It's been at least two decades and a half since I put needle to the grooves. My musical listening format changed right along with my recording format. It just happened, like a quiet alien invasion as starting with my neighbor next door and outword, we all changed to the new digital technology and couldn't wait to show off to each other how cutting edge State of the art we were.
It wasn't until we (The Persuasions), recorded our album with Barenaked Ladies, released this year, that we had to reach backward for something to play our test pressing of the double vinyl album set. So, on a borrowed portable turntable and one speaker cabinet to listen on, we all gathered round in the living room and "listened." The sound of the needle hitting the groove slammed us all back to yesteryear when listening to music was a ritual experience only those from a certain generation could truly understand.
For us, unwrapping the records, plugging in all the gear and lifting that turntable handle, trying not to scratch the record, filled the air with anticipation of hearing for the first time the collected sum of our labor of love, all those weeks of preparation, the recording studio and the echos of shared laughter and artistry with Barenaked Ladies, captured forever on vinyl.
The circle of life was complete. All our decades of recording and performing lives and the journey was coming at us through that one speaker. We were young again, Just a bunch of friends in a room playing that record we had just rush down to the local mom and pop record store to pick up and back home as fast as we could run, to "hear" and inhale every beat, word and riff. This time it was our record on a format we thought we would never hear, much less be the artist that would deliver this gift to ourselves from our past and future present. Attached is a picture capturing that moment.
Thanks Bob, for taking the time to read this.
Dave Revels
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I'm glad you like your vinyl. I'm also glad you used the "archaic" word, because it is. It's technology that pre-dates the introduction of home electricity for God's sake, and I swing back and forth between laughing and crying that people still swear by it.
Not to put down anyone who does like the sound of vinyl - to each their own - but let's not confuse it with accuracy. I look at it as a nostalgic audio patina like an Instagram filter. The thick layer of harmonic distortion, frequency & transient response degradation, and inevitable bass roll off may be pleasing to some, but it changes the sound dramatically.
Ask anyone who made records for a living back in the day when vinyl was the main music carrier. Especially anyone who worked at a studio with a mastering facility. Mixing a record, cutting it (without adding more eq or compression), then bringing it into the control room and A-B ing it to the master was an eye and ear popping experience. All it did was confuse and discourage the crap out of me.
Decent quality digital sounds so much more like the original than the best vinyl/turntable that it's not even close.
Better? Worse? That's all subjective and and personal. I don't miss it. Except for fondling covers and reading liner notes.
Best
Michael McCarty
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The million dollar question is... can you hear the difference between your old Panasonic and the B-Sharp? Have you tried doing an A/B blind hearing test?
But then again, you would be getting into "stereophile" territory, where old fuckers only talk about the sound and not the music, and it's all a competition to see who has a bigger wallet.
Glad you're not doing that and enjoying the music.
Diego Miranda
P.S. Also... are you into tape?
If not yet, sell that turntable, and with the money get yourself a RT-707 and some original quarter inch tapes spinning at 7 1/2 ips... after listening to God Only Knows like that you'll never go back.
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Hey Bob,
Micah is a good friend and a good man, and it sounds like he hooked you up
just right. I remember setting up my new high-end Pro-Ject PerspeX
turntable for the first time, about 8 years ago. After a few hours of
meticulous construction/precision, I finally put the tres-expensive
Blackbird cartridge/needle down on Side 1 of The Tragically Hip's We Are
the Same LP, and vrrrrrreeep! -- the needle went all the way across the
side in about 2 seconds. Oy! Mr. Genius over here clearly hadn't gotten
the anti-skating balance set properly. Good thing I had a backup copy of
that LP, just in case...
My 'table has long since been set properly and duly used to revisit both
classics reborn on 180-gram wax in addition to many new,
wonderful-sounding discoveries along the way... bottom line: viva la
analog!!
Best,
Mike Mettler
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hi bob,
i'll keep this short.
i'll bet the sound that your find glorious is in the ortofon cartridge.
i've got two. one in mono (best way to listen to mono pressings)
and one in stereo.
the ortofon cartridges are glorious.
may i suggest getting a mono cartridge for your spare panasonic turntable?
you'll be glad you did.
all of the records you mentioned were recorded/
mixed on tape, and mastered for vinyl.
(that's a sonically beautiful thang.)
your friend.
marvin etzioni
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Bob..
