- b.c.,
It all began when we happen to be browsing through a BestBuy and I saw them. A display of ALBUMS!! Record albums! The missus looked on as I went thru the stacks with all the glee and awe of a kid in a candy shop. I picked up a fat (remasted) package of Are You Experienced saying "I had this" and then Disraeli Gears and next Synchronicity, tempted to buy them all on the spot.
But then I remembered I had never tried to see if the Luxman I saved from my flood damaged livingroom still worked. It was high enough to escape direct water damage but I had to cut off the wiring. I even ordered a replacement stylus a year or so ago that was still in a box.
So I set to work rewiring the audio connectors and attaching a new electric cord, and mounting the stylus to the cartridge, and adjusting the turntable speed to an exact 33 1/3 - all that old technical mumbo-jumbo and equipment fiddling one had to do before the advent of plug n play CD mediocrity... The moment now at hand, a press of a button, some lights, HAH!! It still worked!
Then it occured to me I only had about 7 or so beaten up LP's I had stripped from their water logged covers or had plucked from the floor (those that weren't cracked, warped, or smashed beyond salvage). I remember cleaning them up best I could but where were they now?? I set about looking for them when the missus said, "What about those we have upstairs?"
We have albums? Upstairs?? And so we did. More than I thought we did, that apparently weren't damaged, including older versions of some I had seen in the store, and others I had thought long gone. I tell ya, it was like Christmas all over again. Well, almost...
Because, when I hooked the turntable up to my received I could barely hear it. Why? Because my newer Pioneer, the one that can play all kinds of digital configs and optical shit, and dolby xyz and lmnop, had everything BUT a phono imput. And turns out a turntable needs boosting above that of today's standard imput.
Well, I bought a dohicky from R. Shack made for just that sort of thing. And in days I was listening to vinyl again. Complete with all its "snap, crackle, and pop".
And know what? It does sound better than digital. :wink:
But then I remembered I had never tried to see if the Luxman I saved from my flood damaged livingroom still worked. It was high enough to escape direct water damage but I had to cut off the wiring. I even ordered a replacement stylus a year or so ago that was still in a box.
So I set to work rewiring the audio connectors and attaching a new electric cord, and mounting the stylus to the cartridge, and adjusting the turntable speed to an exact 33 1/3 - all that old technical mumbo-jumbo and equipment fiddling one had to do before the advent of plug n play CD mediocrity... The moment now at hand, a press of a button, some lights, HAH!! It still worked!
Then it occured to me I only had about 7 or so beaten up LP's I had stripped from their water logged covers or had plucked from the floor (those that weren't cracked, warped, or smashed beyond salvage). I remember cleaning them up best I could but where were they now?? I set about looking for them when the missus said, "What about those we have upstairs?"
We have albums? Upstairs?? And so we did. More than I thought we did, that apparently weren't damaged, including older versions of some I had seen in the store, and others I had thought long gone. I tell ya, it was like Christmas all over again. Well, almost...
Because, when I hooked the turntable up to my received I could barely hear it. Why? Because my newer Pioneer, the one that can play all kinds of digital configs and optical shit, and dolby xyz and lmnop, had everything BUT a phono imput. And turns out a turntable needs boosting above that of today's standard imput.
Well, I bought a dohicky from R. Shack made for just that sort of thing. And in days I was listening to vinyl again. Complete with all its "snap, crackle, and pop".
And know what? It does sound better than digital. :wink: