are saying "what did you buy another of those old things for? Did you're last one blow up?". One guy reckoned my L36's looked like something his grandma would own. Ate his words when I hooked them up to the B&O though.

I figure if they don't like the look of them, that's fine. When their parents die and they get all the old stereo stuff they'll give it to me because they know I collect it. It's all swings and roundabouts. There aren't many of us out there, but at least it's easy enough to find each other online, eh?

Oh yeah. Limewire is one of the worst P2P systems as far as virus and security issues go. Give them hell when their PC's start crapping out.

 

[Dr. Music]

Donberry:

Your post is one of the best I have read in some time. I feel in every way. My system is $30k and I buy up CD's like crazy, whenever I can get them. Unless the CD gets scratched (unlikely when I use them) or I lose them (even more unlikely) I will have the music for life. Really. My CDP has a new laser AND a backup WITH ANOTHER BACKUP on the way. I think I will die before the CDP does. And if no one else shares my system or love for it, so what. Expensive gear will become less expensive and I will be able to enjoy music for the rest of my life with real quality.

Great post, and something I've given some thought to of late. I've got CD's I bought when the medium first hit the marketplace that play just fine. The equipment I'm using is 30 years old and sonically sounds great to my ears. The stuff I have now likely will be around after I'm gone, so I'm probably set for life. The investment has been made for ME to enjoy great sound for as long as I want no matter what direction the powers that be decide to go. And honestly, though I prefer a CD or vinyl in hand, I like the sound of lossless digital well enough to accept it if it comes to that down the road.

 

[donberry]

If you guys get a chance listen to some Frank Zappa interviews on youtube. He understood the problem way before anyone else. Unfortunately, not many took him seriously.

I also read an interview quite some time ago where Bob Dylan was complaining how digital was the ruin of a lot of good music and he did not care for it. I would guess most of the old timers - you could say they are stuck in the past, or you could say that they were a different type of artist and actually used the deficiencies in analog to impart more to the listener - obvioulsy I prefer the 2nd explanation as I am an old timer

Sorry guys, nobody cares about Hi-Fi anymore.

I am always surprised at the look at get from my friends and acquaintances when I tell them I am into collecting audio gear. Most have that dumbfounded look on their face and can't figure out why I would want to do that. Usually a deer in the headlights look while they try and think of something nice to say about it.
Until they happen to stop over at the house.

Never that interested as I force them to check things out, just the basic show interest to shut me up.
But then I force them to sit down in the sweet spot - tell them to just listen.
They always want to talk through it etc, until I finally get them to be quiet and just listen.
You can watch the smile and light come on in their eyes after a few minutes.
Suddenly they are back up, now asking you all about the gear....stuff they cared less about only minutes before.

Thing is, many people, most that I know, have just never heard anything other then the average mass market stuff. They are always surprised when they finally get the meaning of true hi-fi.

 

[rod69ss]

I have to agree with 'elcoholic'! I'm buying all the vintage vinyl I can find! After listening to DAT and CD since it's inception, I recently one day put together my old system and was amazed at the difference between vinyl and digital formats. There's no music like vinyl music

 

[stoutblock]

After visting my stepson up at his college, and meeting a few of his friends, I can assure you there are still some young audiophiles out there. Yes they were mostly driving their music from hard drives but I talked to several who used bit for bit or lossless formats and a couple who even had good DACs.

There were even a couple of hard core vinyl guys running vintage tube amps!

Music selections were also a surprise. 70s rock was coming out of several of the dorm rooms.

All were under 19...

 

[JoeESP9]

If you guys get a chance listen to some Frank Zappa interviews on youtube. He understood the problem way before anyone else. Unfortunately, not many took him seriously.

I also read an interview quite some time ago where Bob Dylan was complaining how digital was the ruin of a lot of good music and he did not care for it. I would guess most of the old timers - you could say they are stuck in the past, or you could say that they were a different type of artist and actually used the deficiencies in analog to impart more to the listener - obvioulsy I prefer the 2nd explanation as I am an old timer

Sorry guys, nobody cares about Hi-Fi anymore.

