A Revelation

Above, the Crosley and the CD player. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A few years ago, I bought a little Crosley "suitcase" turntable so I can play my vinyl LPs and 45s. I like it except that the volume at maximum is a bit too low.

I have a Fisher stereo system that has a turntable and cassette deck, but the turntable belt needs replacing. I was about to get a new belt when my former apartment in Tarzana had two (at the same time) pipe breaks and the water that gushed out ruined the speakers to the Fisher set. So, now the set sits in the garage.

I bought a CD player for the den/guest room. Last week, I was going through a moving box and found some plug/wires for stereo systems. I decided to see if the Crosley turntable can be played through the CD player's auxiliary port. Sure enough, it worked and the sound from the Crosley now blares out of the the CD player's speakers. I can enjoy my vinyl records again!

For the past several days, I have been playing my old albums (Jethro Tull, Waylon Jennings, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Poco, movie soundtracks and others) that I haven't played in years.

Having the sound come through new speakers was a revelation. I missed the rich, warm sound of vinyl. I have to agree with Neil Young, analog vinyl sounds much better than digital CDs.

Thankfully, vinyl has made a comeback in recent years, so there's plenty out there to buy.

Currently, I am debating on either getting the belt replaced on the Fisher and get new speakers for it or just buy a whole new set that includes a cassette deck (I have a lot of cassette tapes).

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy my old records with what I have.