D-MAN Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 A buddy of mine from high school (30 years ago) came over and listened to my system for quite a while. We got to laughing about the time back then when mutual friend of ours got a new stereo. It was a receiver, turntable, and speaker setup, all Electrophonic, used. We both remember being completely blown-away by the sound that it produced. It made Rick Wakeman's "6 Wives of Henry the 8th" (quite "in" at the time) sound absolutely awesome. Well, back to the present, I've got the "same" cd and put it on. It was the worst recorded horrible sounding "stuff" - basically unbearable in its quality. You know the sound, bad 1970's bass, screechy highs, harsh, muddled. Typical of the period. Since my system is (I'm bragging now) pretty much the best that I've heard so far, and it costs many times more than that Electrophonic rig, it is distressingly ironic that it can't give either of us the same impression of fabulousness that we all got from the 1970's Electrophonic demo of the same bad recording. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Are we just getting jaded (or deaf) in our old age? Is there no justice? This isn't fair! DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 We're definitely jaded. Everything is relative. Just like nobody forgets their first kiss, their first car, their first time, their first 7 minutes "in the dark closet blindfolded with that girl," our first time listening to a stereo is still the best, even if only a wisp of a memory. My first experience was listening to a Sony boombox. 75 watts x 2 channels it was. $500 it was. 1993 it was. 13 years old I was. I cranked it up in the store and I was floored by the luxurious sound and the stomping bass. I had never heard sound like that before. My dad bought it for me. I stil have this stereo back in my home in Hawaii, but it has never sounded the same since. And no matter how much money we pour into our systems now, no matter how endless our quest and pursuit for the ultimate rig is, no matter how much our current gear makes us smile from ear-to-ear, it'll never match that one near-orgasmic moment where all time hung adrift, and only 3 words rung in our heads... "This is it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted October 21, 2004 Author Share Posted October 21, 2004 ---------------- On 10/21/2004 4:10:59 PM nicholtl wrote: Just like nobody forgets their first kiss, their first car, their first time, their first 7 minutes "in the dark closet blindfolded with that girl," our first time listening to a stereo is still the best, even if only a wisp of a memory. ---------------- You hit it right on the head! I have heard it stated as "the perfect jukebox". That elusive moment of time and place where the music coming from the jukebox was PERFECT. I miss that feeling. I want it back again. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 My system back then was JBL 4311 speakers, AR turntable with a Stanton 881EEE cartridge, an SAE mkVIII tuner (I still have this unit), a H&K Citation 17S preamp and a Dynaco ST-70 amp...what glorious music it made! I do believe that memories are better than the real thing, perhaps my system is better now but it will never match my memories of those great musical moments during my teen years. There were some very good electronics made during the 70's there were also some horrible units made, as others have pointed out. BTW I am still enjoying some 70's amplification, my Marantz Esotec SM-6 amp still sounds marvelous in all its class A glory and makes a great space heater! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 "I miss that feeling. I want it back again." Oh, don't we all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 ---------------- On 10/21/2004 4:10:59 PM nicholtl wrote: ...their first 7 minutes "in the dark closet blindfolded with that girl,"... ---------------- ...the gag in my mouth, the rope burns on my wrist...ah, exquisite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Fini----Duct-tape is better. You put a big strip firmly on your chest and then have your parter rip it off at the proper time....ahhhhhgghhh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 ---------------- On 10/21/2004 4:38:00 PM TBrennan wrote: Fini----Duct-tape is better. You put a big strip firmly on your chest and then have your parter rip it off at the proper time....ahhhhhgghhh ---------------- Reminds of that hotel room scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas While "White Rabbit" blares from a tinny tape player, Dr. Gonzo (completely dressed . . . well, at least from the waist up) soaks in his own filth in the bathtub, the water a putrid brown, pleading with Duke to toss the tape recorder into the water when the song hits its peak. "Just tell them I wanted to get HIGHER!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Actually, in recordings, the bass and the bass (kick) drum were not pushed as they are now. Listen to a Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Brown, Beatles LP and you will hear a difference. CD remastering plays havoc with the original at times. Quality of the bass amps and guitars is higher, making what sounded good noticeably different. There are other factors - our hearing curve is different. Volumes in Recording and what we listen to is different. But the 1970s with Electric Ladyland, Muscle Shoals and Abbey Road Studios plus Mobile Fidelity did put out some great recordings. But, oh to go back to those times.