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The Know it all Audiophile

Yank said:
Seems to me one way to hook millennial and younger listeners would be to emphasize the social aspects of listening to music through loudspeakers as an experience that can be shared.
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I agree, but I suspect the whole thing we enjoyed as kids and teenagers has really changed due to factors of housing/space etc. People are either living at the family home far longer or ramping up horrific levels of debt at uni, i.e. the days of blowing a term’s uni grant on a load of audio kit is sadly long gone now!

Another thing is nightlife has expanded hugely, so folk will likely go out and listen to whatever a club DJ plays etc. I grew up in ‘the burbs’ where everything was shut by 10:30 and pubs had either nothing or a fairly naff jukebox, so listening to music at home, inviting friends round to explore new albums etc was really the only option. Music access really is radically better now so I guess the sharing/exploring aspect is more than dealt with and the last thing I’d ever argue is that folk today are less informed, it is actually the exact reverse.

The thing I’d miss is having some quality music in the background when inviting people back, but I do get very irritated with bad sound from computer speakers etc, it just sets me on edge in a way I guess it just doesn’t many people today. It is this that I find so strange with the massive growth in quality headphone listening and apparent lack of desire to transfer to home audio.
 
If you can get good sound from a moderately priced headphone setup, that works at home, on the road, at work, then focus on that. For the small fraction of the week you spend entertaining, I don't think hi-fi is necessary. Unless you're shushing your guests, they'll be talking and enjoying themselves, and the quality isn't that big of a deal. Get an old receiver with some well-woofered speakers and enjoy yourselves.
 
I know loads of people who like their personal choices above those of others, that's most of us after all. I even know some people who hold their own opinion in high regard. But I know few people as hypocritical or lacking in self awareness as much as mr Darko appears to be. That probably explains why he's self publishing. Vanity audio press for the lols...
 
booja30 said:
Get an old receiver with some well-woofered speakers and enjoy yourselves.
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As far as I’m concerned that is quality audio. Once you get to that you are unquestionably ‘one of us’, as obviously are a lot of headphone listeners.

PS One thing that I have noticed from watching a lot of YouTube retro-computing channels is there is a very substantial crossover in that community to audio with vintage hi-fi (usually ‘70s receivers or ‘80s Japanese separates) either visible in shot or actually featured on their channels as restoration projects, e.g. Jan Beta, Ms Mad Lemon, Techmoan etc, many of whom have good technical videos recapping, refurbishing their hi-fi kit, and they are of a younger demographic than most of us here. It is very refreshing to see IMO.
 
Not sure I'm bothered about what other people do or think, I have a number of friends who are very envious of my record collection & set up (mostly that I have a separate room to house it in) but an equal amount who couldn't care less.
 
Recapping vintage kit is a double edged sword ime. Krell pre, no difference, same vintage ksa200 big difference. Its just impossible to tell from the outset
 
sq225917 said:
Recapping vintage kit is a double edged sword ime. Krell pre, no difference, same vintage ksa200 big difference. Its just impossible to tell from the outset
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It is usually just viewed as a preservation method, one likely to ensure the kit is good for another 30 years or so. I don’t think many people do it expecting an ‘upgrade’ assuming a like-for-like component change. Just better to catch it early so the old caps don’t leak causing damage or go so far off-spec that other components are at risk.
 
As an aside, what’s the point of ‘retro computing’ Tony? With retro Hi-Fi you can still listen to modern recordings but an old computer just won’t work with modern software.

As an aside, aside :))); I was talking to a friend the other day and we somehow got to talking about air rifles - it reminded me of the air rifle I had as a boy and still have now. It’s been safely stowed for about 38 years but is still in perfect condition (I was pleased to find). So I thought I would replace the seals and blow me down, not only do I find that the seals are still available but the manufacturer still makes the same model (Weihrauch HW80)! There even a number of people making upgrade kits for it...
 
