|
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | The good old days. I actually splurged and bought fancy cinder blocks, painted them red and had my used Sansui receiver and Sony Reel to Reel with speakers in homemade enclosures set up on the boards. The bean bag chair usually went in the middle of the room and both of us could fit on (or in) it. Lots of listening and feeling going on with the eyes closed most of the time.
Our house and furniture are much upgraded, but the stereo is downgraded. I just got a cheap Sherwood receiver to replace the broken Teac. It's hard to find a basic stereo anymore. They want to sell you a media A/V system with a .1 after everything. I don't have a place to put all those speakers, especially a woofer.
You are lucky your nephew appreciates music, Al. Mine listens to talk radio and texts. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I don't have a place to put all those speakers, especially a woofer. It would just chase your cat anyway. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
The good old days. Lots of listening and feeling going on with the eyes closed most of the time. Other peoples bean bag chairs always felt kinda sticky for some reason...??? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 253
Location: Seattle | Too much Vanilla Fudge and Quicksilver Messenger Service..... I cannot critically listen to anything driving down the road in the VW bus..... however when listening to the Greatful Dead gets me 3 extra hp. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | you can find stereo equipment but you have to get out of the big box stores. they just want to sell surround sound systems. and these often double as a pretty good hi fi but it is just not the same.
when you get down to it the surround sound is just a complicated crossover and amp. I think it is more fun to do it yourself and play with it.
some of the most peaceful times I have are when I am wiring up equipment and then firing it up and listening to the improved sound.
better than chanting a mantra |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by alpep:
some of the most peaceful times I have are when I am wiring up equipment and then firing it up and listening to the improved sound.
Man, you nailed it.
I can't count the number of times I used to come home from a super stressful day...plop down in the sweet spot, close my eyes and hit play.
made everything right with the world....... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | AND DOING THAT WITH AN IPOD IS JUST WRONG. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Mark: The bean bag chair usually went in the middle of the room and both of us could fit on (or in) it. Absolutely essential!!
Al, I agree and yet for portability it's hard to beat...
Here is the vintage early 70's Sansui project stereo I have been putting together: Sansui 7070 Receiver, 1050C Belt Drive Turntable w/Shure cartridge and a pair each of 5500X and 7500X Speakers...our space is limited here so I have them stacked at the moment...the RCA CD player does look out of place but sounds fantastic through this system...looking for a Sansui Cassette deck.
They made a 9090 Receiver but this one is so loud I can't see the advantage...but I'm sure that it's great as well...These Speakers are awesome...Stephen: come home and relax and crank it to 4 or 5...whoa!!!
I have a 100 watt Sony component system w/Bose Acoustimass 10 series 2 speaker system...it sounds great but this vintage system is just cool...(in boxes due to lack of space)...
Here is the album: Vintage Sansui
and several pic's:
Definitely not portable nor for the "faint of heart"...
It Rocks!!! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Mike, that looks like my receiver. Just got rid of it a couple years ago after one channel crapped out. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | I bought these last year in the fall on eBay...different sellers...I had been looking for these since hearing my cousin's back in the day...awesome sound and incredible power...not in mint condition but seems to work very well...no issues at the moment...same with the speakers: the fake exterior veneer is peeling in places but the grills are in nice shape for the most part...for what I paid, I'm a happy guy!! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | get the grilles back on those speakers you have kids |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Do you play your iPod through that set-up? How's it sound? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | effing ineffable. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Due to space limitations (my future wife moved in), when living in Brooklyn, I had to sell my 5 foot tall speakers, my vintage SONY tape deck, radio shack turntable and CD player. I converted my records to CD's on my computer. Gee that was over 10 years ago now.
I have a precursor to the Bose v system, which is perfectly adequate for my needs. It's small puts out good sound, but every once in a while I wish I had that sheer force of a pair of 12 inch woofers ...
Anyway, I'm not going back, I'm too old to be lifting all that stuff, and even though I now own a house, I still don't have the space ... though now I've got my own room for guitar gear! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | While all the chat of great sound systems is enlightening... the fact remains that nearly no one (truly just a handful) of people sit and listen to music on a sound system anymore. The only time I have just sat and listened to music in the past... 10+ years is basically when I was paid to (mixing or mastering). I had killer stereos in the 80's and 90's that never got used cause I never spent much time in my house. I eventually used them for DJ'ing. My 1000+ albums are in boxes in storage, and my 1000+ CD's ended up on my iPod and I sold the CD's.
While most people will never relate to the term "sonic quality" I think people, especially the under 30 crowd, listen to more music today than was ever possible when I was under 30.
While we struggled to carry our Cassette, 8-Track and eventually CD-packs around then, today I carry in my pocket more music from more artists than I have ever owned. And, if I want to listen to a tune by an artist, I listen to it.
And I guess for me that ability to listen to a tune I want to hear without digging, or to find a new tune in a matter of moments, and having to do no more than press play, is the attraction and frankly I don't ever recall just sitting and listening to an album. I can't think of an album I even like all the songs on.
So each to his own... as long as you are listening to music in some form. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I STILL take the time to sit and just LISTEN to the music on my system at least twice a week for a minimum of 1 CD (45-60 minutes).
Like so many other things.....once you stop or find excuses it is all to easy to let it slip away. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1456
Location: Texas | Originally posted by stephent28:
I STILL take the time to sit and just LISTEN to the music on my system at least twice a week for a minimum of 1 CD (45-60 minutes).
