Ok so I need to admit something...(Enjoying Roy Orbison and Paul Anka on an RCA Console System)*

I'm at a relative's house and I'm sitting here at listening to an old console stereo.. an RCA Showcase, I think it was built and purchased in the mid 60's. It's never had any maintenance done and it works wonderfully. I came across some records to spin and I've gone through Roy Orbison "There is Only One" and I'm now listening to Paul Anka "Paul Anka's 21 Golden Hits". The records are worn and lightly scratched. The stereo isn't anywhere near the "SQ" of my current setup. But I am enjoying this immensely.

Ok there I said it. Roy Orbison and Paul Anka on an old system, scratched records and all and I'm having a blast.

 

Friend, true enjoyment comes from not being anal to distraction. I am fussy about my system and collection, but right now I am listening to a noisy original vinyl copy of The Allman Brothers Band, Live at the Fillmore East, and I am thoroughly digging every note of it. Of course, the bottle of wine next to me doesn't hurt either. I have a reign on my hobby, and I have NEVER allowed the collecting end of it, or the hi-fi end of it, to over shadow the true meaning of being an enthusiast, and that is just digging the music. I truly feel sorry those who have lost perspective of the meaning of it all. Rock on, and enjoy the moment.

 

Stereo gear before roughly 1980 was designed to be pleasing to the ear as opposed to being designed to meet "specs".
Speakers back then were designed to enhance just the right frequencies to make music have "ooomph" and music was arranged and produced quite often to take full advantage of the gear.

That is exactly why old juke boxes have "that" sound.

 

I think part of it is sentimental to me as well. It was my grandfather's console and grandma said he used to listen to it for hours. He's gone now and grandma came down to see what I was doing. She had tears as she sat there looking at me. I think she saw him again for a moment in her mind. Mixed emotions as I listen. Having a blast listening and imagining that he did the same.

 

Yup, and tube gear just makes the vintage experience so much more rich.

 

sadly my pro-ject debut TT circa 2005 or so motor is making entirely too much noise(have had it worked on twice) need a new TT...

 

Something tells me that console will be yours someday. It would not surprise me if your grandmother leaves it to you.

 

I love vintage Hi-Fi units.

 

You have great intuition my friend. She asked me tonight if I wanted it. I'm in the middle of building a 2nd music/listening room and it will go in there. Can't take it with me when I go back as I don't have the room.

 

I was playing my (Mom's) worn-out copy of There is Only One Roy Orbison just the other night. "Big As I Can Dream" has always been one of my very favorite Roy songs.

 

No admissions or apologies necessary.
Me and my avatar (a 1963 Sears Silvertone console stereo like my folks had) definitely approve.
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's great to hear about it...

Digging deep into my dusty memories of how and when I feel in love with music (and record collecting soon afterwards) it was solely about the unique experience of hearing, seeing, and holding these amazing black discs and the paper cardboard they came in.

I did not care one iota about scratches nor scuffs on the platter, not ragged edges nor tears on the sleeves it sat in.
(All that extraneous fretting and collectorly fussiness developed over time...Not necessarily a bad thing in itself, just separate from my initial love of the medium.)
I suspect that many of the forum members may be able to relate in some fashion.

 

And be honest... You've also had a few drinks. It's Thanksgiving.

 

Ha no, no drinking involved. If I had a few, I imagine it would have been more emotional.

Happy thanksgiving to you as well Majorlance.

 

You know I care about the scratches and scuffs when I play it through my system. But this old RCA console hid much of the record noise and the stuff that made it through just made the sound more nostalgic. A system like this lets you play a record you wouldn't dream of buying or playing on a better system. And that's a good thing.

 

Yes, I agree with you...on my current setup, scratches and scuffs make me wince.
Your post reminded me of my original compact "suitcase-pull-down-TT-detach-speakers" system wherein I didn't think so much about the quality of the grooves the needle carved it's path through.
Most likely for the same reason as yours; the emanating sounds were not so pronounced. I was oblivious, and playing such records were a joy.

 

I'm so young and you're so old
This, my darling, I've been told
I don't care just what they say
'Cause forever I will pray
You and I will be as free
As the birds up in the tree...

Yeah, it's teenage poetry, but it's good teenage poetry, and those muted arpeggios are the perfect accompaniment, the very epitome of 1957. In fact, I envy you: I spent my Thanksgiving dinner watching the 49ers getting creamed.

 

I've enjoyed thousands of hours of music on my Moms RCA Consul Stereo...I wish I could play records on that unit today! Congrats! you got a taste of greatness of times past.

 

honest...ever play records on an old consul stereo? It's wonderful.

 

Indeed! you got it!

 

Ok so let's down to facts here.
Is your RCA console a Mediterranean console?
Not the pull-out, or fold down but where you lift the big mahagony lid?
Only Mediterranean consoles convey the true warmth of vinyl and FM radio.
I grew up listening to The White album about 939 times on a RCA Mediterranean console.
We wore out Meet The Beatles in 3 months.
Marty Robbins, Der Bingle, Al Hirt, Herb Alpert, The Supremes, Beach Boys, Walter Wanderly, Bert Kaempfert, John Gary, Andy Williams you name it.
One word, magic.

 

O'man that is so cool! a time machine! I can fondly remember my Mom playing her Christmas albums when I was very young.

 

yes! all the Beatles sounded wonderful! I'm getting a nostalgic rush while I'm typing this! The White Album killed on ours as well! MY Mom loved that album! She loved Back In The USSR! and all the other Beatles albums...

 

Theres something really nice and magical in old, vintage hifi-systems and turntables.
It brings memories and feelings of the those early childhood times...Soothing feelings really.

I frequently visit one secondhand-store, which I go to usually on weekly basis sometimes even more often, just to check if there has been any used albums that I might be interested about.
And just to basically have little chat with the owner, as we always talk about music in general or something that I might have read from SH-forums.
Well, yesterday as I was there, we listened some early 70's system-set that had turntable, cassette and amplifier in the same box.
And as the record rolled, it sounded really fresh, the album was some mid 70's finnish rock-album, in fact the album was really badly warped but it sounded really great, pristine almost.
The system had some little switch, which enabled us to accent or damp channels, so, we decided to listen to the guitar-solo section couple times,
first only with the rhythm part in the background and then finally we listened to the guitar-solo only.

Sometimes our mind might be playing tricks with these, but theres something special in older, vintage systems as they do really sound that good.