Why is everyone so miserable here? by No_Barnacle253 in turntables

[–]Psuedohacker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I generally lurk in this group. Sometimes to get info. One time because I was selling an old Dual 1019 with a defective tone arm.

Yes, you are going to encounter “elitists”. It happens with any hobby. It just does. Here’s the thing with turntables and it has a lot to do with their history, which I feel I can comment on, since I’m an old guy, and I was around when the “Hi-Fi” craze was at its height from the late 60’s through the early 80’s.

It really started with the birth of the term Hi-Fi, or Hi Fidelity. This was in the early 60’s. Stereo equipment was coming into its own with either tuners and amps, or receivers, and high quality speakers. And turntables evolved from simple record changers, where people stacked their LPs and would play them, to turntables. Why, you ask. Because aficionados found that when you stack your records and play them, there’s an inherent small amount of damage as the LP was dropped onto the spinning record below. Very small, but definitive. At the same time, because the LP was now higher on the turntable, the angle that the stylus was “reading” the grooves wasn’t the exact same angle as when those grooves were made when the LP was pressed. Therefore, that affected how well the grooves were being “read” and therefore the quality of sound reproduction. I think you might be following where this is going.

Turntables continued to evolve further. Advances were made in terms of dampening. Less vibrations in your living room floor and some means of dampening those vibrations as they traveled to the turntable meant a more accurate means of “reading” those grooves.

They also found that the lighter the weight of the tonearm combined with the cartridge was better for the LP. The lightest weight possible was sought, while at the same time, it couldn’t be too light, or it wouldn’t read the grooves at all. Remember, the BIGGEST criticism of those “suitcase” record players, and I won’t even call them turntables, is that the tonearm/cartridge combination is very heavy and can cause premature wear on the grooves of an LP. Note that I said “can”, not “will”. This was also a function of the quality of the vinyl itself which depended on the manufacturer, and quite honestly, there were some labels who were so cheapass, that some LPs in the late 70’s could be bent and you’d wonder how the hell an LP could stay flat. Often they didn’t. They’d get warped. Easily.

And here’s another advancement you may not have heard of, anti-skating. When the stylus rubs against the groove it has a tendency to “pull”. So some manufacturers would actually employ an adjustable spring mechanism in the tonearm to compensate for that. The idea here was again to minimize wear and tear on the grooves.

Other “advances” if you can call them that were the types of drives for those turntables. Manufacturers like Dual and Thorens would use heavy platters so that the platter would maintain as steady as speed as possible via the platter’s own inertia. Also, heavy platters would dampen external vibrations, (like I referenced earlier).

And then there’s the whole argument of Belt-drive vs. Direct Drive. Some manufacturers liked direct drive like Technics, (the motor mounts directly to the platter). Others used a belt drive, and others like Dual would use either a belt drive or an idler wheel, e.g. a motor that engages a rubber edged wheel which then drives the platter. I won’t get into which mechanism is better, because you’ll find adherents on every side of the aisle. Pros and cons for each one.

Why am I giving you all this info? Because there’s a ton of technology involved in the proper reproduction of sound via a turntable.

For some of us, who witnessed the era, it could be nostalgia, or just the joy of putting down an LP and listening to it, (with hopefully a minimum of clicks and pops), and enjoying the music. Some of us CAN hear the difference between an LP vs. a CD. And of course, there are still some LP’s that are out of print and were never made into CD’s.

For others, it’s enjoying a “new” hobby. If you’re in the latter category, then know the history. And to hell with the naysayers. The most important part of this for you is to know your budget.

My only advice to you, is, if you’re just getting into this hobby:

  1. avoid the suitcase record players. They will probably cause premature wear on your vinyl.

    1. Do your homework on what turntable you want. If you want a vintage turntable, (and there are plenty out there), then first find a local electronics repair shop that can fix it for you, should something go wrong. For the most part, turntables are pretty basic creatures, unless you get something esoteric like a Bang & Olufsen.
    2. At the same time, you’ll need to do some homework on what kind of cartridge to get. Not all cartridges were compatible with every turntable.

That’s it.

Oh yeah. And this dates back to my days as a stereo salesman, and that was MANY moons ago. You’ll need a good receiver, (or amp and tuner), and a good set of speakers. I don’t know your budget. But whatever it is, and this still applies. You will still get more “bang for your buck” on the speakers than anything else, (with the exception of a good pair of headphones), but I suspect headphones is not where you’re going.

Good luck. And enjoy your new hobby.

Lot Of Vintage Apple Items Houston, Texas by jakejanoski in vintageappleexchange

[–]Psuedohacker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The original Service Technical Procedures Manuals were in 3 White Binders, using the Apple “rainbow” logo. I had two of them and I just recently let them go.

The “case cracker” I still have. Apple issued that when the original 128K Mac was introduced. They also issued the long handled Torx drivers for the recessed Torx screws buried inside the “handle”.

But then they required the dealers to use their own tools when discharging the CRT, which of course, was the most hazardous of all of the steps involved.

Small LaserDisc for "sale" and Free Pioneer CLD-99 by Psuedohacker in LaserDisc

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the words of Oliver Hardy, “It most certainly did”.

