Of Vinyl and Morons

This past Christmas, I started updating my 15 year old budget stereo system, bought with my first paycheck from internship. I started doing some reading, mostly online, and came across quite a few interesting things.

One, there seems to be a small elite (or is it elitist?) group of people with money to burn and hi-fi systems that cost more than a small house - $10,000 turntables, $20,000 tube amps, $30,000 speakers! These are "tweakers" who are mostly concerned with how well their stereos can resolve sound. They listen for little things like the sounds of the drummer scratching his crotch. They play audiophile demonstration discs to hear how well thier systems sound. They buy music that is "well-recorded" to show off their systems' capabilities rather than for the, ahhh music. I admit, I was intrigued by this concept and found myself ordering one that was highly touted. I picked up an SACD of Rebecca Pigeon, and yes, everything about it sounded really good. Except her voice.

Then there's a group of folks who collect stuff. They have a "rotation" of amplifiers, for instance. Because each sounds differently. Well, I am not new to collecting. I admit to having 7-day sets of straight razors, for instance. Or even a very small rotation of wristwatches that I accumulated over the past 30 years (what can I say, they don't break). In the collector's world, the word "rotation" is almost as bad as the word "upgrade" as far as your wallet is concerned.

Well, I have strayed quite a bit from the topic I wanted to talk about this morning. Well, I figured such odd people were worth a couple of paragraphs.

In my readings, I came across the vinyl renaissance. People seem to be rediscovering vinyl. How the warm analogue sound is much better than the cold, sometimes blaring digital sound.

Honestly, pretty much anything will sound better than the compressed 128kbps MP3 downloads kids are playing on their ipods, really.

I grew up listening to vinyl. Dad's Sinatra, Glen Miller and Xavier Cugat, to my older brother's Led Zeppelin. Hmm why not? I was lucky enough to find that there are still a handful of brick & mortar record stores in town. One of them, Merle's Record Rack, actually refurbishes old turntables (and other vintage stuff). Mike, the owner, was quite informative, and helped me pick out an old Dual from the 70's, with a nice wooden plinth, and an Ortofon cartidge. It was refurbished, and had a new stylus. According to Mike, he sells quite a few record players, mostly to younger customers.

Of course, I did not have any records, so I picked up a Blue Note LP of Hank Mobley's "Soul Station" along with the Dual. I was hooked.

The fun thing about vinyl is that you can find $1-$3 used records, and if you know how to do it, they clean up nicely. Of course there are also the new pressings and remasterings, such as from Analogue Productions and Speakers Corner. These cost a little more than an SACD, upwards of $30, but are really as good as it can get.

Yes, it seems vinyl is making a comeback. Why not, it is inexpensive, as long as you remain sensible. It is archival, and does not deteriorate like digital media. It sounds great, plus it's just plain cool.