sad, but probably typical

[dpastern]

They look nice, but are SF copycats imho (looks wise). What are 520s?

Dave

Not sure I know what you mean by speakers being depressing, I like how almost all speakers look (although I prefer smaller monitor sized ones both aesthetically and sonically) but I do understand that the dog coffin sized ones can be clunky looking or obtrusive. Still I like the vintage style of those types.

B&O speakers are certainly unique looking, I have no experience with them though.

I happen to really like how the Usher X718 looks:

But I just can't justify spending over $1000 on speakers. If they were more like $600 I'd probably "upgrade" from my S-520's. That'd be twice the cost of what I got the 520's for, and I'm sure they're not even twice as good, much less over 3 times as good.

Thread derail over lol.

 

[JohnVF]

Being as we're a bunch of cheapskates, the general consensus around here seems to be a lower price than a lot of stuff brings on eBay...

If you have the gear already, it's worth its weight in gold and no matter what it is, it's as good as anything else ever made.

BUT...If you're buying the same priceless gear, you should only pay $20 because that's what this one guy found it for at a thrift store. And even then you should try to talk them down.

So priceless if you have it, worthless if you're buying it?

 

[rifftrax]

He's not a sap; he's a fella who has a different take on the gear needed to enjoy music than you. Evidently he's enjoying music as much as ever, that hardly makes him a sap. Indeed, I'd say the fella is very astute; he has what he needs, no more and no less.

:saywhat:

the guy just threw away $800 worth of gear easy. Maybe money is not his thing but he could have sold the components to fund his new hi-fi ipod. I don't think that was really the most astute move ever.

 

[Tom Brennan]

:saywhat:

the guy just threw away $800 worth of gear easy. Maybe money is not his thing but he could have sold the components to fund his new hi-fi ipod. I don't think that was really the most astute move ever.

Maybe. But it has nothing to do with his no longer using gear which no longer met his needs; that was the astuteness to which I referred.

 

[JohnVF]

For every 'score' there's got to be a story like this where somebody takes their old stereo to the dump or drops it off at the goodwill...

 

[Isotonic]

Goodwill is Good. Goodwill makes money for charity, someone get's a good deal on useful stuff. The world is a better place. Throwing away, not good if stuff has life in it. Very wasteful and bad fr the planet. More toxic electronics in landfill.

I kind of see the sappiness in the guy in that he seems to love music, but he has embraced lo fi. I love music, and the more I can hear, the better. He does make it pretty clear that the music is important. Seems like a poorly thought out choice to me.

 

[acdc7369]

that story actually made me angry. but if he's happy i guess that's what counts

 

[Sam Cogley]

Guess he wasn't a real Hi-Fi guy. That's ok, most people aren't now-a-days.

They never were. The "good old days" never existed.

If you have the gear already, it's worth its weight in gold and no matter what it is, it's as good as anything else ever made.

BUT...If you're buying the same priceless gear, you should only pay $20 because that's what this one guy found it for at a thrift store. And even then you should try to talk them down.

So priceless if you have it, worthless if you're buying it?

It's called "negotiating," my friend.

 

[Drifting]

For every 'score' there's got to be a story like this where somebody takes their old stereo to the dump or drops it off at the goodwill...

I don't think you should take "dump" literally. He is merely saying that he disposed of it - for a price, I would certainly imagine.

 

[acdc7369]

They never were. The "good old days" never existed.

Sorry but I don't know of any "hi-fi" stores anywhere near the Pittsburgh area. I don't even know where to go to buy stereo equipment anymore except Best Buy, which has a terrible selection. I think more people cared about high quality music back in the day than they do today. Listening to music was much more of a pastime before the internet existed, so naturally people cared more about quality than quantity.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Sorry but I don't know of any "hi-fi" stores anywhere near the Pittsburgh area. I don't even know where to go to buy stereo equipment anymore except Best Buy, which has a terrible selection. I think more people cared about high quality music back in the day than they do today. Listening to music was much more of a pastime before the internet existed, so naturally people cared more about quality than quantity.

I know of several stores in my town that carry "hi-fi" stereo gear (including the Magnolia section of the local Best Buy). Yes, they also carry home theatre stuff, but they're not at all averse to music. Quite the opposite. One has a very nice turntable sitting right in the middle of the main showroom and connected to the display systems there, quite literally on a pedestal. This town has a population of about 180,000. I would imagine that a city the size of Pittsburgh has multiple such retailers, you just need to look for them.

As far as caring about high quality sound being different now vs. then, I doubt it unless it was part of the "keeping up with the Jonses" mentality - i.e. caring about it for "bragging rights" not sound quality's own sake. There were tons of crap systems made in the supposed "good old days," but fortunately most of the Yorx and Soundesign systems are where they belong - the landfill.

Popular music does the same thing. There is always a lot of crap and some good stuff. As the years go by, the crap is forgotten and the good remains.

 

[Gr8fulFox]

but fortunately most of the Yorx and Soundesign systems are where they belong - the landfill.

HEY, don't you knock Yorx; that tape/tuner/turntable/1-channel input combo was my first real stereo!

...

