“What in the world do you need a record player for?”
“What happened, Mick? Did you lose your iPod?”
“Haven’t you ever heard of CD’s?”
“You mean record players still EXIST?”
I know, I know. It seems crazy to buy a record player when there are literally millions of songs at your fingertips by way of iTunes. Record albums are so cumbersome while iPods no larger than a postage stamp can hold thousands of songs. It seems nuts to listen to scratchy records when digitally mastered music is so clear and almost flawless (I would argue TOO flawless). There is no mistaking that today’s digital music is of high quality, but I must say the sound of a record player and vinyl albums is better. Why better? Well, I’ve been trying to come up with an apt description of the sound of a phonograph needle on a vinyl record and the word that keeps coming to mind is “rich”. Listening to albums on a record player has a richness that is lost on today’s digital music. A phonograph has faint pops and cracks as it plays, but that’s part of the character and mystique. Vinyl albums also have a raw sound that can’t be duplicated with the almost sterile perfection of digital music. I hope I’m making sense here. It’s just a different sound. A sound you would recognize if you grew up listening to records instead of downloading every song you want.
We picked up the record player yesterday (bought it off Craigslist from an old lady in Mason who said she was glad it was going to a good home). This record player/stereo/console is more than just a piece of audio equipment. It’s a piece of furniture and in a way it’s a piece of history. Let me tell you, this thing is HEAVY. My brother-in-law helped me carry it and it took all we had to get it in the house. Once the record player was in the house we just had to try it out. This spawned a trip to a record store (Yes, they still have them). We went to “Everybody’s Records” in Pleasant Ridge and spent about three hours browsing through crate after crate of used record albums. In the end we ended up with about 30 albums for about 45 bucks (so just over a buck apiece). We also took a trip to Goodwill. They sell albums for 50 cents. We picked up another 20 there. All told we have about 50 new (used) vinyl albums and spent a grand total of $55. Basically for the price of a nice dinner at a restaurant, we now have hours of listening enjoyment and reminiscing. We’ve been listening to record albums all weekend and it has been a real blast from the past.
On a funny note--- Abby peered into the cabinet as a record was playing and the look on her face was priceless. You could tell she had no idea what she was looking at. She admitted she had never seen anything like it. As we loaded albums onto the turntable and put records back into their dust jackets, my 23 year old niece flatly exclaimed, “That looks like too much work!”. Ha! Work indeed! She has no idea what she’s missing.
So there you have it. The Meyers are on the cutting edge of not-so-modern technology and WE. ARE. LOVING. EVERY. MINUTE!
Here's the record player, stereo and cabinet. State of the art for the early 70's
The turntable
Some of our new (used) albums
Note the old "Record Theatre" sticker
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