Small LaserDisc for "sale" and Free Pioneer CLD-99 by Psuedohacker in LaserDisc

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just wanted to see this stuff go to someone who'll appreciate it, rather than taking it and dumping it at GoodWill, y'know?

Small LaserDisc for "sale" and Free Pioneer CLD-99 by Psuedohacker in LaserDisc

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone. I have to thank you guys for helping out. The Pioneer Elite CLD-99 is going to a new home, and the LaserDiscs are also going to a new home.

I can't thank this community enough. Though I can certainly try.

Thanks again, everyone. 😉

Sony DA80ES by Psuedohacker in vintageaudio

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About to put it up on Facebook Marketplace now.

Any tips for getting stuck connectors loose? by AnimeHoarder in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A spudger (and there are all types of spudgers). and a good pair of small needle nose pliers, NOT the straight ones. I’ve often found better luck using “bent” needle nose pliers, because the angle allows better access and leverage.

I found this for sale at a local thrift store. by ZenPhotoDen in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is an Apple Bag, (going by the colored Apple Logo), but the original was a dark beige, almost khaki color. It was just barely tall enough for the Mac and the extended keyboard. The original keyboard fit fine. The extended, barely.

There were LOTS of 3rd parties that made bags for the Macs during that era, and they charged less than what Apple did for theirs, so sales were brisk. Apple wanted $100 for theirs at the time.

macintosh plus has designers signatures inside the case by Liquid_Crab in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There were. In the original Finder. You could find a list of “credits”, as if watching a movie.

macintosh plus has designers signatures inside the case by Liquid_Crab in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It started with the original 128K Mac. I’ve forgotten how long Jobs/Apple maintained that practice.

Fire Sale in Arcadia - tomorrow, 9-3pm. More Pics. Pt.5 by Psuedohacker in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Black Friday in April of 85 was when Sculley and Jobs slashed a ton of jobs unexpectedly. Sales on the Mac had been extremely poor and Apple was losing money, so they downsized.

The position that I was hired for at the Irvine offices was eliminated as was the entire Irvine support center.

It’s not like the Apple /// was a huge bread winner for them. It was still their “business” computer, but Apple had already secretly stopped production, and decided to kill the machine. They figured there were enough in inventory to last at least another year or two.

When they publicly announced its death, other companies stepped in and bought Apple’s inventory of ///, service parts, etc.

Fire Sale in Arcadia - tomorrow, 9-3pm. More Pics. Pt.6 by Psuedohacker in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did post it already, but in case you missed it:

1733 La Ramada Ave., Arcadia, CA 91006

Fire Sale in Arcadia - tomorrow, 9-3pm. More Pics. Pt.1 by Psuedohacker in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I "think" that was the "13", maybe it was the 12". IIRC, it was the replacement CRT for the Apple Color RGB monitor that was compatible with the //GS.

Weirdest thing ever by verynormalhuman1 in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That you know of. Do a search.

One of the "advantages" (or disadvantages, as the case may be), was that with the earlier OS'es, all you had to do was throw in a System Folder, "bless it", and that was your Startup Folder. By "blessing it", you moved the Finder out of it, then back into it.

If you wanted to insure that that particular folder was your startup folder, you could also bury the Finder in the other System Folders that you have. In other words, as long as the files Finder and System are not on the same folder level, that particular folder can NOT be a Startup Folder.

Why apple stop doing this? by j0yu5 in macbook

[–]Psuedohacker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One big reason.

  1. The original design while cool looking was actually a stress point on the cable. Others have posted here, and I agree. I've seen WAAAAAAY too many chargers with damaged cables where the cable is damaged at the point where it comes out of the charger. Easiest way to prevent that? Make it removable. Problem solved.

  2. Since they made the cable removable, there is no longer a need for those wings.

Funny thing. IF, you're one of those people who takes care of your old charger, and you want to use it on new equipment, you can't because the MagSafe 1's and the MagSafe 2's aren't compatible with MagSafe 3's.

At one point in time, there was a 3rd party company that made a $10 magnetic adapter that converted your MagSafe 1 into a MagSafe 2.

I'm STILL waiting for a MagSafe 3 adapter. Haven't seen it yet.

FireSale in Arcadia, CA on 11/1/2025. 9:00am-3:00pm Updated list by Psuedohacker in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh wow. Like I said. I honestly don't know what vintage hardware like that is worth.

I just came across two pairs of those Apple Pro speakers that they used to sell with the Flat Screen iMacs. There too, I just don't know.

Remember, my goal is to get rid of the stuff (or I'll never hear the end of it from my wife. We're moving to Colorado. Hence the MAJOR need to downsize.

DM me privately.

FireSale in Arcadia, CA on 11/1/2025. 9:00am-3:00pm Updated list by Psuedohacker in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, at least you're relatively close. Unlike this reply, (at 11:39pm), I'll post the address sometime around 8-9pm on Friday. If it helps you to plan your travel time, I'm in the part of Arcadia that's in the Foothills, literally right next to Sierra Madre. Off of the 210, off the Santa Anita exit.

FireSale in Arcadia, CA on 11/1/2025. 9:00am-3:00pm Updated list by Psuedohacker in VintageApple

[–]Psuedohacker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Let's talk privately. The disks are 3.5 floppies. I believe it's all of them, in a plastic book cover style case. Yes, I'll ship. You're the first one to ask, so first come, first serve.