Vinyls sales are apparently at a 25 year high. Who would have thought it?
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming
Now, I have reasonably strong views on the subject of music, having spent a not so small fortune on stereo equipment over more years than I care to remember in that elusive search for the ultimate sound reproduction.
My eyes and ears were literally opened nearly forty years ago by a good friend, Stephen Lynch, who then lived in a flat in Strawberry Vale and had a kick-arse stereo. From memory, it consisted of Infinity electrostatic speakers, a Rega Planar arm and a Linn deck. He played Paul Simon's Graceland (on vinyl) and I was literally blown away by the sound quality.
Fast forward many years and, as my ears have slowly deteriorated through age, that ultimate sound (and the huge expense that goes with it) is not so important to me now, so for most of my listening I use either a Sonos system linked to Ruark speakers or a very convenient Ruark Vita R2i radio linked wirelessly into my NAS and Spotify.
I've watched as vinyl has made a comeback and confess to being somewhat confused as to what all the fuss is about. If you have been brought up listening to music via cheap music centres/speakers (I'm showing my age) and poor radios or even iPods/phones through crappy headphones where the music has been compressed to death, then yes, any vinyl record played through a half decent amplifier and speakers will sound bloody marvellous. Consider, the average tune people listen to digitally has been compressed to buggery if it's at a bit rate of 128kb. CD standard is deemed to be around 320kb. The music on my NAS was ripped or downloaded in a lossless format at around 1400kb and sounds superb via my system, knocking the spots off any vinyl I've ever listened to.
I think there are two types of people that bang on about how much better vinyl is; those who have never heard uncompressed music before so naturally don't know any better, and those who want to believe it is, you know, the Emperors new clothes syndrome.
That said, vinyl may sound different (not better) to some ears due to the artificial artefacts which are introduced because they are inherent in the system, somewhat like valve amps, which tend to produce a softer or smoother sound compared to solid state amps. My view is you cannot beat the sound coming from uncompressed music, free of crackles or pops. Also, sooner or later, your vinyl will wear out or begin to degrade. However, even though I no longer have a record player, I still hand on to my vinyl LP's as, well, there is something nostalgic about them, especially as they bring back so many memories. Personally, I think music is almost as evocative as a scent is in taking you back to happier times.
As an aside,whether or not you prefer analogue (vinyl) or digital music, if anyone is thinking of investing in a decent stereo system, please don't be fooled by all the "you must spend 20% of your budget on the speaker wire and interconnects" that the hi-fi shops and magazines collude in as a plot to part you from your money. ALL copper cabling is oxygen free and it is the thickness of the wire that makes a difference, not the brand. I use mains cable for mine and it costs pennies per metre instead of the insane prices quoted by hi-fi retailers.
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| Really? £372.50? A fool and their money. |
Another point when buying TV interconnects. TV's are all digital these days and the beauty of digital is that it either works or it doesn't. A £3 HDMI lead will work just as well as a £579 one; just make sure it is the right version number eg 1.3.
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| Now they are seriously taking the wee-wee! |
That said, as with art, music or wine, we all have different tastes and I know one or two very nice people that will vehemently disagree with me, after all, what do I know?
To all of you that read this blog, I do wish you a brilliant 2017. As the late, great Dave Allen used to say, " Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you."
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