This post really has no logical place on the forum but I had to share. So I am putting it here in the hope that the mods might let it go - or miss it entirely.
As regular members may know my eldest daughter (21 y o) flew the nest and moved in with her boyfriend (also 21 y o) in November, then my father passed in January. I was back clearing out his house a few weeks ago and although it was a quite modest system by now (he had ‘downsized’ many years ago), his hifi meant a lot to him so there was no way I was going to leave it to the house clearers. By a stroke of luck my daughter’s boyfriend has just inherited a record collection and was really looking forward to being able to play it, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to see that his vintage fruit box (Valhalla!), Naim Uniti and Naim Stageline phono stayed in the family. I brought them back to Sweden with me and installed them last weekend.
Anyway, I was visiting today and noticed something really strange, I really should have taken a photo but was so shocked I didn’t even think to. The platter was not rotating but the arm was down in the middle of the side. I asked what was wrong and they both looked at me with blank expressions.
My niece, also 21, recently told me proudly that she had bought a Lenco turntable. With amplifier and speakers for 195 euros. But because she knew that I had worked in an audio store for a while, she had a question about something she didn’t understand. When she put on an LP it sounded Wwwwrrrrommm and then only after 3 seconds did it sound good. Yes, she first put the needle on the LP and then started the turntable. The new generation still has to get used to the old technology, ha ha.
If you are completely unfamiliar with this old technology then the actions of Andrew’s daughter and boyfriend and Ruud’s niece were logical to them. The transfer from a digital non-material world to a slow one where things do not happen instantly is not obvious without instruction, even if rudimentary.
What concerns me is the possibly of them not understanding how vinyl discs need to be treated with care with the inevitable result that they will shortly be damaged and unlistenable.
Will any of then continue to use this stuff in a little while once the novelty has worn off?
One day I had built a nice receiver and amp with it, all fed by an old type 4.5V flat battery. It worked, I was happy and proud. Until I decided it did not sound loud enough, replaced the battery with a AC lead, and plugged it into the mains…
My hobby started like this when my oldest brother who worked at the Philips natlab, bought a Pro 12 recorder internally for 400, - guilders (200 euros). There was a personnel shop where he worked nearby and during his lunch break he always went there to see if there were any bargains. Beautiful device, but unfortunately there was only 1. So another one had to come. I bought a Philips consumer recorder but it was worthless, so I quickly bought a Tandberg 9100 and then also learned right away, only buy good quality! That cost me a lot of money but also a lot of music enjoyment.
Actually… that works. Just tried it on my Planar 10. Turned off the juice. Not pretty, but it stopped. Don’t think I’ll do that again. Maybe the mute button on the preamp. Nice picture.
