Why all the funny looks when people see my turntable?

Most of the folks I see perusing the thrifts these days are college age. Usually girls as well. Which is fine by me. It makes the record shelves smell nicer. :yes: But it works for me because they don't recognize most of the music I listen to. Jean-Luc Ponty.... who's that. Ozark Mountain Daredevils... never heard of 'em. Though they jump at the older Jazz stuff which is a bummer, but also the Barry Manilow stuff, so it evens out.

Yesterday I looked in what was obviously a well perused record bin and I had seen a few college types in there before me, but I still managed to find a mint Steely Dan-Greatest Hits and a Haircut One Hundred album as well as a Dead or Alive single all sitting right on top, almost passed them up thinking they were obviously trashed if they were in front and still there. All clean as new.

So it works for me, now if I see anything I already have, I always let the youngins know they should check it out. I agree vinyl is getting stronger, though in the scale of world events it is still a small thing. But as long as I can find good stuff, I say let it grow.
 
Paul C said:
He got this jackass smirk on his face and said,"Huh, Why?".

There is a lot of great music out there that will never be remastered to CD. A good turntable is the only way to hear it.
Click to expand...
This is true. Mant performers get a best of deal on cd and all their other music must be found on LP, or it is lost.

russellc
 
VinylHanger said:
Most of the folks I see perusing the thrifts these days are college age. Usually girls as well. Which is fine by me. It makes the record shelves smell nicer. :yes: But it works for me because they don't recognize most of the music I listen to. Jean-Luc Ponty.... who's that. Ozark Mountain Daredevils... never heard of 'em. Though they jump at the older Jazz stuff which is a bummer, but also the Barry Manilow stuff, so it evens out.

Yesterday I looked in what was obviously a well perused record bin and I had seen a few college types in there before me, but I still managed to find a mint Steely Dan-Greatest Hits and a Haircut One Hundred album as well as a Dead or Alive single all sitting right on top, almost passed them up thinking they were obviously trashed if they were in front and still there. All clean as new.

So it works for me, now if I see anything I already have, I always let the youngins know they should check it out. I agree vinyl is getting stronger, though in the scale of world events it is still a small thing. But as long as I can find good stuff, I say let it grow.
Click to expand...
Funny you would mention ozark mountain daredevils...having gone to college in the ozarks, I was familiar with them as an aquaitance was married to one of them. Theirs is one of the many collections that must be heard on vinyl, few of their albums ever made it to cd.

Russellc
 
Don't be so pessimistic, in 30 years I still plan to be here. :D

Rob

Good. My Yamaha's will need adjusting then. :smoke:
 
I was at a graduation party on Firday night at my friends house, given for his daughter. My friends brother and sister in law mentioned they were moving and had found a small collection of vinyl albums.
They said they were not sure what to do with them since they did not have a turntable. I mentioned that I would take them if they wanted to sell them or give them away.
They then asked me what I was going to do with them. I said that I had just bought a new turntable and have been buying new vinyl for about a year and a half now and was always looking to take in some older stuff. I also gave them a few websites to look if they were interested in purchasing a turntable.
You would have thought I was trying to sell them the Brooklyn Bridge by the looks that I got.
 
I did vinyl from 1977 to 1990 and then from 2005 to beyond the infinite.

Vinyl is the once and future choice. Not everybody's? That's their problem. More for me.
 
Viva my '79 Technics SL-1700MK2...long live vinyl and the LP. :yes:
 

Attachments

  • DSCF1221_6.jpg
    DSCF1221_6.jpg
    103.1 KB · Views: 27
For example... I did a CD from recordings from the 1916-1919 period. Some were 78's, some were tapes of Edison cylinders. Believe me, you won't find these tunes in your local stores.
 
A page or two back, Cosmos wrote:
arket: Right now vintage audio including Vinyl is seeing a popularity jump. Why? Because us middle agers have seen our kids grow and now we have some time to get back to our teenhood.. and have expendible cash to pour into out memories of the good times.. We always wanted this, or that or the other thing.. now we can achieve it.
Click to expand...
Your post included some sage comments that I agree with. But I don't think that your accounting for the surge in vinyl covers the situation, although nostalgia must certainly play a part.

Just about me ... but then there are millions of stories that add up to something: I am definitively middle-aged (perhaps a euphemism for guys my age) but I have never wanted to revisit my teenhood. Once was enough! I have a nine year old who I hope takes forever to be nineteen! And expendible cash is only something that I manage to sneak past my Japanese wife, who according to the tradition, manages expendable cash in any form or currency.

Still, I keep an eye peeled for affordable vinyl — not because it is better IMHO, but because it is different. CD just can't produce the same sound stage. Besides that, I have stuff on vinyl that I also have on CD — two refreshingly different performances. While the usual argument persists about what is good and bad regarding each respective medium, the simple fact remains that owning a decent TT and cartridge offers the eclectic enthusiast a larger music smorgasbord.

