Category: History

Intro to the Classic Vinyl Listening Experience

Posted on February 1, 2011 by - History

Welcome to the Sound Exchange reference guide about vinyl records. On these pages we will explore any and all topics that are relevant to the enjoyment of vinyl records and specifically to the main goal of understanding and enhancing your own Classic Vinyl Listening Experience.

Topics will include the history of vinyl records, record care, record collecting, the equipment necessary for a proper listening experience, as well as what it requires of the listener to fully enjoy the Classic Vinyl Listening Experience.

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The Emergence of Long Play (1948)

Posted on February 2, 2011 by - History

As I will define it, the Classic Vinyl Listening Experience began with the emergence of the 10” and 12”, 33 1/3 rpm, Long Play, Micro-Groove, Vinyl Record in 1948, and its smaller sibling, the 7” 45 rpm record, at about that same time.

I choose to start here because this is the technology that provided the two most important attributes of the listening experience that we seek: a sufficiently long playing time, and higher quality sound reproduction (High Fidelity).

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Modern Long Play Records

Posted on February 6, 2011 by - History

Magical Mystery Tour

The modern long play, micro-groove record brought to the market had a tremendous impact on artistic creativity.

Artists were now free to create music that could last 20 minutes or longer, rather than just fill out a three-minute single.  And although classical music was never limited by time, virtually all “popular” music had to fit into four minutes or less to be commercially sale-able.

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The Modern Vinyl Record (1960s)

Posted on February 3, 2011 by - History

Let’s define what is meant by the term the modern vinyl record.

It has a relatively long playing time and does so while reproducing sound in what is called high fidelity.

High fidelity, or Hi-Fi for short, simply means that the device is capable of reproducing sound accurately throughout the full hearing range of the human ear, and does so realistically, i.e., without introducing significant quantities of noise or distortion.

That is not to say that every record meets this definition.

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The Classic Vinyl Listening Experience Timeline

Posted on February 7, 2011 by - History

So let’s put all of this information in the form of a timeline:

timeline

So where does the sweet spot lie? Pick a time, all things considered, which you would say represented the pinnacle of the Classic Vinyl Listening Experience.

  • You could make a good argument for the 1950s and early 1960s, with the advent of the modern record, tube equipment, and the jazz and early rock n’ roll music of the time.
  • It would also be very easy to choose the early 1970s as a timeframe when affordable, high-quality electronics and high-quality vinyl records could be paired with some of the most outstanding music that was ever created.
  • And certainly an argument can be made for choosing today and what is currently available, if you have the money to buy the best of what the past 60 years has to offer.

So this becomes our challenge: to assemble the necessary equipment and a record library so that you can achieve the Classic Vinyl Listening Experience as you choose to define it, and then sit down and actively enjoy a “side” of your very favorite music.

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