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted October 21, 2004 Author Share Posted October 21, 2004 Some of the locally-preferred stereo "demo" albums of the 70's that I remember were: Return to Forever "Romantic Warrior" Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" Steely Dan "Countdown to Ecstacy","The Royal Scam","Asia" Tower of Power "What is Hip?" Brecker Brothers "Some Skunk Funk" DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I recently purchased the remastered CD of Johnny Lytle's THE VILLAGE CALLER (Riverside). It was a favorite LP of mine in the 70's and was originally recorded in 1963. I was extremely pleased with how well it reproduced. Yet, I've experienced several rock-N-roll genre CD versions of older LPs and have been quite dismayed. I rack it up to the quality of both the original and the CD recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Most of the good stuff has been released in 20 bit or more remasters, and I have yet to hear one that doesn't far exceed the original vinyl in every aspect. Of course, I wasn't running a state of the art vinyl rig either, but I did have over a over $1000 into it, and if you figure it was in "1970's dollars" -- it was quite a bit of money. If I wanted to "show off" the system, the first thing that hit the table was Wells Fargo by Babe Ruth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 My thrust in those days, and to a lesser degree these days, was music not audio. If it moved me, who cared about the quality per se, ignore the the noise and feel the groove. Related, I think. Got my ex wife's old 60's 70's record collection over the weekend, cleaned a bunch of them and threw them on the turntable. They are all beat to death. Called her up and said in a congratulatory voice that you were into playing your music not treasuring it. First album I tried to clean had candle wax all over it, must have been set down to close to the Mateuse bottle with the candle in it. Music in those days was a part and parcel of our existence, culture, moments, moods, politics, being you name it. It's not a fair comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khorn58 Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I thought it all sounded great back then 60 and seventys. But I was listing to a Scott 299b through late 50,s KLH and later conwalls. This was the sytem I grew up with that my dad bought new in 59. I rember him talking about getting these giant jbl that were somthing like 10 feet wide (a complet stereo one piece cabnet)he was going to power them with some tube mac amps. He had just built his dream home a verg large countempary house and was planning on this sytem even had the wall wired for them. But Nixon got elected and poor Mass was put on his lets not send any money list. My Da being A Arcutect lots a ton of navy jobs he was designing and never did get that sytem. I know have that old Scott the Cornwalls Went to my Brother and the Klh were Stolen. But pink Flyod and the Beatles sound great on this sytem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I like all of the above, particularly Thebes. It is my belief that a fresh LP on a decent turntable (I had AR and Pickering) was pretty good, and still is. But the LPs did break down from constant play . . . and the Matuse bottle. (A good comment, and you're correct that your wife was better off listening than preserving.) Some republications are indeed poor. Some of this may be the deteriorated condition of the masters. Our newer systems do show up faults in the original recording too. I will say that some are excellent, none the less. I like to comment on how good the first Beatles album sounded on a three transistor Japanese radio with a half dead Ray-O-Vac carbon zinc 9 volt battery. But there was much more to come and some of us were there for it. I'd point out that the decade of '65 to '75 was a period where the quality of pedestrian equipment (and recording equipment) was ramping up tremedously. What had been high end was trickling down. So it really did sound impressive in comparison to what went before. It was also a period of birth of what we now call classic rock and roll. I expect some jazz/fusion people would say the same. Again, a big change from what we now call "oldies". I'd say the 1970 sound was memorable for the reasons mentioned above. We've now become a bit jaded. Best, Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 One thing hasn't changed. That's the pleasure you get when you slip a brand new vinyl album out of the sleeve for the first time. The soft swish as the lustrous black disc emerges from it's cocoon. The exquisite bouquet of freshly pressed vinyl wafting around the room. The deft dance of fingers along the rim, then the disc succumbing to the impatient embrace of the turntable platter. The final, erotic finale... the naked diamond tip, slowly, sensuously, lowering itself onto the compliant vinyl virgin... ahhh! Ecstasy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 ---------------- On 10/21/2004 10:43:59 PM edwinr wrote: One thing hasn't changed. That's the pleasure you get when you slip a brand new vinyl album out of the sleeve for the first time. The soft swish as the lustrous black disc emerges from it's cocoon. The exquisite bouquet of freshly pressed vinyl wafting around the room. The deft dance of fingers along the rim, then the disc succumbing to the impatient embrace of the turntable platter. The final, erotic finale... the naked diamond tip, slowly, sensuously, lowering itself onto the compliant vinyl virgin... ahhh! Ecstasy! ---------------- YOU FORGOT TO CLEAN IT FOR THE FIRST TIME! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 That's what she said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 OOOOOHH, the all vinyl Harlequin Forum. We have some very talented writers - very serious comment. Interesting thread, just pull...... dodger mind out of the gutter now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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