Now that we don't have sports to argue about

[AURex 1,984]

We already have a TV thread and a Music thread, so maybe we can talk about other entertainments and distractions in this thread.

With Spring upon us, that means turbulent weather at times, but also time to break out the PSE (Personal Satisfaction Equipment). For some, that fishing. For others it is gardening. For some, it's grilling, and others it's computer games.

Whatcha Got? And include pictures if you got 'em.

 

[augolf1716 21,096]

On the golf course.................of course

[AURex 1,984]

I'm working at home, so I can adjust my schedule differently. I've set aside the time before preparing dinner as music time.

Spinning LPs. Getting back in touch with my classic rock roots. (No snap, crackle, pop from my system. All my LPs are sparkly clean, and a quality rig to play them with.)

 

[Mike4AU 1,739]

Rex, I’m curious why you have two turntables. 

[augolf1716 21,096]

12 minutes ago, AURex said:

I'm working at home, so I can adjust my schedule differently. I've set aside the time before preparing dinner as music time.

Spinning LPs. Getting back in touch with my classic rock roots. (No snap, crackle, pop from my system. All my LPs are sparkly clean, and a quality rig to play them with.)

 

Damn two turntables what type speakers you using. I use to have over a 1,000 albums way back when................sold them about 4 years ago almost broke down and cried

I see the Beetles album, Rubber Soul, what's the other cover I seem to have seen it before just can't remember it

[AURex 1,984]

22 minutes ago, Mike4AU said:

Rex, I’m curious why you have two turntables. 

The Clearaudio turntable is for stereo LPs. The black vintage turntable is fitted with a mono cartridge and is for playing mono records.  Really does make a difference in sound. And a lot of those albums from the 60s were mono (like early Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Hendrix, etc).

The speakers are B&W. Well matched with my Classe amp. Not audiophile equipment, but good enough for my ears (and my budget).

So sorry you had to part with your collection, Golf. I have sold off records every time I've moved over the years and sure wish I hadn't. I'm down to about 1,000 classic rock and rock-jazz fusion. (I also enjoy classical music and have more than 1,000 classical LPs.)

Now I have set aside time to enjoy them more than I was doing before.

 

[AURex 1,984]

11 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

Damn two turntables what type speakers you using. I use to have over a 1,000 albums way back when................sold them about 4 years ago almost broke down and cried

 

What kind of turntable were you using, Golf? And what did you do with t?

 

[augolf1716 21,096]

3 hours ago, AURex said:

 

What kind of turntable were you using, Golf? And what did you do with t?

 

I had a Michell Focus One from way way back that still worked great sold it for a good price.

Just to let you know why I sold everything because we downsized from our last home over 3300 sq ft with a full basement to a condo at around 1200 sq ft. Albums and stero/speakers took up way too much space

 

[AURex 1,984]

3 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

I had a Michell Focus One from way way back that still worked great sold it for a good price.

Just to let you know why I sold everything because we downsized from our last home over 3300 sq ft with a full basement to a condo at around 1200 sq ft. Albums and stero/speakers took up way too much space

 

Michell -- nice! With a decent tonearm and cartridge, those still sell for more than $1,500.

I know about the pain of downsizing. We took a step down when we moved from ur 3500 sq ft house in Palm Coast Florida to our smaller (not small) 2,800 sy ft home outside Knoxville. My wife has been less than cooperative about tossing all the antique Arts & Crafts / Mission furniture she inherited from her granny and her mother in order to accommodate my necessity to keep thousands of records and stereo equipment. hahahaha  Very tough process. We've got stuff in a storage unit. Do you want a nice 200 year old hand made sleigh bed? It needs to magically disappear from our storage unit. hahaha

 

[Mikey 16,550]

Me and Ol' Red fixin' to put in some extra miles!

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

23 hours ago, AURex said:

I'm working at home, so I can adjust my schedule differently. I've set aside the time before preparing dinner as music time.

Spinning LPs. Getting back in touch with my classic rock roots. (No snap, crackle, pop from my system. All my LPs are sparkly clean, and a quality rig to play them with.)

 

I don’t want to know how much you spent on that turntable on the left, but I know it wasn’t cheap. Bet the cartridge you’re using on it was pricey as well. 
 

I bought an Audio Technica LP120 a few years ago, and love it. There’s something special about throwing on an album on a lazy Sunday morning that can really shape the day. 

[AURex 1,984]

56 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

I don’t want to know how much you spent on that turntable on the left, but I know it wasn’t cheap. Bet the cartridge you’re using on it was pricey as well. 
 

I bought an Audio Technica LP120 a few years ago, and love it. There’s something special about throwing on an album on a lazy Sunday morning that can really shape the day. 

