My Great Archeological Dig

[radio times]

A bare three months after finishing with the live music biz, I thought I'd delve deeper into those strange boxes on stilts thangs which produce non headphone music. As I was walking into a charity shop I remembered what they were called;speaker stands. And there in the shop they were, a mere £5 pounds with decent weights at the bottom. One in each hand, I took 'em home on the bus.... but where were my plastic Philips speakers? Shrouded in several layers of dust, I found 'em. Four years unused under the sand. My 8 year old plastic twin cassette deck/fm radio/3cd player Philips midi hi fi (ahem) system still had the connections.

Would they work? Would it sound like utter mud? At first I heard only one speaker;oh well,at least one worked. 10 mins later I had connected both correctly, and goodness me, it gave a nice clear sound. Prog rock, very nice and warm, Coltrane, nice and clear. 300 watts of very crude power, but it does the bedroom fine. Soundstage, well, not really, but huge volume and clearness all the same. With all the bass boosts on, naturally, it even sounded nice with a Louis XIV choral.

There's more! A fresh dig revealed my stash of 10 year old TDK C-90 cassette tapes. Miles Davis on SA C-90 recorded on a proper hi-fi IIMC, sounded swell, almost on par with the cd player,and my CP Dial's sounded fine as well. As I've lived in a mud hut re listening to hi fi for the last 5 years, me Philips is a bit of plastic fantastic. Alas it cannot do C-90 opera, 'tis through a murky swamp, and it will probably go kerplunk by years end, but chaps, it's a start, and I'm finally able to contribute to the Jazz thread, and buy in some jazz cd's too.

Hooray for cassette tapes! Hooray for plastic midi systems and their love of jazz and rock!

[Cheezewhiz]

Originally Posted by radio times

A bare three months after finishing with the live music biz, I thought I'd delve deeper into those strange boxes on stilts thangs which produce non headphone music. As I was walking into a charity shop I remembered what they were called;speaker stands. And there in the shop they were, a mere £5 pounds with decent weights at the bottom. One in each hand, I took 'em home on the bus.... but where were my plastic Philips speakers? Shrouded in several layers of dust, I found 'em. Four years unused under the sand. My 8 year old plastic twin cassette deck/fm radio/3cd player Philips midi hi fi (ahem) system still had the connections.

Would they work? Would it sound like utter mud? At first I heard only one speaker;oh well,at least one worked. 10 mins later I had connected both correctly, and goodness me, it gave a nice clear sound. Prog rock, very nice and warm, Coltrane, nice and clear. 300 watts of very crude power, but it does the bedroom fine. Soundstage, well, not really, but huge volume and clearness all the same. With all the bass boosts on, naturally, it even sounded nice with a Louis XIV choral.

There's more! A fresh dig revealed my stash of 10 year old TDK C-90 cassette tapes. Miles Davis on SA C-90 recorded on a proper hi-fi IIMC, sounded swell, almost on par with the cd player,and my CP Dial's sounded fine as well. As I've lived in a mud hut re listening to hi fi for the last 5 years, me Philips is a bit of plastic fantastic. Alas it cannot do C-90 opera, 'tis through a murky swamp, and it will probably go kerplunk by years end, but chaps, it's a start, and I'm finally able to contribute to the Jazz thread, and buy in some jazz cd's too.

Hooray for cassette tapes! Hooray for plastic midi systems and their love of jazz and rock!

One for the history books ... Congrats on your momentous find.

[Wasatch]

Good for you!

[radio times]

Further adventures might find me on Roksan ridge, amongst the Naim nebulus..