Why vinyl matters

[Haselsh1]

Then again; maybe it is just outright boredom with music. Let's face it, 1973, the birth of the synthesiser. The start of a whole new lifestyle of music. Exciting times. Now...? X Factor...!

[struth]

Think its just whats cool or whats popular; a bit like our time and our fathers. this is the year of the xbox and the mobile. Things might change again tho....scratch that; things will change again

[Tim]

Then again; maybe it is just outright boredom with music. Let's face it, 1973, the birth of the synthesiser. The start of a whole new lifestyle of music. Exciting times. Now...? X Factor...!

I don't think it's boredom with music, just so much more available as entertainment these days, with a myriad of ways to enjoy it.

I was entralled to see a very young and very enthusiastic audience in The Borderline a few weeks ago for Lukas Nelson, now who's that familier with him here? One of the best gigs I've been to in 40 years.

It's still all there, maybe we just aren't seeing it as we don't mix in those circles anymore. I think there's never been so much live music available, way more than when I was a teenager and venues are packed, festivals too.

It's all about perception and how we interpret it, but if you don't do the same things anymore, doesn't mean it isn't there

Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk

[Haselsh1]

I go to a venue on the seafront in Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire called Moon On The Water quite frequently and the amount of live music they have there is amazing for this area. Most places around here are just full of meathead music but this particular venue has an amazing amount of variety from jazz to post punk. I love the place for its variety and the fact I take lots of photographs there. The place is often full of young people doing what I did back around 1977 so yes, they are there for the music. Yes, I also feel out of place. It is just as well that the place is run by people of my age. There are folk out there who still love music but I doubt they like hi-fi.

[Tim]

There are folk out there who still love music but I doubt they like hi-fi.

For sure, but living spaces have changed and it doesn't fit in so much these days.

Having said that I've been going to RSD for a number of years now and the lines get longer each time and it's not all old crustys now, it's youngsters, male and female. John Lewis and Tesco selling turntables, Sainsbury's with their own label?

That pendulum hasn't swing completely off the 'music matters' scale just yet.


Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk

[Macca]

To be young and into hi fi you need the triple lock:

1)Love music
2)Have heard quality reproduction and want it for yourself
3)Have the money to do it

1 is no issue
2 is the biggest problem, not many hi-fis out there for them to encounter.
3 If they read the mags they'll ditch the idea right away because they will think just to buy a 'starter' amp is a thousand quid. Whereas we all know they could put something together for a ton second hand. But how to tell them that?

[Tim]

1, 2, 3 tick.

Agree with all of that, very succinctly put.

Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk

[Minstrel SE]

To be young and into hi fi you need the triple lock:

1)Love music
2)Have heard quality reproduction and want it for yourself
3)Have the money to do it

1 is no issue
2 is the biggest problem, not many hi-fis out there for them to encounter.
3 If they read the mags they'll ditch the idea right away because they will think just to buy a 'starter' amp is a thousand quid. Whereas we all know they could put something together for a ton second hand. But how to tell them that?

Yeah I dont know about number three because I never had the money when I first started but I was always keen on putting something together. I read hi fi answers which gave source first advice on a budget.

Its the same for younger people now but they have more distractions. A lot of them seem to be buying the latest i phones but its probably a contract spread deal.

I was always excited by hi fi equipment to the point where the equipment became more important than the music which is dangerous behaviour I just got the bug for some reason. I used to love getting off on pictures of Nytech, Naim, The Linn Sondek Incatech Claymore and so on. It just always appealed to me.

I could have had more if I had done without other things. I was spending £700 on video 8 players so I had some money saved even on my low salary.

I like to think that the hipsters do see the retro beauty of a Nait 2 and a Sondek

[alphaGT]

I was always excited by hi fi equipment to the point where the equipment became more important than the music which is dangerous behaviour I just got the bug for some reason.

I’ll agree, when I was a young man, I was a carpenter, (i.e. no money) but I put aside money each year to buy one piece. It took me many years to get a decent system up, but I managed.

I recall reading a letter to the editor from some blow hard who owned some 12,000 record albums, and went so far to say that unless you had such a mega collection you had no business with a Hi-Fi setup. I wrote a rebuttal that was never printed, stating that if I had but one record that I loved to hear in the very best light possible, it was reason enough to invest in a Hi-Fi system. Which isn’t far from the truth. I’ve got about 500 albums now, and I can hardly think of a new one I want. As I tell my friends, I’m stuck in the 70’s. And when I set down in front of the stereo to listen, I never have a problem finding that special record I want to hear. So, many may say that my collection to system ratio is hardware heavy, and they’d be right.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Minstrel SE]

Yes I completely agree with you

I helped out in a basement full of half a million records or probably much more. We had no way of knowing as there was no inventory system. The chap was really a hoarder rather than a record dealer. He was a nice enough chap but he could have six copies of one record and wouldnt sell any of them. He was only keen to do them a tape of the record The stories about him charging to browse in his earlier shop are almost legendary in Manchester


http://http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/50000-rare-records-been-found-11956305

This is just a fraction of the records I saw shelved

He must have sold some but I never saw him sell anything. I would have preferred all those albums in the homes of enthusiasts but it was the 1990s and I dont think vinyl was in high demand. He was tending to buy it in batches with no real business plan of selling it again

The sad thing is that many of those records ended up in a skip or been given away in batches by the builders after a landlord dispute and court case over flooding and building maintenance.

The point is that was overwhelming to the point of extreme stress and worries over storage. I get musically overwhelmed with only a thousand or so albums. I will never get round to hearing just whats ripped on my computer.

There is a lot to be said for a online music library. If I suddenly want to get interested in Pere Ubu (for example) its easily accessible. The thought of damp basements with slim paths through ceiling high racks, gives me nightmares

Best wishes
Martin