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"Is that a record??? "

I guess I just found out today how out of touch I am with the rest of the non-audiophile world. I went to the local USPS office to return a damaged LP. I still had the package it came in from Acoustic Sounds, which had 'LP' written on it in several places. So the Postmaster says to me incredulously "Is that a record???!!!" . I calmly say "Yes". The woman in line behind me says "Reeeally!!!...one of those plastic thingyyys???". Again, I repeat my reply, "Yes, it's an LP".
Postmaster: "Wow! I had no idea they even made them anymore."
Me: "Yes, they still make them".
Woman: "Are you serious?"
Me: "Yes, they still make them. In fact, more today than even 10 years ago."
Postmaster: "You mean they still make NEW!! records???"
Me: "Yes."
Postmaster: "What kind of music do you buy?"
Me: "Mostly Jazz".
Postmaster: "Why do you buy them?"
Me: "Because they sound better than cd's."
Postmaster: "I've heard that before, but all of my old records sound like crap."
Me: "Well you do have to take care of them."
Postmaster: "I thought I was taking care of them....I guess I wasn't".

Now I'm not trying to start another vinyl vs. cd debate, been there done that. It just blew my mind that here are two folks around the same age as me, late 40's, who were stunned to find out that vinyl was still availible. I mean I guess I don't expect everyone to know this, but I was a bit taken back by their appearant shock. You'd have thought that I drove up in a Hudson automobile wearing a Fedora hat.

Am I THAT out of touch? I feel like a ostrich with my head in the ground listening to tunes.....out of touch with the real world............

Cheers,
John
jmcgrogan2
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 

04-20-07: Sharpnine
I got back into vinyl (after a 20 year hiatus) not because people my age (middle age) were into it, but because I noticed all the young people were getting into it. My son (20 at the time) had roommates his age who only listened to vinyl.

Me too. It was my 20-year-old stepson, who found an old B.I.C. 912 in the garage, who hooked it up and got it running, and then kept bugging me to take him to some used record stores. Then one day we were out and he spied a garage sale with audio equipment. After a 25-year vinyl hiatus, I bought a Yamaha belt drive TT for $2, and then I got hooked too. 2 weeks later I bought my Technics SL1210 m5g and Shure M97xE. Since then (6 weeks ago) I've acquired over 100 LPs.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
The scary thing about all this is that it shows what "sheep" many of us are simply because we have been trained to believe what we see and hear on TV and in the media.

Orwell was on target despite the fact that so many of us born in the late fifties that read his book in greade school are now seeing the effects of countless lies.

Throw enough money at any corner of the world and you can create "truth" there.

LPs always sounded better than CDs, I intuitively knew that but fought that for about 10 years, trying convince myself that CDs were superior as the mainstream tried to convince me until I finally had earned the resources to improve my vinyl playback equipment. I always get incredulous looks when new friends come into my home and see the turntable and the records. And they ask me why and I say because they sound better, and I get the unconvinced looks, and then I play the Count Basie Chairman of the Board on Classic and they remark WOW.

Writing this as I sip coffee and listen to Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation on CD through the tube system on a rainy Oregon Earth Day morning.
waynefia
157 posts
 
Yes I guess you are out of touch, as average Joe citizen knows nothing other then Best Buy. LP?? SACD?? DVD-A??
waxwaves's avatar
waxwaves
206 posts
 
Good thing you didn't discuss any Elrod Power cables with them John. They would have thought you crazy for sure, LOL!

I love it when folks walk in to the listening room and say "OMG is that a record!!??" I tell em "Yes, someone took real good care of that one!! You can't get that kind of sound on the ipad listening to mp3 files coming from earbuds can you? And why is that so surprising???
pops
2,278 posts
 
@Waxwaves +1 and good thing you did not try to explain what a cartridge is - just tried that with a friend and had to resort to.....you know - the needle!!! And when I told him what "the needle" cost he gave me a look that scared me - sometimes I think we might all be crazy! LOL!
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