[Dixielandjazz] Analog audio making comeback - Sacramento Bee

[Marek Boym]

Hi Bob,
Your site offers only one LP.
I believe that Bert Barr still has a Chrisrma LP on sale (I bought one
something like a year or two ago).  SA lovely LP.
Cheers

On 6 March 2013 08:34, Robert Ringwald <rsr at ringwald.com> wrote:
> Hi Ted,
>
> Hey, I still have some of my Great Pacific Jazz Band albums for sale on LP.
>
> See:
>
> www.ringwald.com/recordings.php
>
>
>
> From: cebuisle2 at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2013 7:59 PM
> To: rsr at ringwald.com
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Analog audio making comeback - Sacramento Bee
>
> I am strictly analog, and so is my jazz collection-but needles are hard to find, likewise belts etc. And there don't seem to be any Dixie records being produced (or re-produced)
>
>                                                             Ted Blackington
>
>
>
> cebuisle2 at aol.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Ringwald <rsr at ringwald.com>
> To: Ted <cebuisle2 at aol.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Wed, Feb 27, 2013 11:47 pm
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Analog audio making comeback - Sacramento Bee
>
>
> Analog audio making comeback thanks to turntable restorers
> By
> Edward Ortiz
> eortiz at sacbee.com
> Published: Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 -  4:50 pm
> | Page 1D
> Last Modified: Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 - 11:10 am
> 'This is my technical hobby and passion."
> Those words greet whoever reads Marion  Halecker's Craigslist ad under the
> title:
> "Vintage Turntables."
> Indeed, stacks of vintage turntables, receivers and speakers line the garage of
> Halecker's
> Granite Bay home, evidence enough that this 51-year-old is passionate about
> analog
> sound.
> These days, analog sound born from vinyl-playing vintage turn- tables, receivers
> and speakers is making a comeback, and finding an ear with both young and old
> music
> lovers. The result is a growing cottage industry in the repair, reconditioning
> and
> sale of vintage components – whose typically wood-framed and solid-metal
> construction
> and electronics offer a feel, look and sound different from today's sleek
> digital
> machines.
> It's an industry that has less to do with money than with a love for analog's
> deep,
> rich and vibrant sound, an experience that eludes those who indulge only in
> digital
> music.
> Halecker works as a Kaiser Permanente health care worker by dayso she's no
> big-time
> seller, but she's dedicated to her side project.
> "This is not a business. I want to help people get back into analog," Halecker
> said.
> "I don't part with my 'babies' to just anyone."
> Typically, she sells a unit every six weeks. The cost can range from $80 to
> $200.
> And she won't sell what she calls her "reconditioned beauties," which include
> brands
> like Technics and Pioneer, to just anyone. She vets customers closely by phone
> to
> assess their interest. A love for analog and a respect for vintage equipment
> must
> come through, otherwise the sale is off. Flippers and dilettantes do not pass
> muster.
> Young adopters with a curiosity for analog sound? Those she eagerly welcomes.
> "Now younger folks are getting their parents' old-school equipment and they
> think
> it sounds really cool, the way we did," said Halecker. "They notice the sound is
> really good and they're getting into vinyl."
> The most striking evidence of how people are getting into vinyl, and into
> vintage
> audio equipment by proxy, is the large jump in vinyl sales in 2012 recorded by
> Nielsen Soundscan.
> For the fifth year in a row, more vinyl albums were sold than any other year
> since
> Nielsen first tracked such sales in 1991. In 2012, vinyl album sales reached
> $4.6
> million.
> Album numbers are tiny compared with what's sold in the digital realm.
> Jack White's
> vinyl release "Blunderbuss" took the top spot  in 2012 by selling 34,000 vinyl
> copies.
> The top-selling digital album in 2012 – Adele's "21" – saw more than a million
> downloads.
> While the numbers pale in comparison, the vinyl sale increases suggest a strong
> niche
> market.
> And that is bringing customers to Halecker's garage door. Many of them are
> revisiting
> the musical charms of their youth, she said. These include the appeal of album
> cover
> art and liner notes, and the different aesthetic of listening to a whole side of
> a record rather than jumping from one single to another as is done on digital
> devices.
> "Folks come to me wanting to reconnect with their memories, and with that
> sound,"
> said Halecker. "They often state that it sounds better, warmer, fuller, more
