I aways try to stay away from 'home' so to speak, when I have consumed some alcohol.
The reason: I know I will try to play some LP's and I know I will smash the cartridge into the record. Period. (I do not trust myself when I get 'phylosophical'.)
Luckely it has not happened to me yet. I have heard some dreadful stories of vinyl lovers busting a +/-$2000 pick-up when 'intoxicated'. Shame!
I guess there is some very 'interesting' stories regarding this subject... please do share.
I just don't like the idea of operating my system after a few swags... You know what I mean? Espescially the turntable...
But with each guy it is different... I can do about 10 martini's and 'feel' rather fine but some of my buddies get slammed to the ground after 2 beers!
I've found the best defense is to drink large quantities of vino every day - helps build up a resistance to the stuff. I'm not sure what my vinyl rig sounds like when sober...;-)
I have a basement rig with just a CD player direct into a Parasound amp with Volume into JBL speakers, I smoke in the basement only so generally when I drink I hang down there, good rig for jamming with no real worry of damage. My problem has never been messing with equipment, even vinyl when Intoxed......its the damn Volume that gets dangerous... hard on the speakers and anyone unfortunate enough to be around when I get the urge to crank it.
Well let's just say that I've never had any problems playing LP's after a drink or two, but I've learned that you need to be TOTALLY sober when setting up a cartridge.
I wasn't hammered, but I'd had 3 beers, and managed to snap the cantilever on a brand new $7000 cartridge while setting the tracking force on my new digital scale. :-(
I have no problems with playing ether of my systems after a few drinks, and quite honestly enjoy having a cocktail when listening to them! Then again I don't have a turntable at the moment so it's less risky spinning little silver disks...
I DO NOT ever rewire or change out components in my system after even a beer though! Luckily for me it's only cost me an amp fuse and a pair of tweeters to date but that was enough to realize the error of my ways, and stop it!
I've always had this aching thought that if I ever had to quit drinking, I'd have to sell off my stereo too. The two seem to go hand in hand ever since I was a kid. However I gave up vinyl in the 80's. I'd never trust my wife, even sober, with an expensive vinyl setup.
I have a built in mechanism that keeps me from getting into trouble with this. I don't enjoy music as much after more than 2 or 3 drinks. My ears go south real fast after that point. I don't spin vinyl and I don't work in my woodshop after any drinks.
I've done enough damage completely sober; snapped cantilevers, broken tonearm wires, even blown amp fuses. Pretty boring, I know, but that's my experiences.
The only destruction I've wrought after one too many is to drop a mint original Savoy copy of Nat Adderley's "That's Nat". Interesting that the record label says "non-breakable" but the thing shattered into a million bits.
please go to your favorite liquor store, and get your favorite spirits, pour a tall glass, get your lp on the table, drop the arm gently, get into your sweet seat, and enjoy your investment before anything that you cant control happens and its gone, dont sweat the small stuff, even after several glasses of my favorite red wine i still can make it back to the set before the needle hits the lp, mike
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