Okay, fine, it was a piece of ****; the turntable wasn't even designed to play LPs, so I could never close the dust cover with a record on, but still, the memories... playing that scratched-to-hell copy of Play That Funky Music thru my one lone Optimus speaker (ya know, those tiny, silver things that had a metal enclosure)... yeah, it was crap, but it was my first

ANYWAY, on topic; I just find his transition very interesting; full stereo to an iPod; hell, I've had an iPod fer the last 3 years, and really the only time I use it is when I'm not at home (i.e., in my truck so I don't have to fiddle with tapes, or traveling); other than that, I'll stick with my rack o' gear and my big box speakers:thmbsp:

 

[kmulkey]

You're the clear exception

I know of several stores in my town that carry "hi-fi" stereo gear (including the Magnolia section of the local Best Buy). Yes, they also carry home theatre stuff, but they're not at all averse to music. Quite the opposite. One has a very nice turntable sitting right in the middle of the main showroom and connected to the display systems there, quite literally on a pedestal. This town has a population of about 180,000. I would imagine that a city the size of Pittsburgh has multiple such retailers, you just need to look for them.


I live in the Chicago area and the selection of retailers, outside of Best Buy, has dwindled to 6. There used to be at least 10-15, not counting the department stores (your Yorx, etc, reference). The ones that remain are either high end or have very limited showroom hours. It's a totally different market than it was just 10-15 years ago.

 

[Sam Cogley]

I live in the Chicago area and the selection of retailers, outside of Best Buy, has dwindled to 6. There used to be at least 10-15, not counting the department stores (your Yorx, etc, reference). The ones that remain are either high end or have very limited showroom hours. It's a totally different market than it was just 10-15 years ago.

I wonder if the current recession has anything to do with that?

The Chicagoland area must have some very nice stores, JohnVF has mentioned several.

 

[JohnVF]

I wonder if the current recession has anything to do with that?

The Chicagoland area must have some very nice stores, JohnVF has mentioned several.

There is no shortage of gear in this town, in stores or on Craigslist, etc...but I don't know what it was like 15 years ago. I've only lived here 5 years.

 

[TAGO MAGO]

A lot of the older gear isn't worth nearly what the general consenses around here says it is, and its not that easy to find people who want some old big stereo. (That looked like a nice amp, though...).

I don't know, ever item I put on Freecycle goes quickly and often by the time I find a posting there, others equipment is usually gone.

 

[Dr. Music]

I think one reason the guy might have continued down a lo-fi path after having such a nice stack of gear is because that nice stack wasn't that musical to begin with. It's nice to look at and even has something of a quality appearance, but it's just so damn similar from one component to the next, one big name company to the next. Mind you, I'm talking about mainstream gear priced for the masses, not the really good stuff that some companies do build even today. Had I not been around in the 70's to own the kind of sound that the old silver faces can produce, I might be where this guy is myself, in fact I was on that road and don't think I realized it until a few years ago. Home theater type sound, while grandiose, usually isn't a personal experience. It's something designed to go BOOM when you watch movies, and it does that very well. While I like my HT toys, they aren't what I want to sit and listen to from one day to the next for the music I grew up with nor the music I discover today.

Much of the mainstream nineties gear was impersonal, and didn't seem to pull you in like the sound of earlier gear. Because of that I found myself wandering farther away from actually listening to music as the years passed by....it was something playing sometimes, but the sound wasn't very important anymore. I attribute that to mainstream gear of the last 15 years or so that sounds cold and calculated rather than either warm or alive. Over a period of time you get used to it, settle with it, and forget what music is supposed to sound like.

 

[justint]

I was researching some gear and stumbled on this. Read the first paragraph, then scroll down.

http://www.greylizard.net/mypioneerstereo.php

Hi Guys

Yes that is my website, and it was all a bit sad.

Sometimes life throws bad times at you and some very bad times happened that caused the stereo to be lost, I didn't want things to end that way.

Despite what happened the Amp was a bit sharp and clinical, and the speakers could have been better with flabby bass. But I still loved it. The best sound quality was achieved by listening through headphones.

The site has not been updated but I do have a new stereo, which sounds better than the old lost one, but was cheaper. Such is the progress of technology!

Cheers!

Justin

 

[DonQuixote99]

Hey Justin, welcome to AK!

I was sort of figuring the gear in question didn't sound 'as great' as some here have been painting it. Reading between the lines a little. But when you say on a blog that is 'went to the dump,' you punch a button or two around here....

Glad you like the current set-up. But hang around here a bit, and see if you don't get the itch to upgrade this or that!

 

[Arkay]

WELCOME to AK, Justint! :thmbsp:

Glad to hear that you got another system. If you hang around here and read up enough, you might find yourself "hooked" on vintage audio gear again, and building another system that would put your past ones (including the iPod and probably even your newest set-up!) to shame.

I can understand the sentiment of not wanting all the big, bulky old gear. I'm actually "downsizing" in part because of a similar sentiment, although I have no intention of getting rid of my last/favorite/"core" gear. (I definitely had/have TOO MUCH gear! ) But I do sometimes wonder why I have been putting together a main system, half the components of which I can barely lift, and can't lift without risking a back injury or a hernia! Possessions can weigh one down...

I've also been moving slowly towards a computer-based system (not to replace the main system, but as a source/adjunct), putting CDs on a hard drive (using Exact Audio Copy software) and extracting the sound via USB converter -->DAC -->system. I've had the worst luck imaginable with power-management systems in portable MP3 players (including an iPod); otherwise, I'd have one of those in use, too... and I might still try one one more time. I'd love to have a simple, portable system that would actually sound good and include all my favorite music!

Each of us here enjoys audio in his/her own way, with different gear, and often with gear that changes over time. Don't let what others said above get to you; do as you please with your system, and feel free to come here and discuss what you are listening to and what you're considering... ANYONE who likes audio and music is welcomed here, and while many of us don't like the idea of vintage gear being literally thrown away, we're a pretty open group overall, more civil than most boards, and usually tolerant of nearly any approach to musical enjoyment.