I am always surprised at the look at get from my friends and acquaintances when I tell them I am into collecting audio gear. Most have that dumbfounded look on their face and can't figure out why I would want to do that. Usually a deer in the headlights look while they try and think of something nice to say about it.
Until they happen to stop over at the house.

Never that interested as I force them to check things out, just the basic show interest to shut me up.
But then I force them to sit down in the sweet spot - tell them to just listen.
They always want to talk through it etc, until I finally get them to be quiet and just listen.
You can watch the smile and light come on in their eyes after a few minutes.
Suddenly they are back up, now asking you all about the gear....stuff they cared less about only minutes before.

Thing is, many people, most that I know, have just never heard anything other then the average mass market stuff. They are always surprised when they finally get the meaning of true hi-fi.

Totally agree!!!!
The hardest part is to get them to sit still and actually listen for a few minutes. Sometimes they don't want to get out of my chair after a demo. Standard comments are "I never knew etc" and "how much to get this kind of sound". The best comment ever was the pizza delivery guy who kept asking "Who have you got in there jammin'". When I said it was my stereo he said "C'mon really, who you got in there jammin'".

 

[70salesguy]

Occasionally when someone finds out that have a large collection of vintage stereo gear AND a den in my basement exclusively for that equipment, they will mention to me that they used to have a "good stereo" back in the 70s.

It usually turns out to have been some decent stuff! The story usually goes that they had it when they were single and at some point after getting married or having children, the stereo "went away".

My closest neighbor, who is a great guy, is one of these. He occasionally wanders over and spends a half hour or so in my stereo den enjoying my system.

I guess at some point having a good stereo just didn't matter to these folks.

Thank goodness, it always mattered to me! :yes:

Remember when you moved, the FIRST thing you did was set-up the stereo!

I don't think I'll ever have to set my system up again - my next move (hopefully many years from now) will be to the assisted living or nursing home and they probably won't allow anything more than a very small compact unit! :sigh:

 

[TAGO MAGO]

I still love CD's and vinyl, but have embraced MP3's for everyday listening. I transferring most of my LP's and CD's over to this format, although for the sake of preservation as I am keeping the original copies. I will pull out the originals for some serious listening, although the MP3 versions are good for that casual listen. I rip most of my albums at a rate of 320kbps where most people still use the dreaded 128kbps which is there is considerable loss.

 

[TAGO MAGO]

my next move (hopefully many years from now) will be to the assisted living or nursing home and they probably won't allow anything more than a very small compact unit! :sigh:

All I can say is they do allow enough room in many of these facilities for a television. Since I rarely watch TV, I'll put the SX-950 and a CD player in that spot and bring my Polk bookshelf speakers. The geezer next to me will just have to put up with it. I think I don't have to worry about that for another 40 years.

 

[donberry]

Remember when you moved, the FIRST thing you did was set-up the stereo!

how true and what memories that brings back.
Very first thing that went into any new place was the stereo, often having to sit everything on the floor - did not matter what else was there, had the stereo we were fine.

 

[Elfasto]

Already buy lots of Cd's, LP's, and the local library is a great resource. Already "archived" about 7,000 songs on .m4a (AAC) files, encoded between 320 and 380 kb/sec.

At that point, even lossy compression formats are so close to uncompressed or lossless.

 

[elcoholic]

Digital music will be the way of the future, and sooner than most of us would like. The thing is, with the advancements in technology, it will probably sound very good, really soon.

I don't think there is anything to worry about, as far as sound quality goes.

Why? Tech advances for quality stopped with the Stereo LP and Dolby HX-Pro for cassettes. Since then it's all been about label profiit and convenience.

Remember when you moved, the FIRST thing you did was set-up the stereo!

how true and what memories that brings back.
Very first thing that went into any new place was the stereo, often having to sit everything on the floor - did not matter what else was there, had the stereo we were fine.

My last move was in '92 and it was just like all those before it - The stereo was the last thing in the U-Haul & the 1st thing off. Well that and the ice chest. :beer: