Full Circle in Audio?
Jacob -- Thu, 07/17/2008 - 14:36
Has the industry come full circle? I see ads for dealers selling refubished tapedecks, and a spate of older direct-drive turntables such as Garrard and Technics are now being touted as the cat's meow. Is old now new? Did the older generation of equipment have it right, whereas the latest one has strayed from the real thing?
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1999 - 2011 NextScreen. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
Fad and fashion.
Dealers are so desperate to sell SOMETHING that they're trying to hawk tapedecks (the most prone to breakdown of ANY component) and old DD TT's (most of which make a stock first-generation AR turntable sound good).
The older generation of gear (especially 70's and 80's solid-state) did NOT get it right.
That stuff started the audiophile revolution because it was so bad people like J. Gordon Holt could not believe it could measure "good" and sound so bad.
Old R-R tape decks are the original "boat anchors."
:twisted:
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Those old tape machines might indeed be "boat anchors," but I must confess I felt a great sense of loss and longing when I saw the ad for a refurbished and upgraded Technics SL1500 open-reel tape machine by United Home Audio (it appears in the next issue of TAS).
I once owned the half-track version of the SL1500, which was a marvel of tape-transport design. It uses a dual-capstain closed-loop system that isolates from the take-up motor the stretch of tape across the heads. I used the SL1500 professionally on a daily basis for about four years. There's something about recording with an analog machine and cutting tape with a razor blade that holds its appeal, even in the day of hard-disks and digital editing. I know analog tape is long outmoded, but seeing that photo made me lust for open reel again. It's illogical, but that's what I felt.
Steve--I wonder if you aren't being a bit sweeping in your dismissal of equipment of yore. Perhaps I should be more specific: the products I was referring to such as turntables are being supplied with new plinths and modern tonearms (Shindo, for example).
Furthermore, tapedecks do, in fact, seem to be making something of a comeback--viz. the Tape Project, which is (re)releasing taples. I've talked to several friends who swear by tapes as opposed to LPs. I think Robert's sentiments are increasingly shared by audiophiles. It was the United Home Audio ad which prompted my initial post.
Steve--a further point. Several friends in the Dallas, Texas area have dumped their Walker turntables in favor of refurbished Garrard and Technics Sp-3, mk. II turntables. They did direct comparisons and are convinced that direct drive is vastly superior to ANY belt-drive turntable currently on the market. VPI has also just gone to rim-drive, which is attracting quite a bit of (favorable) comment.
I haven't heard any of these DD tables and so can't comment on their performance. But it is intriguing.
Quote:Several friends in the Dallas, Texas area have dumped their Walker turntables in favor of refurbished Garrard and Technics Sp-3, mk. II turntables.
Gott in himmel!
Is this the End of Days?
I used to own a Technics SP-3 Mk II (I, uh, downloaded it onto my brother-in-law about fifteen years ago), and if it sounds better than a Walker I'll eat the platter. Hell, it didn't sound better than a SOTA Star Sapphire, which is why I got rid of it.
I totally agree with JV!
So much in fact that I'll eat the other half of that platter!
:P
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications