Non Audiophiles are funny people


ive had several non audiophile types in my home in the past year (painter,plumber,postal person, UPS,Fedex driver, neighbors) for some reason or another. I have 3 turntables
1. Michell GyroDec Linn AKito/Lyra Clavis
2. Sota Star SME 5/Cardas Heart
3. Well tempered Classic / Sumiko SHO

each one of these people ask or say "you must be a DJ" or "are you a DJ?". Imagine scrathing and backspinning on the wheels of steel, a belt driven loaded way down at 1.8 grams complete with vaccum hold down! Dont forget that record clamp! I can only imagine what that UPS driver would do if he was here alone with some Run DMC wax.
128x128justlisten
Bishopwill, If I hang him on my power pole and he shorts it out, I will have a lot of down time on my stereo.

Better punishment would be to let him buy his own Bose system and suffer the slow death of music withdrawal. This is usually accompanied by excessive volume levels in an attempt to compensate, resulting in hearing loss.

with his system, this is a blessing in disguise.
some kids broke into our house long ago (I have double cylinder locks now) & were gonna steal a portable handheld cassette player, but they must have left in a hurry because we found the player sitting by the back door all ready to go. They did get my coin-bank siting on the dresser but nothing else was missing. They passed on the $50K audio rig thankfully!
When the cops came out to take the report, one of them couldn't take his eyes off the equipment & couldn't believe what the thieves had left behind. He kept on whistling his exclamations & saying "Wow, Oh my gawd, I just can't believe THAT's still here" etc. It *was* pretty funny...
I've had two pairs of Maggies over the years and have always enjoyed the room divider comments. (and the look on peoples faces when I explained that these were actually speakers. "Noooo,...really?!") I never went so far as the light show story, but I might if I ever have another pair. What the hell, a little chain pulling never hurt anyone! :~) It's especially funny to hear people say, "well,... tubes and LP's,... he's really into this whole vintage thing."!!!
I befriended a local computer tech who is also a musician like myself. He is into pro audio and so I thought we had some common ground. He came over to set up my network and asked to hear my system (CJ & Theta). He was impressed to the point where he said "Those speakers (Silverline Sonatas) sound as good as my powered Mackies." I took it as a compliment.
When my dad saw Kimber 8TC cables he asked me what kind of sausages is that and if I couldn't get some simplier speaker wires.
Well, I finally got realy not a cable but simple Van Den Hul wires for my speakers as my dad mentioned.
Come on all you maggy owners, you have to have good NA stories. I have a pair and anyone seeing them for the first time comments on the nice "room-dividers" I have. Then they ask what's up with those wires or why do you have them placed where they are. I usually tell them that the wires are for the LED lights inside and placement is for the night time ambiance of the light show. My wife really gets upset with me and lets the cat out of the bag. Most NA people still believe my story over hers until we turn the system on. I'm laughing just thinking of this while I'm typing.
Okay, who's next!
Esmerelda - as creeper mentioned, the 12's are built like tanks and the needle gets most of the abuse (but dj needles are pretty durable, too). I have a friend who's still spinning with the pair of 12's that he bought in 1989. (of course he treats them infants)

My roomate gets mad at me when I tell people that the tubes on my amp are a light display that can be set to blink on and off to the beat if I change a few settings.
Hey, Albert, wait til you give the guy a demo and he says, "Dude! That's almost as hot as my cuzzin Bubba's Bose system."

(Bishop entertains visions of Albert hanging the visitor from the yardarm of his private power pole....)
lol @albert...too funny. Hell, I'd have my jaw on the floor at your speakers!!!!
I get the same reaction each time a non audiophile visitor enters my home and sees my Soundlab U-1 speakers. They are over seven feet tall and more than three feet wide.

First comment, "Are those speakers?!!?"

Second comment, "Boy, I'll bet they will blow down the walls!

I reply, "Actually no, they are designed to reproduce music beautifully and with almost no distortion."

At this point, they look disappointed, as if that was no fun at all.
I enjoy peoples look on their faces when they see my rig...its only a $13000 setup (only I say, but hey, life is perspectives). I especially enjoy turning the front display off on my lexicon and hearing people say "how does it work when its turned off). Gotta love this hobby:)
I have a flexy that holds about half my equipment. The bug man was impressed and felt that I should earn some money making them. The funny thing was my nerdy stammering while I tried to compile a simple explanation about why I couldn't.

Then there's the whole "what's that?" game.

And then there was that time when a fed ex guy or someone lopped his ledger on top of one of my speakers like it was a countertop. I had to put the hurt on him. My speakers in particular to do take kind to that sort of thing.
Tmitchell,

that is hilarious and just what I would expect of people. Never mind the Joule, how does that Bose sound!!
My sister thought my Pass Labs Aleph-3 was 'some kind of special speaker' My ex-girlfriend thought it was a 'portable air-conditioner' Im all reality, I think its a very inefficient space heater!(but it makes great music)
I had all my gear pushed against a side wall while electricians installed a bunch of dedicated 20 amp circuits. The big pile was Revel Studios, Joule-Electra monoblocks, Lamm L1 and a rack of Proceed/Levinson HT stuff.

The guy working inside was interested and gave the big tubes on the Joules a quick glance. Then he asked me what I thought about Bose... He was a very nice fellow so I regaled him with how much I loved the wave-thing I have in my office.
I find NA's to be dumfounded by the amount (abundance) of software, which is something that they can relate to. Most people only have enough LP's/CD's/tapes to fit a particular rack and/or bookshelf and do not go much beyond this restriction. They really don't pay attention to the gear (other than thinking that I am poor because I use tube amps:-).
Ohhhh, I see. Well, that slip mat is a good idea. I would've just been trying to pull the platter back when the motor wanted to go the other direction (at least for awhile).
I've had a few friends and family who think I'm nuts for spending so much $ on a stereo system, when they can't tell the difference between their ($500-$1,000) system and mine ($35,000-$40,000). But I always chuckle when they hear a cd on mine that they like and go out an buy it, and then tell me that they don't know why they didn't like the same cd on their system, but at my house they do.
I used to be a club dj in Denver. Actually, the motor is not run in reverse. A slip mat is placed on top of the platter, with vinyl on top. This allows you to manipulate the lp backwards or forwards while the platter is still spinning at full speed. The Technics SL-1200 is still the industry standard. They can last for years with proper care. It's the stylis that takes the brunt of abuse.
Hey, if it looks like a turntable, works like a turntable, and sounds like a turntable, it must be a turntable, right? One thing you can safely assume is that these folks are neither DJs nor audiophiles, and luckily in this country it is not yet a crime to parade your ignorance -- in fact, in some locales I believe it is mandatory. :)
That is kind of amusing/funny. I guess some of the technics are the ones the DJ's go for/use. With yours you'd just about have to tap into the motor system and throw the command/switch from some other device to get you record to instantly start/stop directions, assuming it could do it. I wonder how long the average DJ turntable lasts, all that scratching by pulling the record in reverse can't be good for the motor.