Perhaps you may recall, utilizing the tone-arm lifter os called: CUEING
... Me too now insearch of relacing some components n my DUAL 1229Q .. very wealthy friend sends me to his audiophile guru in Santa Monica..spend afternoon w him listening...'twas wunnerful .. went from $750K system down incrementally down to $6K all in
..... 1. Difference at each stop on way down pound for pound negligable a/k/a not worth
..... 2. Mentioned to boutique audio guru that i can go pro audio mixed w some home audio via line signal matching .. very reasonable price..and will be recording studio quality!!
...... 3. Per turntable .. Ferget 16rpm..but many folks are actually 78rpm appreciative these days ..so 33..45 & 78rpm's the best way to go..BUT .. PITCH CONTROL of at least 8% is a must !! .. Any real musician or true enthusiast civilian will attest to the PITCH CONTROL FEATURE ...
... it was the Pitch Control Feature that un-cozmixed the guru
Still in search of that current 2017 technology turntable w those certain throwback features..if ya know please pass info this a way..?
Thx
Don Allen
Tony Clifton's drummer
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Did you notice these cool ones in the George Michael Doc?
https://twitter.com/stoneaudio/status/920608926579773440
It made me want to buy one. I was a fan. So I had to watch. It's not great. Wanted more. But satiated the fan in me.
In action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-92ruWPTVQo
Jason Hirschhorn
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Pacific Stereo!! I bought everything there!
Tom Hedtke
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Nice to see you finally changed your stance on vinyl As you can now see/hear it's more than
just a fad.....It's about sound quality and always has been!
herm181
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One word: eBay.
Martin Rowell
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If you have any of the early Kinks in your collection ("Tired of Waiting", etc.), those mixes still stand up on vinyl. It's amazing! Also, the Sinatra sessions with Neal Hefti.
Robert Bond
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No - you're wrong! Streaming is the better than vinyl!!
I just wanted to chime in with some contrarian bullshit.
~Bobbo
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Exactly
Regan Fey
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Glad you're enjoying your new 'table...the emotional impact is what it's all about. If you wanna make a couple of inexpensive changes that'll make the listening experience substantially more involving, I highly recommend swapping out the Ortofon—which is a perfectly decent cartridge—for an Audio Technica ML440b, which is a bonafide giant-killer. You'll never look back. I also recommend putting a better platter mat on there than the supplied felt one.
Happy to send links if you'd like.
Michael Howe
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Did the same myself recently. Ain't it fun.
Enjoy.
David Claringbold
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Zen and the Art of the Turntable....!
Vijay Thakur
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I believe the Sl 1200 and Sl 1300 are Technics.
Patrick Herrington
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Bob, Abraxas was one of the first albums I went back to on vinyl and it indeed sounds phenomenal. Enjoy!
Tom Moore
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Wonderful piece.
Thanks!
Blaz Perus
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It's hard to describe why I loved this one. The way you pulled me through the words. I was just not just reading, I was involved. A human wrote the email, and suddenly tens of thousands of readers were transported back to the past, smelling, feeling and hearing that magical vinyl that shaped so many of our lives. I would love to go there again. Thanks.
Dr. David Madow
Reisterstown, MD
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We're from the same era, Bob! And I upgraded to old stuff some years ago. The turntable (though not getting a lot of use as most vinyl remains boxed up in my limited quarters) is a belt drive Thorens. I did a little work on it, and replaced the OEM tonearm with an SME and cartridge I can't recall right now. Exquisite device, the Thorens is, of course.
I still use my 40 year old JBL L-36s. I've replaced the foam, grill cloth, and binding posts, and they still sound great. Have not had to touch the electronics of the crossovers.
Always wanted Nakamichi, and acquired a TA-3A receiver. I cannot crank it to full volume, that would blow out the windows. The Who's "Who's Next" through it made it like it was meant to be heard. Nice at the time to not have any nearby neighbors! And my 12" single of Steely Dan's "Aja" never sound so in your face :)
Ever tried a Nakamichi CR-7 cassette? I don't care if the format is outdated, that thing makes cheap low bias tapes sound like CDs, imagine the good tape.
Harder to move around the full equipment than those today that just use an iPhone and Bluetooth speakers, but we knew how to rock, and still do.
Rock on, Bob.
Don
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"Right now I'm playing Santana's 'Abraxas.' Carlos's guitar has got that richness we heard at the Fillmore, only this time it's in my home. That's what we used to do, save all our money so we could buy the best stereo to get closer to the music, when it wasn't just entertainment, but life itself."
