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ukbobboy
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Old Hi-Fi System

@caseyb1993 @Andy @GraphiteGB @mark_suff  @commanda6

 

Hi Guys 

 

I was bouncing around YouTube when I came across this video, it shows the Thorens turntable and SME tone arm I used to use back in the day.  Before marriage and children, I used to be (well) into Hi-Fi (high fidelity) systems and the Thorens turntable combo used to be the head/start of my system.

 

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with NowTV etc. but I'm sure there are a few older fans out there that still remember the days when Hi-Fi was king.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaMn20oJ4Bc

 

 

UK Bob

 

310 REPLIES 310
ukbobboy
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@caseyb1993 @4268

 

Hi Casey

 

I know 4268 is a woman, I made that mistake when I first joined the forum.  I was thinking along the lines that she might want to give her perspective on this "big" man-sized set of speakers.

 

Please don't think I'm excluding you, I would also welcome your views on this item too, but I initially thought (and please forgive for this) it may be too much of  a "guy thing" for you to be interested in.

 

UK

 

PS. I've noticed that my speaker jpg have vanished from my post, I'll re-add it here.

 

Fluance Fi70 Bluetooth Speaker.jpg

4268
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@Andy I have a drawer full of cassettes including some recorded on a Sunday evening....
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caseyb1993
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@ukbobboy I don't rebuy albums myself as all my music is Spotify now. 😄

 

My dad on the other hand has thousands of CD's/Vinyl.

He is crazy for Alice In Chains (which he has gotten me into as well :D) and must have all of the albums plus greatest hits albums. Even though he owns all the songs anyway, why go for the greatest hits album? He is a huge Rock fan.

 

Whatever he buys goes automatically on to my Amazon music anyway so no big deal really. 😄

 

My uncle has recently sent over my dad's records from Australia to play on this. 

 

5484511_R_Z001A.jpg

My mum bought it for him for his birthday and hooked it up to the amp. This is how I have discovered Vinyl. I didn't understand how it worked to be honest. I must have asked him some stupid questions like,

  • "Where do you put the needle?"
  • "Can't you skip like a cd?"
  • "How do you know where each song is?" (Since you can't skip haha)
  • "Why is the record wobbling?" 

He played some U2 on it the other day. It kept jumping though so not a very good impression haha. It would jump during "With or without you" which I adore that song. 😞

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ukbobboy
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@caseyb1993 @schnapps @Andy @SeeMoreDigital

 

Hi Casey

 

First, I have a confession to make, and that is I have never used Spotify and only have a vague idea of how it works, i.e. I guess you can store and access your favourite "sounds" from it.

 

OK, as for your Dad, I know where he's coming from when he buys the greatest hits of songs he already has on different albums, and I think those reasons are:

 

1) It puts all the hit songs in one place, and that is enjoyable in itself.

 

2) Greatest hits albums have the 7 inch (single) versions of the songs and, as they are mixed/engineered slightly differently, they had a different sound to the album versions. 

 

3) Continued support for his favourite muscians.

 

Asked your Dad if he has bought the 12 inch 45rpm version of his favourite songs because they, like single and album versions, again have a different sound.

 

Back in the day, I used to buy 12 inch version of songs I had on albums but I was not a fan of  7 inch records, and so only had a handful and perhaps only three or four greatest hits albums, because they were mainly mixed to sound "good" on the radio (and even portable radios with dying batteries).

 

As for re-buying albums, well, vinyl are subject to wear, no matter how well you treat them, while today's media does not suffer from that affliction, and so you only need to buy a recording once.

 

Still, it does not matter how you consume your music just as long as you enjoy it.

 

                                             DJ Wearing Headphones.jpg

 

 

UK Bob

 

PS. I like a beer with my music.

 

 

schnapps
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@ukbobboy

 

I can't believe you haven't tried Spotify before, its a fantastic streaming service for music where they have supposedly up to 30 million tracks to choose from where most tastes in music are covered in their catalogue library.

 

Was using the £10 per month Premium subscription with my Squeeze Boxes connected to my HiFi's around the house where the sound quality matches CD in my opinion (320kbps Orb).

 

They also offer a family members subscription i think it's 5 or maybe 6 family members on the same subscription for £15 per month. 

 

Recently, i have ditched the Premium subscription to save me £10 a month and use the free version which has adverts and the streaming quality is reduced to 160kbps which still sounds pretty good for causal listening if you ask me.

 

If you go with the free Spotify and want to play the music through your HiFi instead on your mobile IOS, Android or Windows Device / PC then you can either Bluetooth the music across or what i have done is purchased some Chromecast to cast the music  (Video version not the Audio version which won't play the free Spotify) connected to a HDMI to Audio extractor where you can either run a pair of RCA phono cables into your amp or run a digital optical cable to a Digital to Analogue DAC which is what i have done in my HiFi setup. 

 

Sounds pretty good to me, also the beauty with Spotify free is you can listen to new artists or bands and if you really like the album you can then always buy it if you wished on Vinyl or CD etc from our Retailers / Shops. 

 

 

ukbobboy
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@schnapps

 

You know Schnapps

 

I just might give Spotify a try.

 

 

UKBob

schnapps
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@ukbobboy

 

Hi UKBob,

 

Forgot to mention in my previous post, that Spotify offers a free 30 day trial of their Premium service where you can use the Spotify app on a wider range of devices which is advert free and you can jump tracks without any restriction  (just make sure you cancel before the trial ends otherwise it £9.99 a month).

 

Or perhaps stick with the free version with the adverts and limited amount of track skips using a PC or mobile device.

 

Also when you are on the free version sometimes Spotify will offer deals for 3 months Premium subscription for 99p (again make sure you cancel before the end of the deal offer).

 

I have been using Spotify for a few years now (ever since it came to the UK) and haven't bought a CD since.

 

If you do check it out, you may be surprised how much music choice is in their content library and if you can stream the music to some outboard PC or HiFi speakers rather than relying on the inbuilt speakers on smart phones, tablets etc you might be surprised how good the music sounds Smiley Very Happy 

 

 

ukbobboy
Legend

@schnapps

 

You know Schnapps

 

Your post sounds good, and yes I can stream music to external speakers it's just that I'll have to get to grips with "BlueTooth".  You see, my smartphone, tablet and speakers are all bluetooth capable, it's just that I usually switch that facility off.

 

I'm gonna have to learn some new stuff.

 

                                                                                Question Emoji.jpg

 

UK Bob

ukbobboy
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@schnapps @caseyb1993

 

Guys

 

Right now, this very minute, I am listening to Spotify, yes I've now got it and it's playing through my sound system via my chromecast device (I don't have to worry about bluetooth).

 

                                                                         Spotify.png 

 

I've now got it goin' on.

 

 

UK Bob

ukbobboy
Legend

@schnapps @caseyb1993

 

Guys

 

I've now installed Spotify on my Roku 3 and I am now well and truly a convert, I just did not know what I was missing.

 

You know, I could give up buying music and just listen to Spotify from now on

 

 

UK Bob

 

Schnapps, I'm trying out the 30 day free premium trial.