> dynamic
> – more like listening to the artist on the stage."
> For Halecker, who grew up in Irving, Texas, the passion for refurbishing vintage
> units is a return to her past, too.
> "My dad and I used to sit together splicing reel-to-reels and listening to music
> when I was younger," she said.  "I would watch him interact with his stereo,
> customizing
> the sound, recording and editing – tweaking it just right for his taste."
> But it would be decades before Halecker would re- enter that world. She began
> tooling
> around with speakers and reel-to-reel units as a hobby only five years ago. She
> drew
> heavily from her prior incarnation working as a cable company technician in the
> 1980s.
> Once she felt confident working on these machines, she moved onto refurbishing
> turntables
> – which can be tricky affairs.
> "You have to do a lot of studying," she said. "There are many physics and
> mathematical
> factors involved in addition to the mechanical and electrical properties."
> She wanted to be sure she could help educate others properly about turntables,
> especially
> the crucial factors of how to properly align cartridges and needles and how to
> select
> the proper pickup for the tone arm.
> Nowadays, her stock in trade is the sale of entry-level and medium-level
> turntables,
> receivers and speakers. The high-end audio equipment she leaves to others.
> Another who is thriving in this niche market and who repairs high-end equipment
> is
> Luis Galvez, owner of Sacramento's Stereo Advisor – a go-to destination for such
> repairs, located on  J Street.
> Like Halecker, Galvez works on analog units because he loves their warm sound.
> After
> owning three repair stores in
> San Francisco
> for 20 years, Galvez decided to retire to Sacramento.
> But he "got bored to death at home," Galvez said, and decided to get back in the
> business.
> Like Halecker, Galvez took to Craigslist to advertise his wares. His first
> posting
> saw 35 responses. Soon so many customers were calling or coming to his home with
> repair orders that he stopped advertising. In 2009 he opened up his midtown
> shop.
> Galvez believes he's seeing a big move into analog because customers are
> realizing
> that their modern surround-sound receivers are not meeting expectations as audio
> units. And he believes many new components are not worth fixing because parts
> are
> hard to find and when they are found, the repair often matches the price of a
> new
> component.
> "Surround-sound receivers have a few problems," he said. For many, the units are
> also difficult to operate, requiring close manual reading.
> "But the key thing is sound quality," he said. "Surround sound has a harsh
> sound,
> and when people hear their old records again (on analog equipment) they say
> there
> is a huge difference. The sound in the record is more natural and you feel that
> the
> instrument is right there in front of you."
> At his shop 30 percent of the repair work he does now is turntable repair – a
> new
> trend.
> "When I had a shop in San Francisco I had very few turntable repairs," Galvez
> said.
> "I did one every two months. Now, I receive between three to 20 turntables a
> day."
> The most unexpected trend Galvez is seeing at his shop is a growing interest in
> the
> repair and buying of the big console record players that were popular in the
> '60s
> and '70s.
> Those players usually combined a turntable,  receiver and speakers into once
> piece
> of furniture.  Until recently it was almost impossible to get rid of one.
> "I'm repairing three to four of those a week now," he said.
> In Granite Bay, Halecker is also seeing a growing interest among women in the
> cabinet-size
> consoles – as both music player and design choice.
> "If they (women) go vintage they truly want vintage," she said. "They want the
> wood
> and the lattice. They want that décor. They want the midcentury modern look."
> Analog audio a growing niche industry ...
> 2010 vinyl album sales:$2.8 million
> 2011 vinyl album sales: $3.9 million2012 vinyl album sales$4.6 million
> 2011 turntable sales:$7 million
> 2013 projected turntable sales:$10 million
> Amount of 2012 vinyl purchased at independent
> music stores:
> 67%
> Best-selling vinyl album of 2012:"Blunderbuss," Jack White, 34,000 units
> sources:
> Nielsen Soundscan;
> Consumer Electronics Association
> © Copyright The Sacramento Bee.  All rights reserved.
> -30-
>
>
> -Bob Ringwald
> www.ringwald.com
> Amateur (ham) Radio Operator K6YBV
> 916/ 806-9551
>
> "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a
> politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.”
> Harry S. Truman, 33rd President B: 5/8/1884 – d: 12/26/1972.
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