Those simpler times.....

"As Lindisfarne said, he got more pleasure out of his high school system than any since, but I'll bet if he had that same system now he wouldn't be so pleased."

We are over 40, our ears and hearing have undoubtedly changed as well plus we are more seasoned listeners.

However, if I had to, I think I am smarter about things now and I could set my old college system up again today if I could much more effectively than I knew how to do back then. Plus, I still have the speakers (refurbished and custom upgraded) and they are still in limited use.

I also still have some pop/rock cassette recordings that I recorded on that system from vinyl using a gorgeous vintage Philips 312 turntable (look it up, its a classic) that sound halfway decent on my current system. The only major issues I hear are of course tape hiss from the cassette a touch of brightness with dolby off that can be adjusted for, and perhaps less dynamic range than would be desired. I've recorded a few of these to CD and played them in the car for my kids....it sounds as good or better than many commercial CD issues there (who cares about a little tape hiss in a moving vehicle?).

Probably would need a power conditioner and decent interconnects still though to be satisfied (I used standard issue RCA interconnects back then, a sign of my ignorance in youth).

"As phenomenal as all our gear sounds now, let's not forget "those simpler times," when only the music mattered. Let's all remember why we enjoy our hobby as much as we do.............it's the music !!!"

Amen.

I remember listening to all of this music with friends back then and we picked it apart mercilessly. Picked it clean to the bones like vultures. Are the lyrics any good? Are there any new sounds? Are the sonics any good? Is this LP as good as their last one? No matter what we decided we still listened to the songs over and over with a few exceptions. This is still the music I listen to mostly and I still have a tendency to pick it apart. Except that now I can afford much, much better equipment so I am constantly re-discovering LPs I've known for years. Most sound even better now than I remember at that is due to the quality of my system components. However, there are a few that don't get spun as much because I can now hear the pigs in the background.

I guess I'm saying that I'm still living the simpler times, but with a much better system to listen with. It has always been about the music and how to get the components to get closer to the music. Some days I just want to hear the music so I'll pull out whatever strikes my fancy. Other days I want to hear what my system does with a particular LP. I don't really think I've changed at all. But my system sure has! ;-)

Dan_Ed said:

"I am constantly re-discovering LPs I've known for years. Most sound even better now than I remember at that is due to the quality of my system components."

Agree!

Simpler times in audio ended when I was about 15, heard a reel to reel deck in a nice system, wasn't going back to no damn clock or transistor radio! This was the 70's.

In about 1973 I encountered my first audiophile, he had a pretty much all Dynaco system with Thorens tt (later a Linn LP12). Wow, now I could really hear my favorite rock recordings, almost like live to me. It wasn't long before I had pretty much the exact same system.

My audiophile bud and I were also very much into the concert scene at that time, at least one concert a week on the Ann Arbor/Detroit circuit. Live music was simply awesome, especially in the smaller venues. Hard rockin' bands were the scene around here, Rationals, MC5, Stooges, Iguanas, Up, SRC. Being audiophiles, and seeing so many of these bands (and the nationally touring bands) live, certainly helped to create an obsession with higher quality audio at home.

Anyway, I can't remember a time where audio quality and love of music didn't go together. Yeah, I listened to clock radios, our big Magnavox console and transitor radios, but I never got close to the music until I started attending concerts and/or hearing my friend's Dynaco system.

A recent return to vinyl has required me to listen analytically once again. I just don't know another way of listening that allows me to ascertain sonic deficiencies, and make changes needed for musical enjoyment. Yeah, I wish I could just put any old equipment in my system and enjoy it, audio life would certainly be easier. I just don't think there's any bringing simpler times back once you've been bitten by the audiophile bug. I would like to meet just one reformed audioholic!

I also think that some of our thinking about simpler times is fond reminiscing, we are romanticizing the past. I recall the zeitgeist of those times, there was a feeling in the air that was totally exhilarating! I wish I could reproduce those feelings today, unfortunately, those times are gone, no bringing em back, no matter how hard I try. I suspect many of us are trying to evoke those old feelings when we play these records.