When I first upgraded my Thorens turntable’s cartridge I was adviced to look into Grado’s catalogue. I choose the top of the Prestige series, which in 2005 was the Gold. I was happy with the sound I achieved on the Thorens, so when the time came, I replaced the needle with a Gold1 which was the available choice in 2010.
Author: Pasquale Robustini
You never forget your first guitar
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my past. Not actually in a nostalgic way, but as something to be given more value, the correct value. Guitar playing has always been my trademark. The guitar has been central to my youth. I started playing at 11 with clumsy attempts that my 9 year old sister had started. It was an old acoustic guitar, so cheap it hurt our fingertips very quickly. It was at our father’s parents home, seldom played by my father’s younger brother. My father had bought it used in the 50s. Soon a new acoustic followed but, again, cheap. It was new at least. We must have destroyed it by playing it in any circumstances. My parents bought me my first electric guitar just before I turned 16. And they made me the happiest teenager on Earth!
Not only a matter of sound quality
The vinyl record boom of the latest years is often explained as an acknowledgement by new and old fans of the superior sound quality of the analog medium over the digital one. Many do not even imagine how well can a vinyl record sound, though we should make clear what kind of digital we are talking about. But that is not the point. Vinyl’s charm is completely different. It has now become a matter of fashion, following the attraction for “vintage” that many have now, as if modern times were less attractive than the past; it’s as if the objects that remind us of a time gone appear more and more desirable. But there’s more to it…
Di terremoti e trivelle
Domani esce la Giulia…
Argomento futile, lo so, ma non è tanto di automobili che vorrei scrivere (anche, ma non solo). Per me la famosa Alfa Romeo è sinonimo di ricordi. Non che ce ne sia stata mai una in famiglia, ma era la mia auto dei sogni quando ero bambino. Ora che un bambino ce l’ho io, ecco che la Giulia torna sulle strade. La regina delle auto degli anni 70, un periodo così di moda oggi con la mania per il vintage che dilaga. Si stava meglio allora? Non credo, erano gli anni di piombo, non dimentichiamocelo. Ma forse le speranze di un futuro migliore erano maggiori, molto maggiori. Ed è forse quello che oggi ci manca da morire. Diventiamo nostalgici di quel periodo, di cosa si faceva, si ascoltava …e si guidava in quegli anni. Che la Giulia ci riporti la speranza?
“Vinyl” dilemmas
It is some time now that, in the rare occasions I have to listen to some music with my hifi system, I choose to play a vinyl record on my old Thorens TD-165 instead of a CD. It’s not about what kind of music to listen to, it’s just about listening to a vinyl record: unfolding it, cleaning it, letting the stylus descend, they all are gestures of a time gone but that are part of a relaxing ritual which is typical of using a turntable. Playing a CD would be faster, no time lost, but it would be no different from the frantic life of today’s world. What I’m looking for is an escape from this stress: we’re always on the run, so when I have some time to spend listening to music, I’d like to take a break from the frenzy. Preparing to listening to a vinyl record takes time – and this is just the point.
For the same reason I thought about starting a semi-commercial activity: restoring old turntables like mine and enjoy the hand work needed to eliminate the small defects due to aging; then I would resell the product, taking advantage of the vinyl resurgence of the last years. Where’s the dilemma? My own Thorens TD-165 was given to me by a friend who did not use it. It was the basic model of the brand’s production in the 70s, it was the cheapie. The top of the line was then the TD-160, more expensive still today and also widely considered still worth of high-level modern hifi systems. If I’ll be servicing old Thorens TTs, the TD-160 will sure be one of the models to focus on. But how could I work on one of them for weeks only to part from it without ever thinking about keeping one for myself?