Vinyl

I got my amp working again. I bought it a while back on ebay....it was sold as "defective" and advertised as decoration, but it's a great Marantz from the 70's, which are apparently collectors items. So I got it repaired, and it worked for a while but a couple of things were still loose so it started to go dead on both channels. I got it fixed again though and it works!

There's something different about listening to records. Digital music can sound pretty good now, and I don't think it's so much the quality. I think it has to do with a few other things. For one, they're so big. If you have a record, you don't just have a piece of music, you have cover art, and an object of a decent size. Also, they're split into two sides, so you have to listen a little more actively, because you're going to have to turn it over at some point. You can't rewind it, and you can't easily repeat or skip a track. You just listen through the way it was mixed. Lastly, I think it also has to do with acquiring the records. They do some new pressings now, but to find an old album, you have to go hunt for it. You can't just look it up on iTunes and click and pay, you have to search, and you have to dig around for one in good condition and a good price. I guess this is a big reason why I feel that my records are just a little more special than my CDs even. Since mp3s have been around, I'm not so into CDs. I'll still buy them sometimes, but I don't really feel that I'm missing out by not having the physical disc. Even though they're physical objects, they just don't represent the same thing that records do. They're somehow less tangible. Maybe it's because if I lost one, I could burn another copy, or at least easily buy one, and the sound quality doesn't feel that different to me than an mp3 (though I don't have a stereo system that would make a difference). If a record is lost or damaged, it's not so easily replaced.