Back to vinyl

I get the preference for vinyl – but doesn’t bluetooth defeat the object a but by digitizing the audio on the way to the speakers?

I have a Denon DP-200USB deck, Pioneer Z-CM32BTD HiFi with 2 good speakers. It’s fine and does what I want, including recording my massive vinyl collection, which I never seem to get around to finishing. Over the years I have had some very good systems, including the original Garrard 401, mated to an Eagle 100Watt tuner/amp. A Danish Arena Quad tuner/amp with a Philips electronic deck and a big, beautiful Akai Stereo open reel tape deck. That tape deck is the one item that I wish I had kept: the inbuilt speakers were good on their own, big horns either side of the vertical case. Most of that stuff was bought in BAOR during the late 60’s and mid 70’s, from a Dutch Air Force NAAFI-equivalent shop. I found it and was given a purchasing card by a great Dutch mate. He made myself and 2 mates keep it secret, because the prices were subsidised to Dutch armed forces by the Netherlands government and he would have been in big trouble if it became known that he was helping other NATO personnel to shop there.

I love vinyl, but my old ears can no longer tell the difference between CD, vinyl and MP3 digital. A lot of my music streamed and played in the car on a USB drive, is taken from CD. I have several Stones Vinyl LP’s that were played only to record, but when they began to digitalise their albums, I bought the digitalised CD’s. I defy anyone to tell the difference, even with ears better than mine. In fact, for clarity, which is important to u/s lugholes, I believe the dig CD’s are clearer. I can certainly pick out more of the instrumentals, especially with the older stuff: Brian Jones’ guitar on “The Last Time” * is fantastic on the dig CD.

IIRC a certain conversation with Jason correctly in MM days, that means my stance on the CD/vinyl question has done a 180!

*(not dig- it’s the original Mono) –  https://youtu.be/ncRkWJmRzX8

Right places 🙄

A mate of mine has that Akai  deck and he has been looking for some Akai branded metal spools, none come up on ebay yet.

D-Dan wrote:

blacklion1725 wrote:

I get the preference for vinyl – but doesn’t bluetooth defeat the object a but by digitizing the audio on the way to the speakers?

You’re right, and whilst trying to ensure that Alexa and the turntable can use the same speakers without too much trouble, I’ve gone with wired from the turntable and BT for Alexa, so best of both worlds, now.

Happy Days!

A high-toned, shattering result. Wonder if they use Windolene to clean the media?

Sorry.😚 I’ll get me coat…

Oh and don’t touch your newly cleaned record with greasy fingers, makes the dust stick.

Wheels-Of-Fire wrote:

Do not use Windowlene do use mild soapy water with a soft cloth and rinse under the tap, don’t get the label wet. Remember records are made of plastic and do not dissolve If you are worried about tap water residue then you can wipe them with a micro fiber cloth when they are dry.

Graham, even the softest tap water has impurities in it, like lime. Ours is particularly hard. It would leave microscopic bits of Calcium Carbonate, chalk and other impurities between the grooves and some of that stuff is hard, thus reducing the life of the vinyl. I use “Pure” record cleaner, comes with a microfibre cloth and makes a great job of it. I didn’t really believe until I used it on records that had been played just a few times, some only once. I had always used an antistatic cloth, but the muck that came off shocked me. Only needs a slight spray, but makes a difference to the sound, even to my knackered ears.

https://tinyurl.com/y3w98reo