real music?

[Gordon Steadman]

I was fitting some stair spindles for a customer today (what was that about retirement?) and he asked me if I wanted some big old speakers he had.
Ha!! Is the pope etc.......sadly, his big and mine do not inhabit the same universe.

Some Aiwa boxes made out paper, three way sort of. Anyway, my little project needs some boxes so the butchery started immediately after testing them on the 33/303 and declaring them crap. Really, really crap. A sort of Dundee, "that's not crap...THIS is crap" sort of crap.

They are not quite big enough for the Celestion 8"ers!!! Not unless I cheat a bit so I probably will. Both have the same batch number but the crossovers are different. One has a coil and one just a cap and resistor

If I do fit the Celestions, the boxes will need some serious reinforcement. The sides were flapping being driven by the plastic cradled 5" Aiwa driver

More play tomorrow.

(Got pics in reverse order, too lazy to change them!!!)

[Tom-Brown]

I will listen to music on various formats from radio to spotify!! But it's always got to be vinyl in the end

[twotone]

I listen to internet radio a lot, specifically FIP (Paris) which is just fantastic and I also play my CDs which were bought on Amazon via itunes and also love the simplicity of that with a genius mix.

Just bought the Bob Dylan Mono boxset which came with a digital download of the entire collection.

The mono vinyl boxset is just wonderful, I love it.

[Gordon Steadman]

As these are being developed by the appliance of science in the form of bung it in a box and see what happens.............I didn't try too hard with pretty - or accurate.

So the fronts a lump of old flooring chipboard. There is a white melamine box at the top for the two mid/tweeters and that is as far as it went. The original Aiwas sounded crap as I said but when I took them apart, one of them was wired so that the bass unit got the treble and vici virci. Bit late to see how they would sound done properly but still crap I'm sure.

So, connected to the 33/303 and sat thinking "hmmm....if I listen to these for long, my ears are going to bleed" As there were four of those horrid little piezo thingies blasting away, it seemed likely to be at least one of the reasons. So, I got the wire cutters and just snipped - very scientifically of course - two of the buggers off.

And tried again. Ronnie came in and asked what was playing as it sounded really good. She was somewhat surprised to hear it was these.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to take them apart and make them look as good as they sound. The lower section of the box still rings a bit but that is easy to cure. The top is dodo like because of the mid box. The Celestions haven't moved air for ten years and are already loosening up and the bass is getting better after half an hour.

Quelle surprise!! Accidents do happen then

[Firebottle]

I just love the adjustment on the fly, snip snip, and leaving the relevant tool in the first photo.

Keep it up

[Gordon Steadman]

I just love the adjustment on the fly, snip snip, and leaving the relevant tool in the first photo.

Keep it up

Well, I think it's important to apply the scientific method.

[jandl100]

When I listen to digital, I tend to become a hi-fi fan rather than music fan and worry about the reproduction etc.

I kind of find that distinction myself - except it's the file streaming sound that turns me off.
I'm very happy with CD, so it isn't digital as such that's a problem for me.
And my new-born enthusiasm for vinyl continues to grow. It's been my main source for the past little while.

But whenever I hear a streaming system, it seems to have a desperate lack of emotional communication for me. I've never heard a streamer in my own system - and I have no great desire to - but other folks' streamers just seem to me to be so matter of fact and uninteresting.

[Gordon Steadman]

I kind of find that distinction myself - except it's the file streaming sound that turns me off.
I'm very happy with CD, so it isn't digital as such.
And my new-born enthusiasm for vinyl continues to grow. It's been my main source for the past little while.

But whenever I hear a streaming system, it seems to have a desperate lack of emotional communication for me. I've never heard a streamer in my own system - and I have no great desire to - but other folks' streamers just seem to me to be so matter of fact and uninteresting.

Hi Jerry,

I suspect the emotional connection has something to do with ownership. Certainly is for me, the idea of not having the physical media to hand goes against the grain for this old man. In the same way, I just can't connect with the idea of 'cloud' computing, I need to have my stuff somewhere close at hand and readily available. It's possible that our internet connection might influence that as we have satellite here and it is not the most reliable. Even so, any connection can go down and then where is the music?

Soundwise, I don't really believe there is that much in it but, harping back to my original post, Nina Simone was recorded from vinyl to tape and thence to the Mac - many opportunities for degradation. How come it still felt more like a real person singing to me than normal digital stuff???

As far as streaming locally is concerned, I have an Apple Airport express for streaming from the Mac to the main rig in the next room. The sound is OK but nothing more and I would only use it for background - not that I do that often. As you say, uninvolving. Obviously the quality is controlled by the Airport so I guess I shouldn't expect too much.

I've downloaded quite a bit, both from archives and YouTube. The sound is not terrific but acceptable for most purposes I find. It's still easy to lose interest and flip to something else though and this is what I never seem to do with 'analogue' (and yes I know that most is mastered in the digital domain and has been for some time).

[jandl100]

Well ...
Actually, despite my getting-on-for-old-geezerhood status, I find the concept of cloud-sourced material seriously cool.
I just wish I enjoyed music sourced that way - it sure would be convenient - not to say quicker than waiting for a CD to arrive in the post.

Mind you, I do love rummaging in charity shop LP bins! Cardboard box-sourced, rather than cloud-sourced, music.

[Gordon Steadman]

Whilst my BIL is wrestling with the parallel tracker, I thought I'd have a play with something simple as it's more suited to my mind set.

I've seen this done on the DIY forum but have never trusted uni-pivots as I always feared for the stylus if the arm fell off. However, by making the hole in the tube only just clear the pivot I feel a little more secure!! Its a pen refill (must get a metal one) just resting in a pimple in the arm tube. The tube is just over 32cm (12"+) and I'm undecided if I need a bend on the cart end.

Can't believe how stable this is though. With the weight from an old Garrard SP25, which is nicely underslung, it is incredibly easy to balance and just spins around happily. Just need to sort out some leads and I'll bung it on a deck and see what happens.

I'm beginning to like this retirement stuff