Fred Catero
David Rubinson
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Are you one of the old fogeys that your always stating live in the past? Or have you finally crossed over and realize when you really want to hear,feel, even smell the music, nothing compares to vinyl! Just bought a new turntable myself, one of the Regas. Very happy with it and set up was a breeze.
Have fun listening!
Terri Haram
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If you want to really get blown away, see if they will trade your Ortofon Blue up to the Black. I have to listen to all my records again now that I can reach all the music hidden in those grooves.
Pinhey
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Thanks for writing this Bob.
Many folk agree with you about the experience. I've worked in this field as long as you and what you are talking about is the immersion in the music. Yes, analog has a lot of warmth, though in most cases it is distortion (some of which we tend to like). What is special is the ritual of vinyl.
Having to place the disc properly, and in your case to clamp it down more or less demands your attention. It's not as easy to change records or tracks so you listen. Today, far too many do not listen, and it is all background noise which is why so many accept the highly compressed sound both of mp3 files and the compression placed in the studio to make it loud in the hope it will break through in your car or on the go.
The magic of vinyl is not so much the medium, but the fact that the ritual places the music in the spotlight. If you've gone through the trouble of setting the turntable up, then you will sit and listen often in the correct position to get that sound. Instead of placing a cheap powered speaker up and walking away while it plays in the background you are engaged with the music, lovely.
Now I would always rather have music than not, so I have no issue with these portable speakers. In fact, I am one of the first to make these Bluetooth speakers or iPod dock units. Today more people are hearing music in some way for more time and in more places than ever. That's a good thing. However, what you are talking about is diving into it, and hearing it for real with your attention. Just like love isn't it.
all the best
Robert Heiblim
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Wow blast from the past. I sold stereo equipment during prep school and college vacations. Owned both those JBLs and that turntable. The cartridge was always the critical element and the good ones were $200-$300 and worth every penny. Remember the Dishwasher and the "ionized water " that came with it to clean the record.
Steven B. Frankel
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I enjoy your Letter - an eagerly anticipated read that often adds perspective, educates or challenges assumptions. However, like everything in our lives today, the words often have a digital tenor - ones and zeros - ups and downs - an impressive rounding of synthetic edges. It is all good.
What striking beauty in your piece today on analogue music. The joy of participating in building the system / participating in the process. Not just the music, your writing went analogue too. It resonates in true frequency. No edges, only genuine smooth transitions.
Zippo chance that I will stop being "ok google", or be buying a two grand turntable, but deeply appreciate you taking me back to a cherished place in time.
Building the stereo system was paramount. Reality, the need to pay dorm fees, meant the equipment took a penultimate position and in time was sold for parts to pay the bills. Thirty years later, I suppose the degrees have finally paid for themselves....
Not the good old days, but rather the other good days.
Peter Campbell
Toronto
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You won't regret spending https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT440MLB-Phonograph-Cartridge/dp/B00OQUJ1QO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511619991&sr=8-1&keywords=at440. Unbelievably great.
Some mat suggestions:
http://www.hifigem.com/rcc-record-mat.html
https://tinyurl.com/y7fx5qhy
http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm
https://www.needledoctor.com/Origin-Live-Record-Platter-Mat
-Michael Howe
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A Turntable at this price should have been purchased from a reputable Audio retailer; the price should have included set-up for you. Setting-up a turntable is an art-form and its handled by a trained technician employed by the retailer. Anything less--you got ripped-off.
Frank DeFonda
Fayetteville, NY
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Hi Bob, congratulations on the table! It really does sound better. Funny thing I just upgraded my Ortofon Blue to the Black. I was feeling guilty about spending the money until I read your piece. Thank you. You will really like the Blue. I did but, I got the bug and had to upgrade. Be careful it's easy to catch! Now you'll be scouring used record stores! That bug is an addiction! Have fun Russ Wilson
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As an audiophile and lover of music, I was so happy to embrace the arrival of CD's. The house shaking dynamic range with no more clicks & pops with a medium that could last forever and never experience wear. While I embraced vinyl (had 300 records, all sleeved/protected), I had and still have a love affair with the CD. It's funny to me when I see these twenty-somethings now loving the retro-cool of vinyl, showing up to art events with 35mm film cameras and bringing Polaroid film cameras to parties. I'll continue to enjoy my CD's (still love the quality, especially in the world of MP3's). But... I do find the idea of getting a nice Projekt turntable with an Ortofon cartridge to be tempting, you have me pondering this one, especially for some of the precious vinyl I still own that never made its way onto CD.
Don Adkins
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Bob your gonna get a lot of email, with all us vinyl geeks sharing our experiences.
I'm actually listening to David Bowie Young Americans on a Dual 1209. A fellow audio enthusiast, who I only met online through a Dual 1219 he was selling, lent me this 1209 to see if I would like an idler wheel turntable. First time I met him in person was when he gave me the Dual to try, no deposit, just trust among fellow fanatics. This would only happen in Halifax, NS or other small cities. I'm running a Sansui AU-7900 amp 80 wpc, Luxman CD player and preamp, Akai cassette deck, Technics SL 23 and Thorens TD 320 turntable. It's a fun and rewarding obsession, lol!!
EAT B-Sharp that is a nice TT!!
Doug Gillis
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Aren't you making the point that Neil Young was trying to make by advancing Pono?
Firstname Lastname
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Exhausting but beautiful. But...no thanks.
Michael A. Becker
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Bob!
After all you've said about vinyl and how we're all idiots to still be touting the pros of records and turntables...
Glad you stuck it out. A fantastic table without any of the hassle you describe ( but worth every bit of hassle, well, because!) is the Orbit Plus from U-Turn Audio. Great, fully manual table that literally is plug and play. You can get with pre-amp or without. And it won't set you back $1600 and plays just as fine.
The kids in Woburn, MA (sorta your old stomping grounds) know what's up.
Happy Thanksgiving. Keep up the good fight in all its forms.
Billy Fields
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You've got an amazing memory for detail, yikes. I sure wish I had hung on to my MacIntosh tube amp.
John Brodey
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For me, the nice thing about going back to vinyl is that it takes away the ease of skipping through a track. And for me, sometimes when I'm forced to listen I find that a track that doesn't grab me in the first 10 seconds might after the first 30 or 45.
The old vinyl sounds great, for sure, but new works like Supernova and Ouroboros by Ray Lamontagne, and Way Out West (by Marty Stuart) some awesome as well
Jim Blaney
Nashville
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Finally! A vinyl post from you with a little positivity thrown in!
So what if it's a niche, a hobby, a pain in the ass to set up. But when it's done,
it's fun and done right, it sounds fantastic.
For me the biggest draw is that the analog recorded stuff of yesteryear
was mastered from the original tapes by the mastering gods of the universe.
Who knows where the digital files of today come from? Did they have the master?
Did they brickwall the recording? Did anybody even care?
But back in the day, with Robert Ludwig and Doug Sax and others
at the helm, you can't go wrong with some of the originals. Nothing like a
Porky Prime Cut to make the needle dance in the grooves!
And when I went to visit my 24 year old daughter recently, she was listening to The Band's
second album…on vinyl! I had given her a copy a while ago but never knew she listened to it.
And what can be wrong with that?
Good luck spinnin' Bob.
Paul Bizzigotti
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Got one of those big honking black Sansui amps with the JBL 100s for high school graduation present in 1971. Was in stereo heaven for nearly 30 years before that equipment gave out. Nothing's sounded as good since.
Cameron Dilley
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What a great article!
Glad to see that you're enjoying vinyl again; I'm 42 and have literally been collecting since I was a little kid scouring flea markets and used record stores with whatever allowance money I could conjure up. While I bought CD's over the years (but almost always grabbed vinyl when available, even in the dark days of the 90s), and stream a lot of new stuff these days, I never disconnected from vinyl as in my experience it has always been the way to be most focused on listening and, when a record is pressed well (and this almost always means from analog tapes), it has a depth and complexity that always helps for the enjoyment of the music.
Are you hip to the vacuum cleaning systems for vinyl? These things not only cut back on surface noise but get rid of those annoying skips that get caused by an unruly spec of dust or grime that gets stuck in the grooves and is often undetectable to the eye. As a musician who helps pay the bills by also being a record dealer, these cleaners are fantastic for avoiding problems that cause people to return records for skips and surface noise, too. Most folks are amazed at how quiet vinyl can be after a deep cleaning. Of course some vinyl itself is just noisy by its composition, but it's truly amazing how little surface noise a clean record can have. I even clean new pressings, as it can get rid of microscopic shavings from the pressing process that also can cause surface noise.
VPI tends to be the most favored standard; they aren't cheap, but they are built like a tank and do the job very well. For more budget minded folks, a similar system is available from Okki Nokki, and a manual system by Record Doctor works quite well.
Derek See
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I am a boomer who is trying to rebuild my vinyl collection. Unfortunately I can't drop that kind of coin on a turntable and to be honest my ears still haven't recovered from third row at a Nugent concert in 74 and I'm not sure I could appreciate the full nuance of a high end system.
