RE: Are you a turntable snob (incredibly long and perhaps, boring)

Posted by Muzikmike (R) on July 23, 2012 at 12:35:23

In Reply to: Are you a turntable snob posted by sudz1234@yahoo.com on July 22, 2012 at 19:00:48:

The words below are the ravings of a US citizen...who thinks the rest of the world “got it” long before we (and he) figured it all out...or at least some of it.

I think that we all forget what LP playback was (and really still is). There was radio...it “educated” us as to what records we wished to buy.

That was it! We didn't think of soundstage, imaging, etc. There may have been a few who had taken notice that there was spacial information but most studied, did the laundry, washed dishes, ate, made love, etc. while music played in their homes. There may have been a few who gathered together and played music, but the majority treated records, soothing background “noise.”

Those who built their Knight and Radio Shack and Lafayette gear...a great deal closer to what we are now, but they were few, and they were geeks (with exceptions there, too). Records were future garbage pit fillers...we could buy more (the epitome of a throw-away society).

But slowly, through the sixties and definitely by the seventies, people found out (and once again, there were those who'd known for years) that there were exciting things going on aurally. RCA, Columbia, etc. didn't “create” stereo for people like us...it was a way to reissue older music as ell as introduce new names and faces.

They had to “fight” TV!

Audio magazines started to flourish! Amazing...we had “found” our Nirvana. Circulation of HiFi maga zine, Audio, etc. flourished with their colorful ads...because Playboy told young men they would be cool if they had a good hi-fi. They'd get laid...WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC!

Meanwhile, the rest of the world giggled...they had figured it out...or so it seemed to a 20-some year old in the 70's.

The point is that we are damned lucky some didn't fill the local landfill with records!

Idiots such as myself benefitted from CD...everyone had to have a CD player...JUST LIKE EVERYONE NEEDED TO REPLACE THEIR “CRUMMY” MONO RECORDS WITH STEREO COPIES!

Yard sals and flea markets took over the job (or part of it) of landfills.

So here we are, dozens upon dozens of “record players” created for this throw- away society!

As usual with any commodity, there's junk and there's better junk, and the rarity of turntables that are NOT junk.

Given the opportunity to go to J.C. Penney's and get yourself a “really good” stereo that comes with a turntable, or for the same (nearly exact) price, a turntable only, most opted for the whole nine yards (and more).

So we're brought some 50+ years, audio history both amazing and dismaying us, with basicaly the same choices...junk, better junk and really good stuff.

But that really good stuff is expensive for the average guy...even the better junk is seemingly out of reach.

But imagine the records sitting below 300 feet of New York/New Jersey waste...imagine the turntables...Goldmunds, SAE, Transrotor, Audio Consulting, Continuum, etc. Imagine and weep.

Yes, I am a turntable snob, but only in the real-world price category.

My Thorens TD160, the table that brought me into the hobby, the Kenwood KD500, which brought me the understanding that Japanese gear isn't the crap US audio magazines told me it was (and I took it as gospel instead of questioning), and surely the VPI, which introduced me to modification.

My 10,000 LPs bug the hell out of me one day and the next I'm happy and proud that I had the record someone here at AA wrote about so that I too, could listen and enjoy it.

I've been listening to a huge amount of digitally produced music for quite awhile. I played an LP on the system I'd been reviewing DACS with lately. I was shaken, broken, shook, quaked, and generally amazed that, although I'm guilty of championship with digital sound what I heard was so full, so “muscular” so intensely moving both intellectually and (no exaggeration) spiritually I wondered if I'd gone insane for a long period of time and was suddenly cured of my dementia.

But of course, those who know me know that that too, is a falsehood...along with this diatribe.
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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Are you a turntable snob - sudz1234@yahoo.com 19:00:48 07/22/12 (47)

I think there's something wrong... - tketcham 09:35:23 07/24/12 (4)

RE: I think there's something wrong... - sudz1234@yahoo.com 12:27:15 07/24/12 (3)

Nice. You can... - tketcham 16:07:23 07/24/12 (2)

RE: Nice. You can... - sudz1234@yahoo.com 16:19:19 07/24/12 (0)

RE: Nice. You can... - sudz1234@yahoo.com 16:14:11 07/24/12 (0)

I paid $25 for a stone mint Thorens TD-160 in 2005 - Biff 20:37:41 07/23/12 (0)

As long as it tracks correctly.... Remember most used records survived those "vintage" rigs. Will they - jdaniel@jps.net 19:20:10 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - painter27 17:28:09 07/23/12 (1)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - sudz1234@yahoo.com 15:29:04 07/24/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob (incredibly long and perhaps, boring) - Muzikmike 12:35:23 07/23/12 (0)

Some erroneous assumptions here.... - cactuscowboy@bresnan.net 11:49:37 07/23/12 (0)

not really - my take - centaurus3200 11:28:29 07/23/12 (0)

I think I would prefer his company to that of a guy with a 30,000 dollar turntable and 100 records. * - Enophile 10:48:01 07/23/12 (2)

I dunno... with that many records the guy might have a hoarding tendency... - kuma 11:04:40 07/23/12 (1)

Good point... - tketcham 15:12:01 07/24/12 (0)

I wish I wasn't - mbnx01 10:01:09 07/23/12 (0)

No - mr.bear 09:54:23 07/23/12 (0)

RE: I'm more of a record care snob - Land Shark 08:30:10 07/23/12 (0)

I think... - rebop 08:05:33 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - Cuernavaca 07:57:55 07/23/12 (1)

Well-said! (nt) - mr.bear 09:55:24 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - Bry 07:55:27 07/23/12 (0)

It is embarrassing and difficult... - EdAInWestOC 06:48:49 07/23/12 (2)

RE: It is embarrassing and difficult... - robbbiec67 07:37:52 07/23/12 (1)

In the case of cheap... - EdAInWestOC 08:51:03 07/23/12 (0)

Not at all. - soundnut 06:28:27 07/23/12 (0)

Some $20 garage sale turntables are quite good ... - reelsmith. 06:23:39 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - 3db 04:49:35 07/23/12 (0)

If those 10,000 records... - genungo 04:47:03 07/23/12 (0)

Is It A Musical Table Or Not? - AnalogJ 04:46:42 07/23/12 (0)

No. - radiodaddy 04:24:20 07/23/12 (0)

He got his priorities straight - Munkie_NL 00:37:25 07/23/12 (2)

Yes and no - jbcortes 02:48:25 07/23/12 (1)

RE: Yes and no - Munkie_NL 12:46:33 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - AlbumAddictED 22:24:02 07/22/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - WOStantonCS100 22:22:18 07/22/12 (0)

A buddy of mine picked up a TD124 at a garage sale for $10 a few years back... - eso 22:10:43 07/22/12 (0)

With a bit of time and work, one can get a decent table in that price range - Road Warrior 21:57:21 07/22/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - Pat S. 21:50:59 07/22/12 (0)

we all start somewhere - hifitommy 21:44:43 07/22/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - SgreenP@MSN.com 21:03:20 07/22/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - vinyl survivor 20:11:24 07/22/12 (1)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - SgreenP@MSN.com 20:20:17 07/22/12 (0)

I would like to be! NT - Know Won 19:49:08 07/22/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - kyle 19:35:07 07/22/12 (2)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - AudioSoul 20:00:05 07/22/12 (1)

RE: Are you a turntable snob - kyle 20:17:48 07/22/12 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: Are you a turntable snob (incredibly long and perhaps, boring) - Muzikmike 12:35:23 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Are you a turntable snob (incredibly long and perhaps, boring)

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