Vinyl Fetish

Hello my friends, hope everyone has survived the oh so terrible Tropical Storm Hanna. This entry is geared about the new stereo system I obtained from my grandmother. She was kind enough to set me up with a Pioneer receiver with a laser disc/5 CD disc changer and two Marantz 45/450 floor speakers. My dad then gifted me his old Pioneer direct drive turntable, that was just in need of a new cartridge. After a new cartridge purchased from Internet giant, Amazon.com, and a crash course in turntable maintenance, I had a sweet vintage turntable.

A few months ago, I had noticed Record and Tape Traders had just about all of AC/DC's albums on brand new virgin vinyl, on what seems to be about 180g vinyl for $15 each. Very intriguing. So needless to say, the moment I got this stereo set up, I headed for the ol' R&TT. I immediately burned that $15 gift certificate from Sarah Jo on "Back in Black". While digging through the used albums, I did come across "For Those about to Rock". Both came home that day, along with a "Best of Mountain" album. None of these disappointed as I have now become charmed with the full warmth of the vinyl sound. A second trip to the store found a better stocked vinyl room. This trip produced several Journey albums, Queen, and the jewel of the find, "Moving Pictures" by Rush.

Next stop was my basement. In the basement was stores some real gems, including "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, "Umma Gumma" by Pink Floyd, "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra, "Switched on Bach", and multiple 45rpm singles. I have a pretty well stocked and rounded vinyl collection considering how little time I've had a record player. Next was the Internet again.

I ordered off the web "The Pines of Rome" by Respighi and "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. Both albums phenomenal. Its amazing to hear classical music on vinyl. Analog recordings allow you to hear other things going on with the performance. You can hear the conductor and the strings giving themselves breath cues. You can hear the feet shuffling of the brass section in the quiet sections. It really causes a feeling of actually being at the performance. At this point now, I have to admit that I am in love with vinyl. I find myself in stores now seeing if I can find an album on vinyl instead of CD, even though CD allows me to add it to my iPod. I could even see myself in the future just buying albums in both media, even though this Hi-Fi system has even made my CD collection sound better.

The amount of vintage recordings still available on vinyl is quite amazing, and I look forward to my friend Steve bringing over his vinyl. It is quite nice to have such a sound system to spoil my ears, and today's digital age has made our ears so forgiving to poor production and compression. Give yourself a treat, find a Hi-Fi with a turntable and give yourself the pleasure of listening to some classical or jazz, or even many rock albums on it and hear the difference. Relax your ears and take in the sound. Have a good night my friends.