Now I take advantage of Spotify and I have it hooked up to my Alexis and stream it through a Bose wireless unit and it's convenience is awesome. I use it for playlists, party's and to discover new artists. (Check out John Moreland if you haven't already. He is the real deal) But vinyl, that is meditation for me. To go pick out that record that fits my mood, cue it up on the platter and and sit back and absorb the music start to finish. I don't multi-task or read or scan my Facebook. I listen to the music that the artist has produced and that's it.
Like you I have been having a great time rediscovering the classics that I love, but I am also checking out some of the new music that is making it's way to vinyl. Ray Lamontagne's "Ouroboros" is great on vinyl.
The hipsters are missing the point. It's not the possession of the flat piece of vinyl that is important, it's the feeling in your heart, the tingle down the back of your neck or the way your head explodes that comes from listening to that special piece of music that's important.
Build your gear up, buy the vinyl that moves you and PLAY IT.
Regards,
John Ferguson
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Dual CS 5000 and an Ortofon OM 40 Gold. Bought it with all Yamaha components and some still-amazing Polk SDA SRS 2.3s (big speakers = big sound!) in 1988, when I came into a bit of money. Still play it occasionally, and my friends who poo-poo it wind up sitting cross-legged on the floor, reading record liners. Great fun, and great sound. Thanks for keeping audio alive!
Chris Beytes
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You'll get a million of similar emails now, but you should hear Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels" 180 gram re-release. Oh. My. Gawd....
Young Hutchinson
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The Eico HF-81 from 1961 is one of the greatest tube amps ever made because of the transformers and tube arrangement. You can get em on EBay for about $500 but you'll need a pro to up the capacitors and restore it for another $400-500. Once done, you will hear sound phrasing and subtleties you never heard before with your turntable.
John Rhode
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Wow, a new B-Sharp! Such a long way from that vintage portable record player with the penny taped to the tonearm. ;)
G. Robey
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Great descriptions of sound, anticipation, frustration, passion, and fulfillment. Thanks.
Harold Love
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Great assembly story. I applaud you for your patience. I would have thrown mine across the room ...
Not all USB platters sound horrible though. The Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB is a remarkably good sounding unit at an affordable price. I wouldn't have believed it until I heard it with my own ears ...
Michael Roe
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My son got me Southern Blood on vinyl.
We're not southern, but the ABB is in our blood, and some of the inner
circle is in our address book. This was a special gift.
Went to the turntable on the PA system and it was dead.
Wouldn't even turn on. But it was a Fisher, inherited from my mom, never
liked it anyway.
So I went to the stereo system and put it on my nice linear tracking
turntable. Turned on the receiver and got blasted with static, volume
control had no effect, nor did any other function. Well ok, it's 25 years old, I guess it was its time.
But hey, I can still plug the linear table into the PA, so I crawl
behind the wall unit, disconnect it, and schlep it over to the PA, plug it in - no static - and hit Play. The unit moves about 1/4", bounces back to starting position, and stays there.
Now I realize that this is simply revenge for neglecting these devices
while my phone and computers get all the love.
But I'm a musician first and an audiophile second, and I have better
things to do with $1595. Amazon Prime finds me a 100W/channel amp that plays all formats of SD chips and does Bluetooth, with a little EQ, for $65, that was half the size of the old unit, and I didn't miss the three VCR inputs a bit. That put the stereo back in business. And then, for less than $100, I got an Audio Technica turntable with a USB output. Finally,
I can put the best of my 1200 albums onto hard drives and enjoy them
from anywhere. I guarantee you that at least a couple hundred of 'em aren't available
on Spotify.
And I can always put on the ol' Koss headphones and listen directly from
the vinyl if I'm in the mood to study.
Best,
Darryl Mattison
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There's a great deal to be said for vinyl. I've hung on to most of my 3,000+ LP collection, and they sound great on my system. I bought a Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Linn's superb Ittok arm 20+ years ago, used. I've upgraded the power supply and had a succession of very good cartridges in it. It sounds as good as LP can through my system (McIntosh preamp, Krell amps and B&W floorstanding speakers).
There's just one caveat: getting really good sound out of vinyl is, and will always be dependent on how well it was recorded in the first place, as well as the condition of the vinyl. Is it warp-free? Has it been cleaned recently? (A good LP cleaning machine can work wonders on well-loved discs.) Was the source material well-recorded in the first place?
