Tuning

We've been thinking about upgrading the stereo system.

We have two -- the small Sony bookshelf system that sits in the living room and has our entire collection of CDs, numbering in the tens, and the Pioneer amp/Marantz turntable/Sony cassette deck system downstairs. Its the one downstairs we're thinking about. The amp is pretty old -- I bought it about 35 years ago -- and it doesn't work all that well -- though it does work better than the cassette deck, which doesn't record any more, and is jittery on playback. I like the amp. Its operation is easy to figure out, it has a gleaming wooden case, and several different lights -- ie, unlike most of the amps sold today, it isn't all black. And it accepts inputs from the turntable, which most amps don't, today, either. The turntable is in good shape -- it ought to be, considering that we never use it.

As I've watched the flow of information go by about the new, marvelous audio opportunities, though, its occurred to me that it might happen soon that audio could become something useful in our lives again. I'd like that. I have records -- yes, actual records -- that I have had for years, and I'd like to heard them again -- but I want to hear newer sounds -- MP3, podcasts, and streaming audio. Just as color and texture enhance our lives, sound can, too, and I want to make that happen.

Implementation will not be straightforward. I feel more than a little out of it when it occurs to me that the phrase I'm thinking of is I don't want to have to learn the whole damn technology, I just want a better sound system. But learning is the price of admission, and I find that repetitive forays into the battle help you learn which sites are delivering good information, and which just want your money, thanks, here's your stuff. So I'm learning. And someday, the Pioneer amp will be history, and we'll have something useful down there. Something that can talk to the PC, can talk to the car. Something portable, selectable, retrievable.

I'd like that.