Lockdown Listening

[A Stuart]

Originally Posted by John Caswell

on Classic FM it is "serious music", but if the same piece is played on Radio 2....

By George, I think he's got it!

[Baggy Trousers]

Thanks, Richard,

Your amp will be consuming about 1A but the output valves may not last more than a couple of years of several-hours-a-day use. I used to get through a set of 6550 in a year or two when I was working at home.

Well, I imagine I can afford 1A/hr but big bottles is big bucks. The amp recently has received a tune-up from Matthew and is going well but the outputs are at least 15 years old and on borrowed time. If this virus nonsense continues much longer, I shall probably buy some mid-range transistor amp/receiver to parallel the 6550 which can then be reserved for "best". Incidentally, I have always used and enjoyed Tung-Sols. Is there anything better?

Which receiver have you got, is it an all-in-one rather than a tuner for the hifi?

This is something I found on 't internet. It is a factory refurbished (3 year guarantee) Majority Peterhouse Graduate from an address in Cambridge, but they don't fool me - in tiny print on the back, it says "China". This set is remarkably sophisticated with many functions and facilities, including Spotify, whatever that is. It's just an ordinary looking (but aesthetically pleasing) radio, sits on the counter in the kitchen and cost fifty quid, although I have since seen them on eBay for less. It sounds quite acceptable - certainly preferable to the Bose Wave thingy.

In my original post, I referred to the superb Pickering Unipoise. I forgot to mention this was paired with a Garrard 201. The 201 was quite something with an 8" multi-shaded pole motor, the rotor of which was secured to the turntable and so ran at record speed. No, it wasn't that fast! Speeds infinitely variable from about 16 rpm used with those big discs to well over 80 were controlled by a mechanical (centifugal) governor and provided the felt controlling pad was kept well oiled, it gave very little trouble. It was a high quality product from the days before Garrard was brought low by the bean counters. I sometimes have wondered if something similar could be revived but with electronic speed control; it could prove very successful and have much appeal to people like me who eschew idler wheel drives.

[A Stuart]

Originally Posted by Baggy Trousers

Well, I imagine I can afford 1A

Approaching a quarter kW x12 hours a day is near enough 90 units a month.

Presumably a bit less than that as mains current into transformer is presumably not perfectly in phase with mains voltage so 230 VA would be less than 230 watts.

Not to mention further savings as it will reduce your heating bill .

[pre65]

Originally Posted by John Caswell

So if a piece by George Gershwin is played on Classic FM it is "serious music", but if the same piece is played on Radio 2 it is "mindless tosh"
I am glad my music tastes are very very wide. Nuff said!

John

Did you come for the 5 minute argument of the full half hour ?

[John Caswell]

Hi Phil,
Oh I am in at least half an hour

John

[bob orbell]

Good grief John, I had a job to last that long when I was 20 . Bob

[bob orbell]

And now for something completely different ? Bob

[Richard]

Well, going on from Baggy and Alastair's posts,

a look at our electricity bill from Bulb shows 13.32p per kWh so if we worked out a years cost on just 6 hours use per day,

with consumption at 250W to allow an amp for the amp () and 10W for the tuner of some sorts,

a year's cost would be,

250 x 6 x 365 divided by 1000 times 0.1332 = £73

Never heard the Tung Sols Baggy but they have very good reviews

[Richard]

https://www.majority.co.uk/product/peterhouse-graduate/

If it sounds good to you this looks an excellent choice for all day listening Baggy. Specs suggest a 12V 2A wall wart so 24W max. Similar dimensions and layout to a Squeezebox Boom we have. It says it will handle almost all file types, certainly from "radio" stations.

Internet radio sites are a source where someone else chooses and plays the music and sends it in a digital format to your reciver. You search them via the receiver or their internet URL or via their app which may already be installed or need downloading.

Streaming sites like Spotify are digital library sites where you can choose and play albums and tracks for yourself. You usually have to subscribe and can create and play your own online library of music or pay and download the music file to your own computer or receiver.

Both send music in similar digital formats to your receiver. The most common form is MP3 at a bit rate of 128kb/s. More specialist streaming sites and a few "radio" sites send in higher digital resolutions of 320kb/s and even FLAC around 900kb/s and some at even higher resolutions.

Like electricity, if you pay for the amount of data you download, or have a limit on the amount your connection can manage, or if someone else is watching a TV stream or using the computer etc, you may want to use the lower bit rates.

Radio sites at MP3 128kb/s will sound similar on an all-in-one to FLAC at 7x the data rate 800/900kb/s (FLAC uses a lossless compression variable bit rate equal to CD which uses a fixed bit rate of 1411kb/s).

On a reasonable hifi the differences are noticable on immediate switching but not so noticable that you'd always recognise them entering the room. You can check this using a site such as Paradise at 128, 320 and FLAC where you can switch from one stream to the other playing the same music instantly. 128 to 320 is just noticable. 320 to FLAC just noticable again. 128 to FLAC fairly obvious - crispness, air, detail, space, ambience. Just entering the room 128 sounds a little flat but still surprisingly good. Compare 128 to FM though, on the same station but with different tuner of course, and FM still wins out but programme choice is limited and this is all IMHO

[Baggy Trousers]

Richard - I'm living proof that you really can't teach old dogs new tricks, but I did find your comments interesting, even if I understood very little of them!

Sound quality isn't a big issue - a dyed in the wool horn-loaded man like me can't expect much from something the size of a shoebox, but I'm content with what I have. After all, it's only background companionship I'm seeking and the Majority serves that purpose well enough. Incidentally, I have discovered three classical stations from the same Swiss broadcaster; they individually announce in German, Italian and French and share similar but different and excellent programming. There are bags more similar stations to be found in Holland and Germany. We really are extremely poorly served in this country. Give them a try - I think you'll be amazed.

In any event, very sadly for me, a lifetime's pursuit of audio perfection has been brought to an end by an annoying deafness. I can't explain why but my hearing aids work better than the 15 channel equaliser incorporated in what I still call the "gramophone" - which must give an indication of my advanced age. I find it irksome to have spent a fortune on chasing a flat response curve only to have it distorted by the intervention of the aids. Nevertheless, as I have observed before, I derive much pleasure from listening to the best, even if I can't hear it.