YNWOAN said:
As an aside, what’s the point of ‘retro computing’ Tony? With retro Hi-Fi you can still listen to modern recordings but an old computer just won’t work with modern software.
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There is huge love out there still for the old 8 bit games and the machines they run on, everything from ancient PacMan, Space Invaders etc arcade consoles through home computers like the BBC B, Spectrum, Commodore 64 etc.

Modern technology has made running original kit much more easy and user-friendly, e.g. I have both a BBC B and a Spectrum+ each with a SD card expansion fitted enabling instant loading of any game etc rather than having all the faff of cassette loading (or worse actually typing in a magazine listing).

These machines are also superb teaching tools and in many ways the best way to get programming concepts across. It is great to see them having such a revival, the online community is very strong and there are many retro computing events across the world each year.

PS pfm’s vintage computing thread is here.
 
S-Man said:
Seems to be describing himself:

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He is showing impeccable taste with the Allo Digione Signature :) .....and amusing when he blew up the Allo (I assume) battery pack. Of course if he’d RTFMed the Allo website, he would have noticed that they do say that they’ve rewired “their own” battery pack from four in series, to a “two by two series/parallel” arrangement.
 
Tony L said:
There is huge love out there still for the old 8 bit games and the machines they run on, everything from ancient PacMan, Space Invaders etc arcade consoles through home computers like the BBC B, Spectrum, Commodore 64 etc.

Modern technology has made running original kit much more easy and user-friendly, e.g. I have both a BBC B and a Spectrum+ each with a SD card expansion fitted enabling instant loading of any game etc rather than having all the faff of cassette loading (or worse actually typing in a magazine listing).

These machines are also superb teaching tools and in many ways the best way to get programming concepts across. It is great to see them having such a revival, the online community is very strong and there are many retro computing events across the world each year.

PS pfm’s vintage computing thread is here.
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Ah yes, I see, I ‘get it’ :). Funnily enough, one of my close school friends became a ‘gun for hire’ freelance computer programmer on the back of writing scripts for the BBC B (and then working for IBM). The last I heard of him he was working six months a year writing script for UK banks and the other six months at the diving company he had half shares in in the Bahamas (rereading that it sounds a bit like I’ve made it up - but I haven’t!) - Hi Chris, if you see this :) - much love Mark.
 
Tony L said:
There is huge love out there still for the old 8 bit games and the machines they run on, everything from ancient PacMan, Space Invaders etc arcade consoles through home computers like the BBC B, Spectrum, Commodore 64 etc.
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My favourite game on the BBC was the “Repton” series (I think I’ve got most, if not all of them). All my kit (Master, Hybrid Synthesiser etc) is in the loft, awaiting resurrection following my retirement. :)
 
suzywong said:
My favourite game on the BBC was the “Repton” series (I think I’ve got most, if not all of them). All my kit (Master, Hybrid Synthesiser etc) is in the loft, awaiting resurrection following my retirement. :)
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Excellent! If you have a Master sitting in the loft I’d be inclined to go fetch it down and get the CMOS battery pack out of it as they have a nasty habit of leaking. They are in a place that tends not to do much damage (unlike the Archimedes), but even so it will save you having to clean up too much corrosive gunk to get it out now.
 
God I hated that, only slightly more than having my head torn off by a vicious Warg.

Favourite game of all time, strangeloop on the c64
 
Yank said:
Seems to me one way to hook millennial and younger listeners would be to emphasize the social aspects of listening to music through loudspeakers as an experience that can be shared.
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That's what they use Bluetooth speakers for.
I don't think all that many young people are interested in sitting on a couch in the sweet spot, just listening to music. Most of them seem to be hooked on social media.
 
I’m surprised Darko’s still around tbh. I always assumed that he’d have disappeared up his own fundament by now.
 
Hmm, so just because I listen to hip hop, drum and bass, and other “bumph bumph” I’m not a know it all audiophile? How presumptuous.
 
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