Impressing friends with your rig


I don't have any friends into hi-fi so it was a rare occasion when I had a musician friend over who loves music but has no clue about "stereos" or formats or equipment AND who wanted to hear the system.

First off, they were very impressed with the fact that some of my gear is vintage. That the slate plinth weighs 70 pounds, and that the table, speakers and amps are over 50 years old. They were intrigued by the tubes, blown away that a 6SN& could cost $150, and stunned that the cartridge replacement cost was around $2000.

After showing and explaining the equipment, I demoed a few tracks on some 60s analog vinyl. It was pretty cool to watch their reaction when the needle dropped. Live jazz with lead trumpet, female blues vocals - you know the drill!

All they could say was how real it sounded, how they’d never heard anything like it. It was also one of those days when the rig sounded really good.
What experiences have you had like this?


128x128noromance

Showing 4 responses by noromance

@jtcf Tektons look great on those stands.

@abucktwoeighty That's got to be RI!
@elizabeth At least they don’t think they’re heating radiators like my Quads.
I take it that your Maggies play excellently at low volumes.
@millercarbon Good stuff. I had a girl over once many years ago. I'd just bought a new AAA record Talk Talk Color of Spring which sounded so good through my massive homemade speakers with 12" Mckenzie's, she stayed the night. 
Geoff's afraid he'll be called out on all the weird tweaks. ;-)

Uber, there was a time I had that paranoia but it's been on song recently. This is the second or third time anyone's ever listened apart from herself.