Vinyl is Alive and Well. Wow.

Quote of the day:
“Something psychological and spiritual happens in that vocal break. Maybe it has to do with oxygen added to the blood, but it’s a physical experience of joy, even when it’s melancholy.”
--Bart Plantenga, Dutch radio D.J., talking about yodeling.

I’ve spent the last couple days listening to tons of records. LPs, vinyl, the real thing.

It started after I did what’s called an audiophile “tweak” of the cartridge on my turntable. I constructed and added a little brass arm on the front of the cartridge.

I know this sounds silly to those of you who aren’t into audio. And most of the time I pay no attention to the unending teeny little tweaks people do to (allegedly) improve the sound of a stereo system. Most of these tweaks make no difference or make the system sound worse. Sometimes they’re expensive, like audio cables that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

There was a fad years ago to keep CDs in the freezer. Something about lower temperatures leading to a more sonically-worthy molecular structure. Bunk, of course. And people got all kinds of frost on their Blondie CDs.

But this brass arm (officially called a “longhorn”) actually has an engineering function--to reduce cartridge vibration. The only thing that’s supposed to vibrate is the stylus, which generates a teeny bit of electricity which is then amplified and sent to the speakers. If the cartridge also vibrates, it causes problems.

As you can tell, I’m not an engineer. I did read the engineering data as well as numerous comments from people who’ve done this over the last 25 years.

The result is a terrific full-range, dynamic sound that is realistic, fun and involving. And so we’ve been listening to a lot of the old tunes, including the Laurie Anderson album pictured above. And how about that Abbey Road? A little Mozart, a little Talking Heads, a little Duke Ellington. To me, it’s as good as CDs. And, believe me, I’m not a fanatic. Really.