2. amps-preamps
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How a turntable is like a gym membership

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I was a member of the YMCA for years. I was there every night five days a week working out and playing basketball. I got married and started having children, but I kept my membership, I just wasn't using it. I wouldn't drop my membership because I liked playing basketball so much, I just wasn't going to the gym. Once a year, I'd go to the gym to justify my keeping it. I had to go to the front desk to get the combination to my locker, I had been there so seldom, I forgot the combination. After about five years reality set in and I finally dropped the membership. So I bought a full-fledged home gym that I now don't use, I go walking with my iPod instead.

I own two turntables, a record-cleaning machine and over 3,000 jazz LP's. Over the last five years I may have played a total of three or four LP's. I bought both of my turntables because they are both beautiful and thought that it would force me to play my vinyl. Wrong! I have an excellent CD player and I also own a SqueezeBox. Sorry, but digital is just too doggone convenient. It was nice owning two beautiful turntables so my guests could oooh and ahhh when thay saw them. It was cool to say "yeah, I still spin vinyl" when the fellas saw my system. But the truth was, I rarely came near the turntables. They served as not much more than Audio Sculpture or Audio Eye-Candy. Both of them sound beautiful, but I'll be doggone if I'm willing to go through ritual of cleaning the LP, cueing it, and be standing nearby to remove the arm when the last song is finished on one side. I kind of always felt that there was an unwritten rule somewhere that to be considered a "true audiophile" that you had to have analog playback included in your system. Sorry, but I've given in to 21st Century technology and I'm moving on. There, I've said it, I've been faking it as an analog lover for the past few years. Well, I do actually love analog, I just don't have time for it.

So, I put on an album tonight and DAMN that vinyl sounded good! But, after about 30 minutes, I realized that I have been spoiled by the convenience of digital and I'm just not willing to go through the gyrations to play an LP any longer.

So, the turntables have to go, but I'm keeping my LP's just in case. Hopefully my 13 year-old son will take them when he graduates from college.
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128x128mitch4t
jazzcourier
205 posts
 
I have seen some "marginal" advice bordering on the bad,but this one takes the frosting right off the cake...." Walking will not do it"....Power walking at above five miles an hour for at least an hour,or more will be excellent exercise and a good workout if done at least five times a week.It will only cost you the price of some decent shoes,no membership,no brainer.Get out and walk.Forget that IPod thingy and focus for one hour on exercise and free your mind for some comparative thought analysis of the flora and fauna.
If you want to get fancy get a pedometer!
sibelius
256 posts
 
I've gone the complete opposite direction. I had a crap TT when I was a teenager and went completely digital in college with my first CD player. Got back into vinyl with better quality equipment a few years ago in my mid 40's. I have a nice CD player and music server but 85% of what I listen to is vinyl. The whole ritual (cleaning, cueing, flipping) is actually kind of soothing for me - kind of Zen like. I don't have any kids in the house so that may be a factor. From a sonic perspective, I personally find analog more enjoyable than digital and tubes better than SS. I guess I'm just an old school kind of guy.
br3098
969 posts
 
I enjoy digital music for casual listening, as in background music while cooking dinner or when guests are visiting. But when I listen to music for myself it is almost always vinyl. It's a more organic and satisfying experience for me; from both an audible and tactile sense.
phaelon
1,038 posts
 
I've stopped going to a pal's house to listen with him because of his newly rediscovered passion for vinyl. Whereas before we would both be flipping through his extensive CD collection and having a ball, now the ritual associated with choosing an LP to play on his very expensive analog setup is daunting. One can only choose LP's that have been recently deep cleaned, and even then, it takes 5-10 minutes of preparation and tweaking to actually play a side. No thanks, I'll stick with CD's and as soon as I am confident that Hi-Rez downloads are the way to go - Whee!
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