I think that too much time is spent dissing one or the other, because in optimal form both have something that is admirable and yet missing in its rival medium. I wish that the industry would just settle the matter for now and get on with recording stuff in DVD — I use a DVD player these days to play CD's anyway (along with an outboard D/A chip).

Perhaps we can say that audiophilia can be said to have two parts. Firstly there is the hardware and the preoccupation with trying to obtain the best sound we can achieve. And secondly there is the quest that is just digging up the music — the software. For a number of practical reasons I have stopped short of setting up a special rig for playing 78's without any consideration except that stuff exists on that medium that I want to hear
 
Last edited:
Seeing Jim's post about his SL1700 Mk2 made me realize that I now have four TTs; my original Rega P2 that now has an RB300 arm and Origin counterweight and Audio Technica Signet TK5E cart, my Tecnics Sl1600 Mk2 with an Audio Technica 31E MC cart, my Yamaha Y450 with an Audio Technica cart and my recent Ariston Icon with an Ortofon OMB10 cart. And I don't collect stuff for the sake of collecting - how did this all happen?

Rob
 
Well, despite my effort to not be arguementative it seems I did create a mild uproar of vinyl lovers. I hope you understand that I too love vinyl. Not for the vinyl, but for the sound it produces. I too have hundreds of recodrings on vinyl and bought 10 or so more today at a flea market. My point isn't that CDs or MP3s produce equal sound, I know they don't. That said, it is my belief that they will in future. Not as we know them today. But as sampling rates climb, new technology emerges and storage space gets even more insignificant I thoroughly expect that the quality difference will disintegrate and eventually digital will exceed vinyl. After all, what can a bump in vinyl do that can't be measured and mapped? Once it is, it would never change.. regardless how many times it is played. It is theoretically, noiseless and unlimited in dynamic range and speed, something vinyl never was or ever could be, because vinyl is purely mechanical. No matter how light the tonearm, cartridge and stylus is, it is a moving piece(s) following a groove.

Yes, there will be need for backup, which is something you can't truly get with vinyl anyway..

If you would have asked me in the 70s if this was possible, I would probably have laughed. Today, in my opinion, it is inevitable. Sure, some people will collect vinyl, primarily for nostalgia, like victrollas today.. But the market will someday die for vinyl. Maybe it will be 40 years.. How would I or anyone else know.. But I still firmly believe it is inevitable, like it or not..
 
Last edited:
I'll grant you that; it will eventually die. But I think not for a good while yet, it will most definitely outlast the CD.

You know, the history of vinyl is like watching the Rocky series. In the beginning he conquers all, and easily, but it gets harder and harder to do with each passing movie as he ages, and the competition, eternally young, improves. So far vinyl has entered the arena as a champion, beating the victrola, (Rocky I) it has defeated the 8 track (Rocky II), defeated the cassette (Rocky III), defeated FM radio (whether you want to admit it or not, FM is nothing but a joke nowadays, so Rocky IV), and it is in the process of killing off the CD (Rocky V). That's one hell of a track record, but eventually it does have to end.
 
Dansk wrote:
whether you want to admit it or not, FM is nothing but a joke nowadays
Click to expand...
I am not sure what you mean. If you mean that FM broadcasting has sewered, I must let you be my guide. I have not been in North America for some time to listen properly, but from a distance I will enthusiastically agree. I believe that on the whole, this must be a world wide development. But, if you mean that FM is an obsolete and inferior source for music, then I have to disagree.

I should not go into details because this may be off-topic. But I gotta say that a good, recapped 70's tuner (costing all of $15 before I restuffed it) delivers me live broadcasts from Tokyo NHK Hall that are absolutely stunning by any standard! Recorded broadcasts are also a marvel. (Quality varies on NHK according to the programs being broadcast.) If you live close to the 49th, tune into CBC-2 and enjoy their vast library of vinyl on a decent tuner. The compressed crap on pop commercial stations is not a true indicator of what the technology can do. For further edification go to the Tuner Information site where a family of very bright FM affecianados await fresh enthusiasm.

Cosmos: Your most recent post raises no argument from me whatsoever. I hope that you understood my post above. My post was saying that having two sources (digi and vinyl) makes it easier to get yer hands on music you wanna play with. To saw over it again: my considered opinion is that both analogue and digital have their own respective features that vie for our attention. And as you say, digital WILL ultimately win out due to ever increasing improvements — which could be universally available NOW if only the industry and the public were to get interested.

It is interesting to reflect that in the world of photography, analogue cameras have been sidelined to fringe users, while the popular consumption has been in the centre of what I call the 'pixel wars'. Our culture has favoured the visual mode over the aural/auditory mode. If popular digital cameras were still at the analogous stage of the prevalent Redbook Standard, those bleary digital images we looked at only a few years ago would still have us thinking that Granny’s old Kodak folder was a good margin superior except for the convenience factor.

