Posted by Kenneth Sloan on April 14, 2001 at 00:45:52:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Stereo equipment poll posted by Brian Frederiksen on April 13, 2001 at 20:33:55:
Old stuff??
I'm looking at a JVC VR5122 Stereo Receiver. There's a small triangular sticker on it that says it's "4-channel ready". Anyone know when 4-channel audio will finally arrive?
It's hooked up to a pair of EPI speakers. Anyone here recognize *that* name? And, there's a story here.
The JVC Receiver and the EPI speakers were purchased in 1972 at a shop just up the road from Princeton, NJ. I was a "consultant" on the purchase, they were actually bought by my girlfriend (so...why do I have them now? duh!) Money was an object, and she decided that the fancy wood cases on the speakers were not truly essential - it was worth waiting for the next year's model (coming in RealSoonNow, said the salesman) which would have cheaper materials (I forget what it was). But, the salesman wanted to make a sale, so he proposed a deal - she could take home the wooden ones, pay for the plastic ones, and swap them when the plastic version came in. He would call as soon as that happened.
Still waiting for his call...
We've connected various things to that Receiver over the years - right now there's a tape player and a CD player; there's a turntable in the cabinet that didn't get re-attached after our last move.
I suppose we ought to upgrade...sometime...but we don't listen to a lot of recorded music at home. Live music is preferred. The boys prefer to listen to music on either boomboxen, Walkmen, or (the favorite) their computers.
Most of my CD listening happens in my office. A generic receiver and CD player, connected to a pair of Bose speakers that more than fill up such a tiny space. Ordinarily, I'd consider headphones at the office, but it amuses me to see the students clustering around my door trying to figure out what's killing Roland's lips (I can't seem to get that CD off of the office "stack").
All of this needs reappraisal now that the kids are growing up (I think 90% of the audio tapes played at home and in the car were for the entertainment of the kids). On the road, I usually listen either to news or whatever the scanner finds on cross-country jaunts (why is it always COUNTRY stations that come in best?)
When I buy my new car cum tuba transporter, what's the current wisdom on high quality audio (over the air and CD)? If the car is a VW GTI, do I take the Monsoon system or go with after-market?
And...is there a market for vinyl from the era 1970-80...mostly slightly warped?