There are great CDs and lousy LPs. Your mileage may vary, as they say. Yes, LPs are great fun, but remember: it's all just pretend. There is no orchestra (or jazz combo, or acoustic band, or whatever) in your living room. It's all just pretend. Spin, baby, spin!
David Basskin
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EAT. Nice Stuff. I never gave up on vinyl and have the turntable (and tonearm) to prove it. So I guess I'm one of those audiophile dudes. I have to disagree with you about the youngsters. They buy vinyl AND turntables. They will never give up their earbuds but they now know what good sounding reproduction is.
For me, vinyl just sounds better and is less fatiguing to listen to.
Remember this, the highest sampling rate you can get is . . . analogue.
Mitchell Manasse
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welcome back to vinyl, Bob..
we've been waiting for you..
Jimi Lalumia
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When the LOVE Turntable comes out next year it will have great sound and completely tame the hassle out of setting up and using a turntable. It's portable, and it can be controlled by an App on your phone so you never have to lift the needle to change tracks - it can skip tracks using the app with complete accuracy. Will
Connect to Sonos and be Alexa enabled too. The first turntable for the 21st century.
http://loveturntable.com/
Fred Goldring
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I loved my college stereo. Sansui 505 receiver, Aiwa cassette deck, Technics direct drive semi-auto tt plus all the other devices-compander, graphic eq… all plugged into first Advents and then Klipsch bookshelves. The lights were mesmerizing and the music was WOW. The tt and cassette deck was stolen to be replaced but not really. The Sansui kept chugging for 20 more years!. Thanks for the memories-Doc Blues
Mark Gresser
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Had a Vietnam vet roommate in the late 60's who couldn't wait for his Japan-purchased Scott/TEAC system to glitch so he could joyfully take it all apart and troubleshoot.
Stack them Advents!
dennis brent
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I'm coming over with my Alone Together album!
Chris Mancini
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Something from this piece stood out to me: "But if something's recorded analog and reproduced analog, there's a special sound and... Forget the digital recordings transferred to vinyl. Best if the original is analog, i.e. tape."
I couldn't agree more. But, these days it might be "buyer beware" for artists now seeking to release records in the format known as AAA. An artist seeking to record to tape, mix to tape, and then release his/her record on vinyl must be vigilant in order to avoid his/her music being converted to digital in the process of the vinyl mastering.
You may know this already, but when a record is mastered, the lathe speeds-up and slows-down in order to open space between the new groove and the groove adjacent to it on the disc to accommodate the wide groove that will result from the loud passage with a lot of bass that is coming up, and then to close the space to accommodate the narrow groove resulting from the soft passages that follow. In order to do this, the lathe has to know what is coming ahead of time.
Stated differently, before the mastering engineer hears a sound coming from the tape machine, the lathe computer must have already heard the sound and have made all of the calculations necessary to adjust the groove width to accommodate the sound that you are about to hear.
In the pre-digital world, this was accomplished by mounting a second playback head (the "preview head") on the playback tape machine, in the same tape path as the playback head, but mounted several inches in front of the playback head. This resulted in the same signal being produced by both heads, but with the signal from the playback head being delayed about .7 seconds behind the signal from the preview head. The signal from the preview head was routed to the lathe computer, and the signal from the playback head was routed to the cutter head (the part of the lathe that actually cuts the grooves into the disc).
I haven't been involved with mastering for vinyl in a while, but I have read that there are not that many tape machines equipped with a preview head in existence these days. Instead, many mastering studios who master from tape create the necessary delay by using a digital delay line. The signal from the tape is converted from analog to digital, and that digital signal is split, with one part going to the lathe computer and the other part being delayed .7 seconds and then being converted back to analog and routed to the cutter head.
The cutter head is being fed an analog signal. But it is not the same analog signal that came off the tape. Instead, it is an analog signal that has been digitized and then reconverted to analog before being transferred to the master disc as an analog signal.
Thus, even if it is recorded to tape and mixed to tape It, it will not be a totally analog recording it is mastered for vinyl in this manner. Best to look for a mastering studio with a tape machine equipped with a preview head.
Regards,
Bobby Thomas
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Truth!!! Baba booey is right too!
Joel Sercarz
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Bob, I get studio-quality sound via JBL 4312s /Technics SLQD33 semi-automatic/JVC RS77 60 watts a channel which has built-in 5-band equalizer and shakes the whole house when set at 3. Analog recordings sound better on vinyl. Best on 45s! Some Motown and Stax classics have been successfully remastered for CD, but those are exceptions. Paul L
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Reading this got me so anxious it caused my eczema to return (and I don't even have eczema).
