The Bongo Beater Has Arrived

B

Bongo Beater

New member
Joined
Jul 14, 2021
Messages
54
Location
Lotus Land
The Bongo Beater has arrived.

I am musician and long-time music lover who has accumulated way too many LPs. I was dragging home LPs by the armload in the 1990s, when no one wanted them.

My favorite genres are jazz, classical, film music, Latin jazz, and Brasilian/bossa/MPB.

I am in a position to upgrade my system, and am eager to see what is out there.
 
Welcome to AudioShark!! I just went through what you're about to go through. I had a 40+ year hiatus from high end home audio and had a huge amount of info to slog through before I could even think of choosing components. There's analog audio stuff which is relatively simple. And, then there's a much more complicated thing called digital audio with it's up sampling, down sampling, megabytes, DACs, servers, computerized everything, etc. I'm not particularly computer literate, so the digital side of things has proved quite challenging, to say the least.

I started a couple years ago and I'm still learning and choosing components. We live in a small home and several years ago my wife was pressuring me to get rid of all our vinyl. It filled up about 1/2 of our walk-in closet, so she wasn't entirely unjustified.

My only current music source is streaming and ripped CDs. No turntable (TT), no vinyl. I'd like to have a nice TT but, because of room constraints, I'd have to start from scratch (collecting vinyl). Then I'd be right back where I started, filling the closet back up with vinyl. And, for me, I'm not sure it would be worth the cash layout for even a modest TT/cartridge combination. It sure wouldn't make me any points with the wife.

But that's just me and my particular situation. I've had a ball so far. Next month I'll be investing in a set of high end headphones and headphone amp. The adventure never ends. Welcome back!
 
For the fastest way back into hearing hi-fi again, I’d suggest a simple system with an integrated amplifier (possibly containing a DAC, i.e. digital to analog converter) some speakers, and a streaming solution that will allow you to connect to the internet cloud (Roon, Tidal, Qobuz) and you’ll have access to all the music you like, all the music you have loved, and all that will come. There are also many great options for turntables, phono preamps, and cartridges that don’t have to break the bank.

There is enough high quality gear out there you can build a great sounding system for not a huge investment. Of course, you can also spend your retirement, your children's inheritance, etc. if you choose, end up divorced and penniless but with a killer stereo.

You can get a lot of advice here from fellow audio geeks.

If you love your old vinyl collection, invest in a record cleaning machine. Your records will sound better, and your needle will thank you and last much longer.
 
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