I swapped out turntables yesterday. I took the turntable in my vintage setup, and put it in my main setup. And put the one in my main setup and put it in the vintage setup. They're both vintage tables so, you know, things are still in order.
And at first I was intrigued by the change. There were differences. I started changing carts around, putting the ones that had been in use on the previous one on this one. It all sounded good enough. But something interesting was happening. Whereas I usually end up sitting on the couch in front of the stereo, I was ending up in other parts of the house, doing other things.
I had to go do something for work, and came home, and sat down again to listen to the turntable. I got to watching youtube videos and would mute the main system, to listen to the video. Usually I just listen through it if I'm sucked into a youtube rabbit hole.
A few minutes later I just turned the system off.
And so, despite everything being, on the face of it, good sounding..the turntables are getting swapped again. I'm all for the designers of my gear measuring everything this way and that. I, myself, only need one measurement. Does it keep me listening? I've had an untold number of things here that sounded great, and left me doing other things.
Which reminds me, the Yamaha YP-D8 stayed in my system longer than any turntable ever has. It's not even close to being the most expensive one I have. Nor is it the most talked about, and certainly it isn't the one that would impress people with its rarity or bragging-merit were they to come visit for a listen. I dug it out of the back of a used record store.
I should maybe go rescue it from the upstairs closet. You and me, buddy. You keep me listening.
And at first I was intrigued by the change. There were differences. I started changing carts around, putting the ones that had been in use on the previous one on this one. It all sounded good enough. But something interesting was happening. Whereas I usually end up sitting on the couch in front of the stereo, I was ending up in other parts of the house, doing other things.
I had to go do something for work, and came home, and sat down again to listen to the turntable. I got to watching youtube videos and would mute the main system, to listen to the video. Usually I just listen through it if I'm sucked into a youtube rabbit hole.
A few minutes later I just turned the system off.
And so, despite everything being, on the face of it, good sounding..the turntables are getting swapped again. I'm all for the designers of my gear measuring everything this way and that. I, myself, only need one measurement. Does it keep me listening? I've had an untold number of things here that sounded great, and left me doing other things.
Which reminds me, the Yamaha YP-D8 stayed in my system longer than any turntable ever has. It's not even close to being the most expensive one I have. Nor is it the most talked about, and certainly it isn't the one that would impress people with its rarity or bragging-merit were they to come visit for a listen. I dug it out of the back of a used record store.
I should maybe go rescue it from the upstairs closet. You and me, buddy. You keep me listening.
