Better than ever

[HobbyMan]

They don't make music like this any more. I downloaded all of the Pink Floyd albums that I could find. I have them from 1967-2002. Anyway, I am playing them from my computer to my 1979 Marantz 4270 stereo with the SQ decoder. When I select the SQ decoder, even with a 2channel input(not SQ 2channel), I get 4 distinct channels of high bitrate Pink Floyd. Talk about crisp and clean. I have never heard any music this clean before. They certainly don't make music like this any more. I know this was made way before I was born(1989) but I still consider it my time. I think I was born in the wrong era. I am jealous of everyone who had the opportunity to hear these when they came out and those who had the opportunity to buy an XS new from the factory. I am still looking for these albums on vinyl. I have managed to find some pristine copies of the Moody Blues albums, JC Super star(sweet!- I like Andrew Loyd webber for some reason), The Stones, The Who, The Guess Who, and many others. If anyone has some good stuff they don't want any more, don't throw it away, I will take it. My Sansui turntable is out of service right now, but It will be working shortly(I hope). How many people still listen to vinyl?

[JWSanders]

I -hiss- love vinyl. -crackle, pop-

brump

I -hiss- love vinyl. -crackle, pop-

brump

I -hiss- love vinyl. -crackle, pop-

NOT!!!

Seriously though.....they're ok when they are pristine, but after even just a few plays the quality starts fading.

If you had grown up with records, you'd appreciate CD's and files soooo much more. Even cassettes were an improvement.

Besides, my MP3 player holds 60GB. I can only imagine how much these 12,000 songs would weigh in vinyl.

[Wildkat]

Sometimes you can't beat vinyl

Well... you could, I guess.. but they don't last long that way...

Seriously though... there is a Half Price books on Harwood in Hurst (I believe it's between Norwood and Brown Trail) that has a great selection of music for pretty decent prices. John and I have had good luck getting albums there.
They have a pretty good turnover rate as well... so if you don't find what you are looking for one week... they may have it the next.

[MikeFromMT]

My wife and I often comment that kids these days have a pretty sucky choice of music to call their own (from their generation) and that we were very fortunate to have what we did, and it's still popular and the musicians are still selling out shows 20-30 years later! I no longer listen to vinyl but have a box of great stuff in the garage, between CD's and satellite there's a great selection that can be listened to anywhere. Not long ago some of my employees, all of them in high school, were all excited about some music they'd been listening to, when I asked who it was, they said it was the Stones and Pink Floyd!
BTW HobbyMan, I just sold my Panasonic stereo I bought new in (get this) 1978.
We now have a Bose wave radio and other than the size, I can't find anything better about it than my oldy-but goody, actually I think my old one had better sound!

[John]

Re: Better than ever

Originally posted by HobbyMan
They certainly don't make music like this any more. I know this was made way before I was born(1989) but I still consider it my time. I think I was born in the wrong era. I am jealous of everyone who had the opportunity to hear these when they came out and those who had the opportunity to buy an XS new from the factory. How many people still listen to vinyl?

Hey kid, I saw Floyd at Texas Stadium when you were just 5 years old (1994) In fact, I rode my XS to the show. I have lots of vinyl, and like Wildkat wrote, we go to Half Price Books quite often, looking for albums that never made it to CD.

[HobbyMan]

Thanks for the info. Suprisingly I never hear the snap crackle pop sounds. Mainly, I think that is just dust, but I clean my vinyl whenever it is used. My neighbor down the street just threw away a Marantz 2230. Luckily I saw it before the garbage man came. It still works! I wonder why they threw it away in the first place. Sure, the stereos today claim to have more power, but they don't have the defenition of a stereo system designed for classic rock. I have seen a few groups like the Doobies and my Dad just saw Moody Blues at Royal Albert Hall the other week. It just amazes me the things were possible back then and could never happen again, like Woodstock. I don't know everything that went on in those days (maby that is a good thing). But whenever I hear good music, I try to imagine what it would like to be riding around on a new XS picking up the latest rock album or a new stylus for the turntable. Maby I would have picked up a 1970 SS396 Chevelle or ElCamino Those years were the best for cars, the only years for the XS1100, and the best for music too.

[HobbyMan]

I forgot to mention that I prefer 8-tracks over cassets any day

[MikeFromMT]

Beat this one...

In 1989 I drove my 1969 GTO convertable (with an 8 track stereo) to my gig as a roady on the Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour. (we joked it was the Steel Wheelchair Tour) 17 years later they're still touring.

Like Kramer on Seinfeld, I'll sell you my memories for.......


NOT!!!!!!


Oh ya, do you still need to wedge a book of matches on the side of the 8 track to get a better sound?

[JWSanders]

My first car (a 1777 Ford Maverick) had a 8-track player in it. The only tape I had though was a Rolling Stones greatest hits tape. I believe it was Hot Rocks 64-71. By the time I finally got a cassette stereo for it (2 years later) I had worn that tape so thin that it would barely play, and wouldnt play at all on track 4. Man that was a great tape. That was in '86. I used a folded up cigarette pack to wedge the tape in tight

I still prefer MP3's though. Now I have every Rolling Stones song they've ever made.

The music on the vinyl was definately fantastic, but the medium to me was lacking greatly. I bet I played my Zep "Song Remains the Same" double album well over 1500 times over a 5 year period from 83-88. Though it helps, it dosen't matter how much you clean it. If you play it enough, it will wear. That set was nearly smooth by the time I was done with it.

I was 22 before I got my first CD player, and after hearing that same album on CD (was the first CD I ever bought) I never looked back. The difference in quality is like night and day. I still have those CD's, and they still play exactly the same as day one.

I'd still have all that old vinyl if my idiot X-wife hadn't stuffed them in the attic. I was feeling nostalgic, took them out, and all 300 of them were warped in some way or another. I had original Beatles releases I had collected, and so, so many others. I thought I was going to kill her.

Better make sure noone goes stomping down the hall, too....A little bump is all it takes.

[DiverRay]

Mike,
The head is out of adjustment on that 8 track!!
And I remember the 4 channel 8 tracks, and the 4 track cartridge as well. The auto player was HEAVY, and all chrome!
Yes I do still have my vinyl, but I plan on putting some of the obscure albums into an MP3 format. I still have my old speakers, ESS AMT1B's, but traded in my Onkyo 4500MII for a Pioneer 7 channel system. I can still get the sound out of it, as my speakers will let me know if there is ANY kind of noise.
Ray

[DiverRay]

Oh, forgot to mention that the 8 track was in the fairing of my first XS1100, installed in September 77....
Ray

[trbig]

Someone told me you can take those old warped albums, but them in a tub of water with some sort of light weight on them and you can straighten them out... but always wondered how you could save the labels...

I remember when I was a kid and my dad had a '68 Road Runner. He had 2 8 tracks stolen out of it within a month once. As I got older, you couldn't even GIVE the things away.

Since I lived through the LP's, the 8 tracks and casettes that stretch and start to sound like crap after too many runs through the system, and then the CD's, I have to admit that I absolutely LOVE the MP3 players. The one I use when I ride is about the size and weight of a Bic lighter, and I can listen to hours and hours of songs without ever having to change a CD.

BUT... at home it's a different story. I have listened to several newer digital speaker systems (Including the clock-radio sized Bose wave systems that make some mighty big claims) as well as the bigger systems and I have honestly found nothing I thought sounded better than my 15+ year old 500 watt Pioneer rack system with surround sound and main speakers about 4 feet tall and nearly as heavy as my XJ!! I have 2 other mains that are old JBL's that may even be slightly bigger and better than the Pioneers. Both are the old oak look that you can't seem to find any more. Hit the play button on a CD, and the music comes out so clear, (I almost imagine I'm in the studio with them) and the beat hits you in the chest so nicely... that you don't realize how loud you are actually listening to it! Walk outside, and you realize that every neighbor in the area might not appreciate your choice of music... AND that there's no use advertising to thieves that you have a decent system... even if it would take 2 or 3 of them to carry the thing off! lol.

Tod

[HobbyMan]

I have 4 Pioneer C6-811A's and some other generic brands. If I ever had fairing, I would put an 8-track in it. My dad has a good 8-track AM FM reciever in his room. I love to set up all of my speakers outside and BLAST the neighborhood. I have tested it, you can hear crisp music a ways away. I normally set up the Marantz 4270 as the main unit driving the 4 pioneers, the Marantz 2230 driving 2 other marantz speakers, and a relistic driving the rest of the generic speakers. MY pool is empty right now so it makes for a great speaker set up. I calculated the power to be well over 9x the threshold of pain. My neighbors moved away the last time I did that, No joke! The new neighbors are better anyway. I love to pull the XSs out in the front lawn and work on them with music playing

[xswilly]

hey hobbyman
i rode a few enduro bikes before i got my first road bike
back in 1978 i was 19 years old and bought a 78E brand new
it had 7 miles on it when i rode it home
it was and still is a rocket
it had 20 miles on it when i first breached a hundred mph
my car was a 68 chevelle with a 350 V8
but it was just an old car back then

back then the only problem i had with the bike was the rear tire
only lasted 2000 miles

[HobbyMan]

Strange..
My rear tire has just started to go bald after 2500 miles. It was a cheapo tire anyway. I don't do any crazy stuff, I just drive a little fast. As for the cage, I sometimes drive an 86 suburban with 350. It seems older than my XS. I sense some similarities though I prefer the chevelle over she suburban. I got my mechanic skills from working on old GMCs/Chevys. Also, I build PC's too.