Bob Kranes
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Bob, I'll buy your Nakamichi 582 if you want to sell it
I'll even drive to the valley to get it!
Throw me a price...and I'm on my way
Thanks,
Lance Cosgrove
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glad you are re-discovering your old vinyl! And thank you for recommending people stay away from those horrible USB turntables. You are also right about most modern digital albums poorly pressed to LP….BUT NOT ALL. But more importantly I am writing so everyone doesn't get the wrong idea about setting up your own TT. Just because you managed to get sound out of your speakers, doesn't mean that the turntable is set-up properly. I mean just because it's "working" doesn't mean it's reproducing at even close to it's potential. It's not rocket science or secret black-magic of course….but you do need a scale, a level, an alignment tool, a speed strobe, a test record, and something to measure capacitance, to get it right. A Ferrari with a flat tire and a couple dead spark plugs isn't going to beat a VW golf….things have to be properly tuned up. Congrats for getting yours up and running….but you should probably still call in an expert if you really want that baby to sing!
-doug tantrow
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Speaking of sound quality.
AM radio used to sound great but no more and here's the reason.
Something that you might not know is that AM radio quality today is not that of the AM radio stations we listened to growing up. Neither is the sonic quality of AM receivers. The bandwidth of the signal itself was substantially reduced by the FCC in the 1980s from 15 kHz to a max of 10 kHz but the majority of AM stations chose to purchase new transmitters that produced signals at only 3 or 4 kHz wide to save money since most AM stations were no longer profitable. The industry also switched from manufacturing rich sounding vacuum tube transmitters to producing only thin sounding solid state transmitters, this further diminished fidelity. This change is often lamented in Radio, a magazine for broadcast engineers that I subscribe to.
None of this really mattered much since the makers of radio receivers had already reduced the quality of the AM receiver in their components so that they could put the costs savings into producing higher quality sounding FM receivers. So even if AM stations were still transmitting a good quality signal it didn't matter because the AM receivers being made are low quality.
As a result, the AM sound we listen to today is nothing like that we enjoyed growing up. The fidelity has been reduced by a magnitude of four or five with the belief that more stations could be squeezed into the AM band. Unfortunately, AM stations are now so unpopular that AM licenses are being turned in to the FCC and no one wants them as stations go bankrupt.
Frank A. Gagliano
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Its great to hear you talking vinyl. I've long thought you'd given up on it completely. As a guy who runs a vinyl-only record label/club that bummed me out. Your passion for music is unparalleled and I feel like vinyl is something to passionate about today. Especially the physical packaging (which is what Vinyl Moon focuses on). Although I disagree about digital having a quality representation on vinyl. It can be done right. Many labels cut corners and press from CD quality files but those that take the time to cut lacquers from high-def files can create a beautiful sound on vinyl. But you are absolutely right, not all pressings are created equal. But thats also why the vinyl community is so great. We all chat about whats quality and what is just a cash grab (plenty of those).
Looking forward to more vinyl letters from you! If you want some mind blowing vinyl packaging records from me, just let me know and I'll send a few over.
Brandon Bogajewicz
Founder, CEO: Vinyl Moon
https://www.vinylmoon.co/thecollection/
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Welcome (back) to the club. I got my ex-Father-in-law's old Pioneer PL-518 direct drive that he bought in the 80's, after starting on a cheaper Audio Technica table, and that thing is still trucking and sounds fantastic. Shit was built to last back in the day. I'm 32 and I still use spotify and all that, but when I have the time to kick back, unwind and really listen, nothing beats dropping the needle and getting transported straight to the source.
Sean, MPLS
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I hope Howard Stern reads this. Of course, nothing will change his closed mind on the subject.
Chris Friday
Tour Manager
Mike Gordon Of Phish
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Your first dream system sounds remarkably similar to mine. L 100s, Kenwood 3500, Nakamichi 500, Pioneer PL 112D. A Yamaha FM tuner and Sony reel to reel were later additions. The Yamaha, Pioneer, Nakamichi and JBLs are gone. The Sony and Kenwood are still in service.
Dan Daly
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aloha bob..just read your piece on turntables..loved it!!! introducing my neighbor and great friend tom who started SHINOLA…i use their turntable and for me a game changer!!!…..he would love to have some dialogue with you re turntables and stuff…like to be a fly on the wall!..shep
Shep Gordon
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Thanks Shep.
Hi Bob.