Another reflection: it is ironic that these days there are more choices in excellent hardware for the discerning vinyl addict to choose from than at any previous time. Question: decades ago, in the golden age of vinyl, was there ever such a number of refined TT's, arms, cartridges, plinth options, bearings, motors and all manner of other parts, tools accessories and components as there are today? Perhaps some enthusiasts will think that this question is an arguable point, but I think not. True, the choice was nearly limitless for a long time, but most of it was crud-level stuff that chiselled grooves.
 
lorne said:
Dansk wrote: I am not sure what you mean. If you mean that FM broadcasting has sewered, I must let you be my guide. I have not been in North America for some time to listen properly, but from a distance I will enthusiastically agree. I believe that on the whole, this must be a world wide development. But, if you mean that FM is an obsolete and inferior source for music, then I have to disagree.
Click to expand...
Not at all, the quality of the transmission has never changed, only what they're transmitting. And where I live, there are only two stations worth listening to, out of the dozens or so that I can get.
 
My 9 year old grandson was over and saw my recently-integrated-into-my-system old 70s era Yamaha turntable, and was fascinated. Now he has his mother on the lookout for an old TT with some speakers and an amp when she goes yard saleing.
 
Great Thread People,

I must admit that I have never owned an LP! And I do realise that this is a shame (and will soon be rectified).

As we're all aware, there are Two avenues here - Digital and analogue. I agree with the comments that the human ear is designed for analog and not digital - this is undesputable IMHO.

MP3s are what I would call a transitory technology. Back in '97 when I was playing with Mp3s the writing was on the wall that this technology would take off once embedded devices like iPods came along - why? No moving parts and the convenience -tried jogging with a CD Player?

MP3s will be superceded with .wav files or hopefully even better formats now that the chipsets to store them are becoming cheaper and hence larger in capacity. Therefore the quality of the sound for these devices will improve and even superceed CDs over the next 10-20years - or sooner. I would say the same goes for SACDs, DVDs and the rest. This will be linked up online media - refer PSP vs Xbox 360 war.
Blu ray/HDDVD should not last long, IMHO unless the marketing people spin it out (which they probably will).
Vinyl, however, will remain and will see a resurgence for high end audiophiles IMHO. Why? because it provides a more honest sound and isn't stuffed around with like my CDs were when I was running the CD Player through my POS Prologic receiver (recently corrected with the acquisition of a Sansui 517).
I work in the tech sector, and at the end of the day, Digital devices only understand on and off at their most basic level. A Stylus on a turntable reproduces the sound more accurately to the original musicians for most traditional instruments. For digitally produced sound (i.e. not a saxaphone or drum), the digital avenue is better suited. For reproducing the sound at an opera, Analogue must be the way to go.
I wonder how much of this resurgence is due to the fact that people can now acquire super high end quality TTs cheaply?
BTW - since I acquired my sansui, a funny thing has happenned - I'm listening to my Cds almost every night. It's been years since I've enjoyed my music as much. I'm not even watching the TV! Does anyone want to by a TV? Proceeds will go to a decent TT...
 
Suss said:
..."It's been years since I've enjoyed my music as much. I'm not even watching the TV! Does anyone want to by a TV? Proceeds will go to a decent TT..."
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did! For a year my TV sat in my closet unused...I finally gave it away to a friend when she moved to a new apartment, and I haven't watched network television since (over 3 years now). I enjoy listening to all my LPs and CDs way too much to waste my precious time in front of the TV (but that's just me). :yes:
 
I've always liked LP's...when I was little (real little like 3 to 5 years old) I had a fisher price "record player" and little kid records....don't know or care what ever happened to that crap, all I care about, is that it planted the seed, and fueled the interest. My mom & dad had a (at the time I thought it was) *HUGE* collection of vynl....70s type stuff, dan hicks commander cody <---look what they went and started :thmbsp: Steely Dan, stuff like that....in my opinion, they never spun the vynl nearly enough....I recently counted their records...98 of them...doesn't seem like a large collection to me anymore :nono: For years I puchased CD's....have about 150+ tapes, I abandoned, but recently I have an interest in them again (cassetes) and I really would like a reel to reel, why? becuase they're cool! I do need a decent TT since the unit I have now is absolute bottom-of-the-barrell, but hey! I needed something to start with...I just wish I'd gotten into LP's earlier!
 
One more thing...speaking of weird looks....I went out on a couple dates with this girl early this year...she's 28, I am 23...I think our age differance freaked her out a bit :no: however, the thing that she really liked to give me a hard time about (and still does from time to time when I run into her) is the fact that I listen to records, while, she, being "so hip with the times" sold all of her CD's becuase "who needs them with MP3's around" bought a couple different MP3 players...one is a wristwatch (which is actually sorta cool when you think about it...except the whole issue of headphones....and their wires....connected to your WRIST WTF?! I was in ratshack today....they had an IPOD and "external speakers" on display...total crap as far as sound went and they where playing mainstream pop "american pie soundtrack" type music :thumbsdn: dammit, I need to go put on some headphones and listen to a record now..... :banana:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom