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Who remembers audio from the time when ...

... I recall hurrying home with the newest vinyl, placing it on the rek-o-kut  belt turntable (arm and cartridge beyond recall) then turning on the HeathKit preamp (with all sorts of equalizing circuits) and amp, then watching the tubes warm up.  The anticipation of hearing the new music through a decent system built up with the warming rube glow from orange to red and dimming into the infra red.  Gently grasping the arm and rotating it to place the needle’s crystal  perfectly into the first cut.  The Heathkit 2way speaker was placed forward from center wall to mimic a mono transducer at center stage.  Switching the turntable motor on while gradually increasing gain at the preamp required a soft touch.  Then stereo,  Reel to Reel.  The Dolby cassette deck, tubeless amps and preamps. Digital ...

  i continue to be amazed at the continuing tidal wave of efforts directed to achieve more accurate sound reproduction and more pleasing perception utilizing our incredible ability to hear sound in the spectrum of musical experience.  The sounds of nature: A drip of water on the wet surface of a broadleaf in the rainforest. The startling gasping wheeze of the change in air flow through the mountain pass.  The sizzle of receding waves through the pebbles on shore.  And the sounds made by humans.

  Old timer’s reminiscences of early audiophile recollections are welcome.  




davesandbag
dougsat
374 posts
 
@ kingbarbuda

+1 on EJ Korvettes

They used to have sales - any record in the store $3.99!We walked out of there with an arm full of records.

-Zenith Cobra tonearms 
-Console HiFi’s with tubes
-Early days of FM radio
-Concerts with 3 bands for under $10 at the Spectrum in Philly

All great memories! 
Revisiting some of the old music and discovering new music 
isn’t bad these days either. Streaming lossless is lots of fun.


mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
tomic60, just a shovel? By back hurts thinking about it. I just had to do the stairs with a shovel and I know about those Ohio winters. Did my residency in Akron. It's a long story but I wound up being one of the House Docs at the Richmond Colosseum. All I had to do was report to the shack walk in and sit down. We had our own box right in front of the sound board:) 
drmemory62
37 posts
 
bsheckler9:

My lesson was leaving the lyric sheet for Record 1 of Frank Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti out on the top of my turntable for my Mom to see Bobby Brown in all of his "Tower of Power" glory.

Never, ever, leave the lyric sheet of any Frank Zappa album out for Mom to find, even Hot Rats which was 95% instrumental.
pehare's avatar
pehare
835 posts
 
dougsat the Spectrum in Philly brings back some good memories I think my ears are still ringing from seeing the Who there in the mid late 70's.  Growing up with the all in one setups in the 60's turntable folded down speakers uncoupled.  Early 70's were Marantz 22XX receivers and Garrard/Dual turntables  Buying records mostly cutouts and promos at Murphy's and Woolworth's for .99 cents.  The new releases were 3.99 and 5.99 for double albums at our fav record store which sold reel to reel tapes.  All our gatefold album covers had weed dust from straining out the seeds...good times indeed I wish I could go back
dawgfish
157 posts
 
Caught the audio bug from my surrogate big brother, who came back from Vietnam with Dynaco, Garrard, Teac RtoR, and honkin' Pioneer (15" woofer!) speakers, not to mention a ton of classic rock.  When your friends are listening to The Archies and you're trying to introduce them to The Doors, it can make for some interesting dynamics.  Saved money from summer jobs and in HS bought my first real system:  Kenwood KA6006 integrated, BIC 960 turntable with Stanton 681EEE cartridge, Pioneer CTF2121 cassette deck, and Electro-Voice ETR-18 speakers.   By then the friends had discarded The Archies and I have great memories of many nights of listening to classic rock, progressive rock, blues, and a bit of fusion.  The joy of listening hasn't diminished over the years...
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