It's been a long time... the joy of rediscovery!

[Pareto Pragmatic]

I am sure many have examples of music for this, but there are other types of rediscovery in audio.

I loved getting a vintage amp for $80, it took me back to how things sounded in my younger days. The music I listened to in college, decades ago, sounded just right. Just right in the sense that it was what I remembered. Instant recognition. "That smells like mom's cooking" recognition.

Objectively very flawed sound of course, and not something I care for now as a steady diet. But that feeling of being young and hearing that music, it really reminded me of the joy of music I had then. I still find joy in that music, but I rarely go with anything other than my main system. But when I want that feeling, I know how to get it.

So I am curious about other's rediscovery experiences. Share if you care to.

 

[JeffS7444]

Neither the Grundig table radio (circa 1957) nor the Numark PT01 USB turntable (2015) were a part of my formative years, but I could imagine the Grundig being the centerpiece of a family's home entertainment with it's big, mellow tone.

The latter is my most recent creation: A thrift-store portable turntable modified with lithium battery power and an AT3600 mm phono cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Have been playing old 10" jazz LPs on it, and the combo is lots of fun, seemingly emphasizing the good and glossing over surface defects and distortion. Conical stylus + carbon fiber cantilever + Audio Technica magic, who knows? I guess there's a reason why variants of this cartridge have been around seemingly forever.

listening to

 

[Snarfie]

66 now best investment i did in audio was buying a measuring mic of 38,- euro an used a totally free DSP solutions Mathaudio Room EQ which let me rediscover my complete audio collection. Taking in account my bad room acoustics improvement was around 60 a 70% never thought that was possible.

 

[MattHooper]

I am sure many have examples of music for this, but there are other types of rediscovery in audio.

I loved getting a vintage amp for $80, it took me back to how things sounded in my younger days. The music I listened to in college, decades ago, sounded just right. Just right in the sense that it was what I remembered. Instant recognition. "That smells like mom's cooking" recognition.

Objectively very flawed sound of course, and not something I care for now as a steady diet. But that feeling of being young and hearing that music, it really reminded me of the joy of music I had then. I still find joy in that music, but I rarely go with anything other than my main system. But when I want that feeling, I know how to get it.

So I am curious about other's rediscovery experiences. Share if you care to.

First, I’m curious why you say that your $80 amplifier has flawed sound.

As to re-discoveries, I suppose for me, the obvious one would be getting back into vinyl records several years ago. It added a lot of
“ texture” into my music/audio hobby.

Another one would be that I almost routinely re-discover an old pair of speakers that I have kept around: Thiel 02 speakers, which were their cheap (around $350) two way conventional box speakers, circa late 70s into the 80s.

These speakers were my wife’s set of loudspeakers. She used in her condo when I first met her in the 90s. I had grown up listening to audiophile systems in my family home - KEF 105.2 speakers with Carver, amplification and technics turntable - but couldn’t really afford good gear after moving out. But when I first played a CD on my then-girlfriend’s system, I was really taking it back by the quality of the sound. It was so clear and precise and palpable and timbrally convincing. Just the type of characteristics that for me always made the leap from “ regular cheap audio gear” to what I get out of high end audio.

My wife said that her dad and brother had picked those speakers out for her.

Those speakers recited my passion for audio.
And they became our loudspeakers when we moved in together in another place. And I started getting more interested in audio again, and was also influenced by hearing Quad 63s at a friend’s place who was a few steps ahead of me in the audio hobby. I was hooked, but 63s myself, and a tube amp, and never looked back.

And despite the fact, I’ve had all manner of different expensive loud speakers in my room, I keep those little Thiel’s and throw them into the system once every few years for a while. And every time I do, they blow me away again. They act as a sort of check - they still do certain things in a certain way that pleased me in a way no other loudspeaker I’ve owned does. Some sort of sonic printing like a duck who sees a mother figure shortly after hatching (I had a pet duck who thought I was its mother)…. But they just sound so right and I will never get rid of those speakers.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

irst, I’m curious why you say that your $80 amplifier has flawed sound.

Distortion. Old and unserviced, originally entry level or one step up, and since it lost amplification in one channel after 2 months, likely some other issues. It's in the basement, I'll crack it open some day to make sure it is the amp circuit itself (pretty much unreplaceable) and not something else. I had a slightly older one from the same manufacturer (Technics) and used that for decades, which is likely why I reacted like I did.

Flawed technically, though it gave a BIG and holographic soundstage as they say. But sloppy when listening closely. Good for classic rock, psychedelic furs and such. For jazz, not so much. Though I loved the tone of the horns.

It sounded like a cleaner amp playing with way more sidewall reflections, not exactly, but if I wanted to replicate the sound with my current amp, that's what I would do.