Sometimes I just miss the old days

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #20 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 07:13 pm »

John,

As you and I are within shouting distance of one another in years.....these are your 'old' days

You miss your young days

Cheers, John

*Scotty* · « **Reply #21 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 07:36 pm »

I don't miss the "old days" so much. In 1981 I was an audiophile and I spent most of my time hearing what my system was doing wrong, instead of enjoying what it was doing right. Direct to Disc records were $18 and up. As far back as 1978 regular records had edged up to nearly $12 for some releases and averaged around $9. I couldn't afford many records back then and I bought damn few Direct to Disc recordings. I turned the corner on the disease in about 1989, by then I had MGIIIs and modified Hafler equipment. My CD playback was a Mike Moffat "Frankenstein",records were played with a Denon 103S on a Denon DP1250 with a Denon moving coil head-amp.
Some how in the 8 year period between 81 and 89 I stopped concentrating on what I thought was sounding wrong with my system and started just listening to the music the way I did when I was growing up listening to my dad play records on his system. I grew up listening to classical music, Readers Digest collections mostly.
The point is a lot of enjoyment can be had from this hobby but it depends on what you bring to the table,if you focus only on what might be wrong you may never hear what is right.
As a sidebar I dug up an online inflation calculator and when 2010 dollars are adjusted for 30 years of inflation it takes $2.37 in 2010 dollars to equal the buying power of one 1981 dollar. I can remember when the Oracle Delphi Mk II TT first came on the scene and I was shocked at the asking price of $1250. When the Versa Dynamics TT was reviewed in Stereophile in 1987 its asking price was $7500.00. Back in 1984 you could easily sink over $2000.00 into a SOTA Star Sapphire TT if you fully tricked it out. I guess what I am trying to say here is for at least 30years very expensive turntables have been available for purchase and if you adjust their asking price upward by a factor of 2.37 to adjust for inflation even an "affordable" $500.00 turntable back in 1981 would now be over $1100.00.
I think on the whole technology has served me well over the last thirty years and I now enjoy better sound than I might have dreamed 30 years ago and I have better access to a wider variety of music as well. If I miss anything about the good old days it is the fact that I was some thirty years younger way back when.
Scotty

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #22 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 08:33 pm »

So true, Macroman.

BaMorin · « **Reply #23 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 09:06 pm »

Get stoned.........put on some music from the era you pine for...........and STFU

macrojack · « **Reply #24 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 09:36 pm »

Another modern difference - many employers reserve the right to demand random drug testing today. Kinda hampers BaMorin's suggestion........ or at least part of it.

Mitsuman · « **Reply #25 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 09:49 pm »

Quote from: BaMorin on 11 Jan 2012, 09:06 pm

Get stoned.........put on some music from the era you pine for...........and STFU

I sold all of my bongs.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #26 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 09:59 pm »

And bought Mitsubishi gear with the cash??????

Berndt · « **Reply #27 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 10:59 pm »

I love the new days.
It took a while to be able to appreciate the group of people that helps the analog process Coalesce.
Now I feel like the analog Genie has been let out of the bottle.
I like helping other wayward enthusiasts on the path, as a way of paying back the universe for all the kind help I received.
I couldn't have the analog rig I have today without the advances. The record cleaning and archiving resources. The kick butt DIY Phono stage class at the randall. The glut of brilliant used cartridges available.
I have old timer audiophiles come over and get a big smile from my pile of homade junk.
Thanks for the new days.
Not to mention QRP records sounding amazing!

BaMorin · « **Reply #28 on:** 11 Jan 2012, 11:08 pm »

Actually I just finished putting togeter an AR XA at a friends house. AR 3a speakers, Scott tube amp, M91ED cart. And to top it off, some vinyl from 1968.

Rainy day.....dream away......let the sun take a holiday......flowers bathe and see the children play........lay back and groove on a rainy day.......

Everybody should have a retro system as well as their "reference" system.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #29 on:** 12 Jan 2012, 12:33 am »

That do sound like fun, fellas.

Rclark · « **Reply #30 on:** 12 Jan 2012, 12:34 am »

I was just thinking, I'm right smack dab in the middle of my own "old days". My first real stereo build right now, it's never going to be as fun as this, never going to have such large increases in fidelity as this first go round.

My posts read like a 12 year old girl talking about prom dresses.

timind · « **Reply #31 on:** 12 Jan 2012, 02:15 am »

Twenty five years ago, hmmm. Lots of things worked better.
I was 30 and my wife was 23. We were newly weds. Lots of things worked better.

Carlman · « **Reply #32 on:** 12 Jan 2012, 02:26 am »

"sometimes" you miss the old days which means most of the time you don't.

-C

Mitsuman · « **Reply #33 on:** 12 Jan 2012, 02:37 am »

Quote from: thunderbrick on 11 Jan 2012, 09:59 pm

And bought Mitsubishi gear with the cash??????

Actually, I was buying both of those at the same time. Only the Mitsu gear has stayed.

SteveFord · « **Reply #34 on:** 13 Jan 2012, 01:48 am »

I still buy and play records because I like them.
I still HAVE the records that I bought 25 years ago!
My stereo sounds much better than what I had 25 years ago which is a good thing.

Guy 13 · « **Reply #35 on:** 13 Jan 2012, 02:27 am »

Quote from: SteveFord on 13 Jan 2012, 01:48 am

I still buy and play records because I like them.
I still HAVE the records that I bought 25 years ago!
My stereo sounds much better than what I had 25 years ago which is a good thing.

Hi Steve and all Audio Circle members.

I still have and play the LP I got for Christmas when I was 16 years old.
It's classic guitar by Laurendo Almeida.
It's mono and have a lot of scratches...
Guy 13

DaveyW · « **Reply #36 on:** 13 Jan 2012, 06:52 pm »

I'm in the "doing what I did when I was a kid" camp too.
Still got the LP's I bought pre-teens.
Joined the CD generation, but kept buying vinyl too and been through a couple of CD upgrades, but it's vinyl that remains my turn too medium.

The main change is in how I buy.
The internet and more specifically DISCOGS, has proven to be a real boon as the vinyl street vendors continue to diminish.

Infact got a 10 disc DISCOGS order winging it's way to me right now.

Yep! All's still rosy on the vinyl front here

JohnR · « **Reply #37 on:** 16 Jan 2012, 01:24 pm »

I gave away all my LPs in 1995 (overseas move). I do have loads of LPs from about the same era, but they're "not mine." Well... you know, you can't have everything. Anyway, hand-wringing and fretting aside, I am enjoying working through some "new" music. I'm not sure where I got all the prog-rock from, but it's a bit like eating spinach. Might switch back to classical soon.

twitch54 · « **Reply #38 on:** 17 Jan 2012, 02:45 am »

love reading all the replies, especially all you 'youngsters' still in your forties and early fifties, hell you probably haven't even begun to notice your hearing starting to go south yet !!

I do agree with those who said that we get all wrapped up in our gear at times and forget to just enjoy the music........yep....stop and smell the roses from time to time.

Trover · « **Reply #39 on:** 18 Jan 2012, 08:29 pm »

To me this is what the negative side of over analysing can do. Either ourselves or friends have taken a trip to hi fi hell. I'm further along with building a collection, have learned a lot about the records/musicians, and enjoy my music much more now. I can still get about the same high I did then but I'm more relaxed now, I did'nt have the patience to even play a whole side when I was younger, but damn if it didnt get my rocks off. Maybe that was the newness and the innocence?