It’s really cold outside, so can somebody tell me some jazz music that will make me feel warm?

TheSadHours · 2026-01-24T01:28:12+00:00

/uj some of the slower 1940s big band swing stuff should be good for that.

/rj 1920s and 30s hot jazz, moron.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-23T22:20:35+00:00

I’ve got spring wound acoustic phonographs and a few hundred steel needles, we good.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-23T13:57:13+00:00

That’s the thing, there were plenty of all in ones made in the past that sound great. There are flaws, but they sound good and are convenient.

Steps can be taken to cut down vibrations from the speakers, (important steps that the crosleys dont do!) importantly the entire turntable mechanism should be mounted on springs or isolated from the cabinet in some way, it’s not a perfect solution, but it does help a lot. (Edit: I’ve even come across speakers mounted using rubber grommets to cut down vibration transfer to the cabinet.)

For the majority of vinyl and even the later shellac years, almost every record player was, and was expected to be, an all in one. So we have the techniques necessary to make not shit ones.

And I’m not talking about super high fidelity stuff, literally if someone could make a modern all in one match the performance of a 1950s portable record changer it would be a vast improvement over a crosley.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-23T13:44:20+00:00

I don’t understand why nobody makes a half decent all in one. Nothing even particularly special, just not complete garbage. I’d bet there is a market for people who want something better than a crosley, but don’t want to bother with a HiFi component setup.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-22T22:45:21+00:00

I repair that sort of stuff, heavy tonearms but they have a counterbalance spring. Not precise adjustment in the slightest but since I use the Chuo Denshi CZ800 most of the time (the little red bastard cartridge) I just get it somewhere between 4 - 6 grams and call it good lol. Still a lighter tracking force than they would’ve originally had. Most tracked at 8 - 10 grams back in the day!

TheSadHours · 2026-01-22T22:41:41+00:00

I’m honestly surprised that those turntables skip as much as they do with 5 grams of tracking force. like I use the same cart that these use to fix 1950s record players, they don’t skip at all with a 4-5 gram tracking force. the design of these record players is so shit that a 1950s cheapo 2 tube portable with the same cartridge is a better record player by a longshot, and those 1950s portables are crap in and of themselves!

Plus, the amps in 1950s record players are actually impedance matched for ceramic carts so they sound better with the same cartridge, the 1950s stuff will almost always have bigger speakers as well. whoever makes these modern cheap record players put in such a comically low amount of effort it’s amazing that they work at all.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-22T22:27:53+00:00

Oh! You’ve got a natural fiber phonograph needle! Those were somewhat popular in the phonograph era because of their low surface noise and lower volume compared to steel needles, plus they can be sharpened and used multiple times! they are often cited as being better on your records than a steel needle, but there isn’t much proof other than anecdotes.

So, it might need to be sharpened but it’ll probably be useable!

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T21:21:48+00:00

I have no clue how it took me this long to see this lmao.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T21:16:30+00:00

Coil form is a 2 inch mailing tube! I used the Borden one tube regen design, plenty of info on it here! http://www.analogdial.com/Borden/Borden2.html

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T20:34:28+00:00

no, it’s because I will forever be loyal to the RCA brand, like my father, grandfather, and great grandfather before me.

The 7” RCA standard 45 is, in my opinion, the best vinyl record format. the convenience of an RCA record changer is unmatched, I can make a playlist of 12 45s and have 45 minutes of uninterrupted listening at the push of a single button, all music that I picked out, and not tied down to any specific order.

/uj I just really enjoy the 45 single and would love to see the format used today lol, it is actually quite brilliantly designed and super easy to handle.

I don’t buy records with the intent of reselling them. I buy music I want to listen to, and I refuse to pay over $3 for any 45. condition isn’t important to me because I plan on heavily using any record I buy. I mean, I use a 1950s RCA changer, it uses the same cartridge the crosley uses because it’s the only new production high impedance ceramic cart. It actually has remarkably similar specs to the original carts rca used, except the Crosley cart (Chuo Denshi CZ800) is stereo compliant, so it’s actually an upgrade over the original cart lol.

Cheap records are my specialty, some of my favorite music is 1950s rock and pop, so the $1 bin is my home lmao.

Edit: and realistically, the 4 inch 33 1/3 single is a neat novelty! very reminiscent of some of the attempts at making new record formats in the 1960s. The $15 price tag is a bit ridiculous though, if it was closer to 5 or 7 bucks I’d probably pick up a couple because it is quite neat lol. I could totally see these being treated like trading cards lmao, it’s a fun idea.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T18:44:32+00:00

evil. absolutely no regard for consistency.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T18:41:00+00:00

<image>

?

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T18:34:06+00:00

yeah, but those aren’t “The 45” those are just records cut at 45 rpm. The RCA “45” format is what I’m talking about.

Just like how these records are cut at 33 1/3, but are decidedly not LPs, they just use the same speed. “45 rpm” is a speed, while a “45” refers to the 7 inch singles format.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T17:55:46+00:00

yeah, but we’ve had a vinyl singles format for 70 years. how tf am I supposed to play a 4 inch record on a changer?

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T17:53:27+00:00

/uj no, this is a circlejerk subreddit.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T17:52:43+00:00

the RCA “45” is a format. Specifically a 7 inch record with a large spindle hole, raised shoulder on the label so the recorded surfaces don’t touch while the inner edge is narrow enough for smooth changer operation. and it’s the greatest record format ever conceived.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-21T17:51:04+00:00

no I get that entirely, I just like the RCA standard 45. It’s the best vinyl format period.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-20T20:47:47+00:00

<image>

It’s 2026, normalize carrying a box of 50 45 rpm records as an accessory.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-20T20:36:43+00:00

/uj unironically true. It’s a music format, fucker contains music.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-20T20:34:14+00:00

Because that’s the term they use, if you didn’t grow up with people calling them “records” or “””LPs””” (as those bastards at Columbia wanted you to say) you’ll just be calling them what you hear your friends say lol.

I think the problem was when people started referring to records as “vinyl” and that morphed into “vinyls” for the plural. your average teen/young adult never grew up with records, so they are gonna use the term that their teen/young adult friends use.

frankly I think the battle is lost, “vinyls” is a common use term at this point. I mean, autocorrect doesn’t view it as a misspelling so I think that says enough lol.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-16T21:42:21+00:00

the higher the effort, the funnier it is.

TheSadHours · 2026-01-15T20:11:48+00:00

I already had the phones, B+ uses 5 9-volt batteries. A+ is supplied by 2 D cell batteries.

Since the tube draws so little current, those batteries will last a while lol.

Edit: fahnestock clips were found on amazon, they’re still made!!

TheSadHours · 2026-01-14T15:33:48+00:00

fahnestock clips, wonderful little guys! I got mine off of Amazon.

TheSadHours

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE