Comments on: Disposable gizmos vs. high-end audio

It's all disposable tech--with one notable exception--high-end audio.

[webnh]

I'm one of the people who pays the money for the quality and I do something that the Tech industry doesn't seem to much care about, I tell people and make recommendations on the audio equipment I buy. I know of at least 6 or 7 people who have bought speakers and amps on my word..

I owned a mid-range pair of B&W speakers for over 2 years when I added a new used amp to my set up and it fried the speakers. I called B&W and then drove the speakers 200 miles where they were fixed with new parts no questions asked and took them home all for free. It was the dealers fault for selling me an amp he had not checked out but B&W fixed the speakers without a question and ever since they have made large sales off me and my friends. Oh and they sound really good as well.

I only buy Seagate hard drives because they stand behind them and I pick all other tech gear with quality first and foremost the most important thing. I mean why would anyone want to replace a Pentium 4 computer with a new one if you only do email and surf the web on it? Instead of buying stock holder a new yacht why not buy one for yourself or at least a tube preamp from CJ that will last 30 years at least and bring thousands of hours of joy.

[alegr]

Some people also drive vintage cars, that horribly stink with gas, because they don't have a catalythic converter.

Tube amp may look like a great thing, but the reality is that for vast majority of people is doesn't sound any better than a $300 DVD home theater, which also plays CDs and DVDs, AND gives surround sound. And that's all that matters.

Of course, such specialty items as tube amps and high-end speakers carry an enormous profit margin, making it possibly for the manufacturer to unconditionally support its customers.
No such luck for mass electronics.

And why would one want a turntable that lasts 30 years, if CD frees you from that cleaning/pickup adjustment/replacement hassle, AND keeps sound at its highest quality no matter how many times you play the disk. Even if you scratch or smear it.

[BirdDog01]

Twenty years? My Sony ES amp is older than that. I am still using AR3a speakers, a Scott broadcast monitor tuner, and an ELAC turntable put in service in 1969, and a pair of AR4x speakers from 1967. Styli are still available for several pickups in my collection.

I have useable speakers and an amplifier dating from 1953. Not stereo, of course.

[cardes]

I play my music on an 1877 gramophone.

My phonograph requires special record. They are tin-covered cylinders used to record vibrations of sound that is focused by a horn-like device onto a diaphragm. The diaphragm vibrates and transmits the vibrations to a stylus (needle), which etches a helical groove onto a rotating cylinder covered with tin foil.

My system sounds better than God's stereo. I paid about $48,000 in '77 and it still sounds better than anything that can possibly be made today with modern technology, especially your stereo. Electricity doesn't even touch it, I peddle it with my feet and this is the true way to obtain audio.

My life is so sad that I must overwhelm you with your vinyl records and "vintage" Russian-made tube technology (bleh... so 1900s!) so that I don't cry myself to sleep every night. But I still do most nights.

Thank you.

[alegr]

You must have read reviews on Denon Dedicated Audio Link Cable on Amazon. This is 5 feet of CAT5 Ethernet cable (worth at most $5), sold for $500 (though it's now cut for $313).

[Donaldsc]

I bought my AR2A speakers when I was in college and I graduated in 63. I am still using them.

DON

[jw55]

re: Alegr: "And why would one want a turntable that lasts 30 years, if CD frees you from that cleaning/pickup adjustment/replacement hassle, AND keeps sound at its highest quality no matter how many times you play the disk. Even if you scratch or smear it."

Well one reason why I would want my turntable to last is that I have a considerable amount of vinyl that never made the transition to cd. Not only that but more than a few recordings have had really miserable remasterings when transferred to cd. If I didn't have a working turntable this music would be lost to me. I love cd's, but I'm not giving up some of my favorite recordings just because they're only available on vinyl.

[alegr]

Get a decent soundcard, buy a best pickup you can afford, adjust and lube the turntable, clean the disks the best as you can and transfer then to WAV files. It doesn't make sense to go with everything better than CD's 44100/16 bits. Then backup the WAV files to good recordable media, and also make regular CDs from them ,if you want. Then you still have your favorite music, AND it will always sound the same, won't be damaged by a worn pickup or dust or heat or anything.

When you have time, you can try to clean those WAV files from noise and clicks, if you want. Make sure always keep the original copy!

[John72953]

I bought my "Revolver Rebel Red" turntable almost 18 yrs ago and it is still going strong. I have it serviced every 2 years, including a belt replacement, and I've changed my cartridge 3 times. I firmly believe there is no reason in the world why it won't be with me for another 18 years. And for the record (pardon the pun), it is front and centre in terms of my preferred method for high-quality audio delivery.

[DaveMcLain]

My stereo system uses a home built tube amp and a set of Altec speakers from the late 1960's that were given to me for free! It sounds amazingly good too. I generally feed it from a CD player that's getting close to 20 years old but sometimes I use a Linksys music bridge so that I can use it to listen to some internet radio and in some cases that doesn't sound too bad. I'd say a marriage of old and new technologies is just fine and the results can be startlingly good and if you will, high tech.

[KevinK]

I have a 40 yr old Thorens TD-125 turntable with a similar vintage SME 3009 arm with a modern Grado Reference Platinum cartridge. I also have ReVox and Otari R&R, SACD, and a cd transport and dac which is all shared with my media server. Invariably visitors are stunned by the sound quality I get on vinyl playback and even more amazed when I explain that the Thorens was made in 1968.. The rest of my gear is tube based diy and the speakers which I built 2 yrs ago are SOTA for... 1955... (Onken/Jensen Ultraflex with JBL pro horns on mids and highs.) I owned a pair of Magnepan 1.6QR (bought new) in the early part of this decade and I will say they were wonderful, my predilection for designing low power dht based SE amplifiers shortly thereafter rendered them obsolete in my system. (They need at least 60Wrms to really sing.)

[dizzygill]

My Tecnics amp is 26 years old and only has Dolby Pro Logic (2.0). My Kenwood and Sun speakers are 30 years old, and Tecnics surround sound satellite speakers I bought the same time I bought the amp.

It isn't fancy, but it all still sounds pretty darned good.

[epitone]

Good point. My core home theater speakers (left, right, surround) have lasted me going on 11 years and show no signs of slowing down.

And they cost me, oh, $250 for the set. (Cambridge Soundworks Home Theater IV)

[mono_kakata]

McIntosh C28 (1970) still going strong, 2100 power amp, the same. Thorens TD125/SME/Shure, still OK. I don't use the C28 much because it doesn't have enough high-level inputs. I have modern gear too, so I don't just live in the past. Some of the new stuff is very good, but you have to look for it -- you know, the well-built but unsexy stuff. Even with 65 year old ears I have no trouble distinguishing MP3 or other compressed audio that comes from an iPod (yep, I do have an iPod touch, too) from a good CD played in a good CD player. I don't miss vinyl and would give up my Thorens if anybody wanted to buy it. I don't miss the time spent cleaning LPs and styli just to get rid of pops and clicks.

[DaveOCP]

I have Dahlquist DQ-20is from the mid '80s that still sound excellent. If you're looking to buy new electronics today that will outlast you, your kids, and probably your grand kids, buy a Bryston. They aren't the best sounding components in the world, but they are unquestionably the best built. Tanks have nothing on a Bryston amp.