Audio Technica makes good equipment. Actually, the mono cartridge on my vintage turntable is an AT. Really good bang for the buck. What kind of amp and speakers do you use? I've been thinking about downsizing my speakers.

That's a Clearaudio turntable on the left. Not top of the line, and I bought it used back around 2010.  Put a Clearaudio Maestro (wood, MM) cartridge on it. Just recently needed to replace that. Clearaudio took the old one as a trade-in and gave me 50% off on the new one. Bought the SACD/CD player (far right) around the same time -- used. The vintage table is a top of the line Yamaha that my brother gifted me when he began downsizing. Couldn't resist. It's good for my purposes. In the cabinet under the vintage TT there is a vintage Nakamichi cassette deck. I don't use it often. My only cassettes are live recordings of me and my backup musicians from back in the day.

I agree with you about the way music can shape the day. I have lots of CDs, but I much prefer to spin LPs. Maybe there is a ritualistic element to it, but also analog audio quality is just superior to digital.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

1 minute ago, AURex said:

Audio Technica makes good equipment. Actually, the mono cartridge on my vintage turntable is an AT. Really good bang for the buck. What kind of amp and speakers do you use? I've been thinking about downsizing my speakers.

That's a Clearaudio turntable on the left. Not top of the line, and I bought it used back around 2010.  Put a Clearaudio Maestro (wood, MM) cartridge on it. Just recently needed to replace that. Clearaudio took the old one as a trade-in and gave me 50% off on the new one. Bought the SACD/CD player (far right) around the same time -- used. The vintage table is a top of the line Yamaha that my brother gifted me when he began downsizing. Couldn't resist. It's good for my purposes. In the cabinet under the vintage TT there is a vintage Nakamichi cassette deck. I don't use it often. My only cassettes are live recordings of me and my backup musicians from back in the day.

I agree with you about the way music can shape the day. I have lots of CDs, but I much prefer to spin LPs. Maybe there is a ritualistic element to it, but also analog audio quality is just superior to digital.

Sony amp and Definitive speakers. They were gifted to me when a buddy decided to upgrade his setup. 
 

I haven’t bought a CD in years, but I’ve purchased a couple hundred vinyl in the past 3 or 4 years. 
 

I agree about the ritualistic nature of it. Something about lifting the cover, pulling a record from the sleeve, and dropping the needle. It’s engaging. You’re also almost forced to listen to an entire album in a sitting, and thus more likely to discover songs from artists you otherwise might have pressed the skip button on a CD player. 

[AURex 1,984]

Do you buy all new LPs? Or do you shop Ebay, Amazon, Discogs? Or do you have local shops that sell decent used vinyl?

I've slowed down buying all kinds of music. I have so much already that I'm kinda overwhelmed. That said, I did pick up a couple of nice items as Christmas presents to myself -- a Clapton box set and the Buffalo Springfield box. I usually find that I prefer original release LPs over the newer pressings, but the Buffalo Springfield remastered LPs are way much better than the original vinyl.

Whhat have you found that really impressed you?

 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

2 hours ago, AURex said:

Do you buy all new LPs? Or do you shop Ebay, Amazon, Discogs? Or do you have local shops that sell decent used vinyl?

I've slowed down buying all kinds of music. I have so much already that I'm kinda overwhelmed. That said, I did pick up a couple of nice items as Christmas presents to myself -- a Clapton box set and the Buffalo Springfield box. I usually find that I prefer original release LPs over the newer pressings, but the Buffalo Springfield remastered LPs are way much better than the original vinyl.

Whhat have you found that really impressed you?

 

I started out scooping everything I wanted from used record stores. Now I pretty much just buy new from wherever. 

[gr82be 14,402]

5 hours ago, Mikey said:

Me and Ol' Red fixin' to put in some extra miles!

Very nice Mikey. We had a quarter horse when I was young or actually several because my dad was always trading. My oldest sister used to show them and did quite well with them. You're living my retirement dream. That's what I plan to do again when I can get a place to have one but it will be a few more years. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

6 hours ago, AURex said:

Whhat have you found that really impressed you?

 

A lot of Fleetwood Mac. Vinyl pretty much made me a huge fan of theirs, yet I still don’t on Rumours—haha. There’s a lot of songs I wouldn’t have ever heard if I hadn’t bought the LPs. The used shop I would buy from cleaned everything and wouldn’t sell it without listening to it. Sure, they’ve got some snaps and pops, but I don’t totally mind them unless it starts skipping. 
 

Various jazz albums sound wonderful, but I don’t own that many. 

I grab any Pink Floyd I don’t have, so that list is running thin—save for like rare Japanese releases or whatever.

Earth-the Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull is one of my favorite LPs. Grabbed it off Discogs. Very deep and atmospheric. No other medium could capture the sound that I’ve run across.