Like so many other things.....once you stop or find excuses it is all to easy to let it slip away. I envy you, I'm lucky of I can listen to one song without interruption these days…
Kids find it difficult to believe that in the "old days" friends would get together specifically to sit and listen and pay attention to entire "albums," only talking while flipping the LP over to side B…
"You had to flip them over? Why?"
Whoever had the best equipment was usually nominated as host. It took a decent system to clearly hear the arrows flying in "Zen Archer."
It may seem archaic now, but it was a music-geek's idea of the perfect evening back then…
|
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | you can't listen to music on an ipod you only hear it.
listening is an active not passive activity.
yes turn off the tv for 30 minutes and put on a cd sit in the sweet spot of the room and enjoy.
giving up cd's for mp3's is just wrong. sorry but would you give up your moto guzzi or victory for a 125cc yamaha? doubt it. but the yamaha is much lighter and it still gets you there in the same way. but it may be a little rougher to ride and not go as fast.....
there is NO excuse for not owning at least a mid quality system and to be an active listener.
how many times we criticize people who own many guitars and barely can play? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | Both schools of thought definitely have their merits. While I would LOVE to be in the "Sit and Listen" camp, most of my time is spent in cars and airplanes where my ipod is my savior.
In those rare times when I can just sit and listen to something at home by myself, it would have to be with headphones on so as not to disturb the rest of the clan. But even then... those times are truly relaxing. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Even when my kids were young and lived at home (now 35 & 29) they learned to take the time to LISTEN to the music. They constantly amaze their friends with their musical knowledge and my daughter loves to play "name that artist" and can almost beat me on the pre-2000 music (60s-90s).
While both now primarily listen on iPods, they never fail to get their "FIX" when home visiting mom and dad....which means popping some tunes on dad's stereo and letting the music envelop them! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Life gets in the way. Maybe when the relatives leave this weekend, I'll go find a bean bag chair (or maybe not, after dark bar's comment), get SWMBO into sitting next to me in the middle of the room and listen to at least one album or CD.
Despite my reluctance to embrace new technology, I am looking at some sort of mp3 adaptor for the car. We drove over 5000 miles on trips this year and changing the CDs became tedious. In the one car we have with a changer, we tend to leave 6 CDs in the changer for months. The huge storage of an mp3, as Miles points out, is an advantage. I'm not sure I agree that people under 30 listen to more music, especially if you define "listen" like Al does. Playing stuff on your computer in the background is like playing elevator music. When I can hear what's playing through somebody else's earbuds, they can't really be listening to it. It's up to the level where the music becomes noise. If a kid thinks that putting two huge speakers together and taking up the back seat of a car constitutes a good stereo system, he doesn't understand what stereo means. If you increase the volume in the earbuds to the point anyone else can clearly hear it, the wearer can't be listening. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1456
Location: Texas | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
Despite my reluctance to embrace new technology, I am looking at some sort of mp3 adaptor for the car. We drove over 5000 miles on trips this year and changing the CDs became tedious. That's the best reason to own one… On long drives, I don't have to guess what musical mood I might be in. iPods have an on-the-fly playlist feature so you create a new playlist anytime. (Please, not while you're driving, though…) |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | get the grilles back on those speakers you have kids Don't worry Al, only came off for the pic's...
And Bobbo, I need to get a dock and then I will...
Miles, I agree with what you said about having more music in your pocket than in your media collections...I have nearly 3,000 albums, 700 Cassettes, 200 8 Tracks, and well over 1,000 CD's; I have a 160gig iPod that holds most of what I want to hear and then some...plus pic's and video's although I don't have any video's at the moment on it...
The great thing is the kids absolutely love the big stereo and my other system...especially my daughter...she sits and listens for hours at a time...and she has my older 8gig iPod to listen to when traveling...I can't speak for anyone else, but my kids will grow up learning and appreciating music of many kinds...and they have a great head start! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | For some, a laminated Celebrity is enough. For others, it has to be a USA Ovation. For still others, anything short of a Slothead or something of equal merit is a compromise. Personally, I'm in all three camps. It just depends on where I am and what I'm doing.
That's the way it is with the music choices we're debating here. We debated cassette, 8 track, and reel-to-reel, too. The arguments were the same as today. We're now operating under a corollary to Moore's Law when it comes to playing music on devices so we have a lot more choices. And because of that, we can store more bits and therefore the quality of digital music is coming up and being appreciated by more and more people.
I am in the tiny minority who sit and listen to music. Truth be told, it has always been a minority. It just seems more pronounced now because we're in that phase of the continuum where singles and one-hit wonders are what people buy and listen to (remind anyone of the late 50's to mid 60's). It's a cultural thing. But, there is a growing move towards albums again, and more and more of the next generation are listening critically to albums. Vinyl is also making a huge comeback, and not just for scratching these days.
Before you know it, the AOR format will be back in vogue and music lovers will be debating the merits of bands given their body of work and musicality. It's happening already. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | bobbo
I disagree that it was always a minority.
I think as technology changed more emphasis on movies and home theatres the music just got pushed to the background
if you go by stereo stores that have closed then yes it is smaller but I think the focus has shifted.
a few years back they were converting old grateful dead lps to surround sound. but that was 3 way and now it is what 7 way or more it is all about the crossovers and eq's
that is why the car sounds like it is passing you in the room or the helicopter is lifting off the ground...... |
|
| |
Purchasing music.... the new normal?
