My new record collection

You really haven't heard the Sound of Music soundtrack until you've heard it on vinyl. It's
just a whole different experience, "The Lonely Goatherd" just takes on a totally new tone.

A while back, my sister was in the process of moving and was going to throw out her dad's old sound system. Her perfectly sane reasoning was that she was not going to use it and she had enough things to do without also having to orchestrate a meeting with a complete stranger who would want a dusty old stereo. Still, even though I don't even typically use fully functional headphones when I listen to music, it seemed a shame to just throw away what her dad would call "a fine piece of equipment".

It's vintage.

I thought about what my life could be like if I were in the possession of this sound system. I imagined sitting contentedly in our dusty attic, awash with the sweet sounds of the oldies station. I'd have torn myself away from trashy weekend TV to work on an art or craft project up there where I could play music with actual speakers. This imagery melded with the warm and comforting recollections of dancing around the dusty old speakers my dad used to have when I was a little kid. Maybe I'd even turn into one of those people hanging out in the Princeton Record Exchange and start talking to strangers about music. Really, this was my chance to turn into a fully realized version of myself.

Having convinced myself that this was a great idea, my brother in law helped me jam that thing into my compact car and I took it home, dusted it off and schlepped it up to our attic. I got it working for a whole thirty seconds before the receiver blew out. This left me with the dilemma I had so hoped I would not have to face when I took on the project: should I spend actual money on this endeavor?

Well, I marinated on that dilemma for a good few weeks before I broke down and spent twenty bucks on a new receiver. This was of course not before spending too much time on "vintage audio equipment repair" internet forums trying to figure out if I could fix this thing myself. The new receiver sat in its box for a few weeks before I finally got around to trying it out today.

Well, it works. That Hawaii Five-0 theme is just as catchy as ever. But there seems to be a buzz in the speakers, and the needle skips and I have fully lost steam on this project for today. I haven't given up on my attic music fantasies though, maybe I'll make it to the record store sometime soon.