In 2011 we went to Detroit with the hope to figure out how to create 100 jobs. I had recently left a watch Company that I had started in the mid 80s and utilized deep relationship in Switzerland to help accomplish the buildout of a factory and the training of a workforce that had no experience in making watches. We told our story in organic ways and were surprised, shocked actually, by the market demand when we finally started selling watches in July of 2013. We have subsequently utilized this same business model in several product categories. www.shinola.com
For several years now we have been investing heavily in creating an audio business that was predicated on bringing audiophile quality equipment to a more mainstream audience. We believe our growing legion of customers who are interested in our brand because of our design/quality of products and because of the back story of having created 650 much needed jobs in Detroit. We launched our turntable last year. As you can see from this video, we dove deep into the making of a turntable with VPI. https://vimeo.com/192694526. We have just started shipping the first headphones into the market.
I don't know shit from Shinola about audio equipment but I believe I have hired world class talent in an effort to get started. I sure would like to get an objective outside opinion about the quality of our first products. Would you have time to play around with our stuff and give me your perspective?
Thanks and best, Tom Kartsotis
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Mazel tov!
This piece made me happy. I'm one of those guys who never sold his turntable, and I have a very fine one, and most of the LPs I ever bought. Play one of your old Simon and Garfunkel records and be prepared to be amazed. How did Roy Halee get voices like that?
And you're definitely right that analog mastered recordings sound best. But I think that hi-res digital masters, 96/24 or 192/24, sound better on LP than they do on 16/44 CDs. I'm sure you'll hear more from Fremer on that!
And today's LPs are almost always better pressings than we got back in the day. Remember during the Oil Crisis when petrochemicals were in short supply and LPs got really really thin? Not to mention full of pops. That just doesn't happen now.
So enjoy.
Larry Fisher
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I bet that you will be getting an I-told-you-so email from Michael Fremer!
And from dozens of other long-time (long-in-the-tooth, also) turntable owners, like me.
Thanks for the analog love,
Chaz Jenkins
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My EAT B- Sharp got delivered for review yesterday….
However, Bob $1595 with a $200 cartridge is neither expensive nor "cheap".
It's good value for the $$$
"I could I have installed the sub-platter upside down? That turned out to be true."
OMG!
"And the unit came with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, so I didn't have to set azimuth and all the other arcanities of Stanton and Shures way back when."
Actually the Ortofon 2M Blue and any cartridge today would benefit from correct azimuth setting, which can improve channel balance and separation. Not sure why you think the 2M Blue is exempt. But at that price point it's not as necessary as when you spend a few thousand for a phono cartridge (and more people do than you can imagine).
(Note: The Eat B-Sharp comes optimized for the Ortofon 2M Blue.)
"Forget those kids buying vinyl as souvenirs, many of whom don't even own a turntable, or if they do, it's a piece of crap."
At the Making Vinyl event in Detroit two weeks ago we learned from the head of the Association of Indie Record Stores (can't recall the actual name) that kids are buying a very decent Audio-Technica turntable that's selling in the indie record stores by the "stack" - 30 to 50 per week - the way these things used to be sold at Tower and Virgin...
"Forget the digital recordings transferred to vinyl. Best if the original is analog, i.e. tape."
Not so! Paul Simon's engineer Roy Halee (Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan, BS&T, Lovin' Spoonful) told me recently that the vinyl version of "Stranger to Stranger" cut from 192/24 file sounded much better than the CD. A concert pianist I know said that the vinyl edition of his latest recording cut from digital source sounded far closer to what he actually sounds like than did the file. There are reasons for this best discussed 'elsewhere'
First: the best part of the EAT story: it was designed by a woman, Jozefina, wife of Pro-Ject owner Heinz Lichtenegger.
She was already manufacturing and selling a line of EAT vacuum tubes when they met so this is not a faux design by a poseur. What's more, Heinz's story is truly amazing. He found a homely turntable for sale in the early 1990s at a GAS STATION and bought it. It sounded surprisingly good "for cheap" (Heinz was then distributing high end audio in Austria) so he visited the Czech Republic factory that manufactured it.
The Soviet era factory had fallen on hard times and had stopped manufacturing vacuum cleaners, refrigerators for the Soviet bloc. Only the turntable and a few other items were still being manufactured there.
Heinz soon started manufacturing and marketing inexpensive Pro-Ject turntables.
Today the entire factory is dedicated to Pro-Ject turntables. But he's run out of room so he and a partner just opened a second large factory. Pro-Ject now sells more than 160,000 turntables a year.
Michael Fremer
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