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Spam Pie


MrEarl

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My Grandfather's Soap recipe as passed on by my mom.

Heat 10 gallons of water

Put in 1 pound box of 20 Mule Team Borax stir well.

Put in 5 boxes of Soap Chips, stir until all soap chips are thoroughly dissolved.

Next put in 3 tablespoons of Salts of Tartar.

Stir well together.

Let cool and put in 4 1/2 oz. of artificial oil of sasafrass and 5oz. of concreated ammoinia.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Who listens to old vinyl these days?.....or should I ask, who has never stopped listening to vinyl? We went to a rather large 3 story antique shop in Raleigh NC when we visited my daughter last week end and there was two rooms full of old vinyl at great prices. 1,2,3,4 bucks. Being on a budget these days I could only bring home 5-6 albums. In my opinion, there is so much lost in todays MP3 world when it comes to crisp clear sound. Even if there is an occasional needle skip every once in awhile. I was just wondering who else out there still listens and what do you listen to and through. I listen through a vintage Pioneer system I've had since the good ol days, an SX-1250 Pioneer amp/receiver, Pioneer turn table and Pioneer CS 99A 100 watt speakers.

AND to keep this Buick related, here is a little gem I found as an example of what I listen to...

10007575308494.jpg

10007545317202.jpg

scroll down for a back cover shot you might be able to read...

and hark, are those Buick eagle feathers

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a57s8ZQ3q_g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u7iWRXH1crw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rlWEAqZS1Sc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

post-31987-14313847176_thumb.jpg

Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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I have more or less stopped listening, but I still have gear and vinyl...not much in terms of quality equipment, but it generally does the trick. I did replace my turntable in the last decade or so after the old one gave out.

If I could make space physically to set things up, I would consider getting one of the new USB turntables to convert some of that old music so I can burn to CDs for the truck or actually start using an MP3 player on the walk to work.

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I concur, some of the digital-converted files just seem flatter than a Flat Top Buick's roof. It's because they've done "small files" so they'll fit and be quicker to download from the various places these files end up and where they go. That's where the crispness and little sound details (including ambience) gets lost, I suspect. But then you hear the digitally-remastered versions from the record companies and it's all there, by observation, even on satellite radio.

Back in the middle 1960s, when the "new age" of improved turntables and cartridges was in play, the issue of wear on the grooves of vinyl records was brought-up. The newer versions of that time used "tracking weights" of ounces and had "low mass" electronics so that they'd more faithfully follow the contours of the sides of the grooves without damaging them as the older "higher-inertia needles" did. And then there was the maintenance item of washing the records (with approved brushes!) to keep the grooves clean and crackle-free.

In the days of the harder-compound records, it was not unusual for the exposed needle of a hand-crank Victrola to end up with shavings around the point from records you'd been playing.

Antique stores can be some of the best sources for interesting records! Never know what you might find, as Mr. Earl discovered.

Envision . . . A high-class palatial home, with a drive-thru "breeze-way" driveway to the detached garage (with a Riviera and Wildcat convertible in it). The man of the house returns home after a day at the office, to find his wife dressed nicely (remember how June Cleaver used to dress to do housework?), greeting him at the front door, as the 6 foot wide Motorola console stereo has some slow-dance popular music of 1966 (back when "Stereo" was "STEREO"!) playing in the adjacent living room, as she takes his hat and briefcase from him and takes him in for a slow dance to relax from the day's stresses. On the expansive coffee table, is the silver service, with something under the tray's covered dish, next to awaiting beverage glasses . . . Casserolle d'SPAM.

Ah . . . the 1960s were some great times, even if we might not have been old enough to fully realize that. Great songs, great architecture, great cars, and great friends of the future!

Enjoy!

NTX5467

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I was given to understand that the MP3 format was specifically designed for headphones / ear buds, so the necessary characteristics of the required sound is different than for that of a stereo system with two or more speakers that aren't in / on your ear.

Of course, I may be misinformed.

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When I asked an associate who appeared to be more knowlegeable in those things than I thought I was, he replied that all of the music software should yield the same sound (although a then-recent article in a computer magazine, testing the various software, noted definite differences in sound quality), as "digital" was "all 1s and 0s". Yet when another associate cut me a CD of some music he'd purchased online, it was definitely lacking in sound quality and ambience, even worse than AM radio.

Downloading music, like photographs, works faster (and apparentlly more user-friendly, as a result) with smaller files . . . which means less sound quality, which the earbuds might mask somewhat. Be that as it may . . .

. . . Now returning to your regularly-scheduled SPAM commercial!

NTX5467

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...and the Spam continues :D

MP3 is just a compression format that removes a lot of needless data from a file. First off it removes all the data that has frequencies that we just can't hear...the really highs and lows. Then it removes some of the meat in the middle but only enough that you really don't notice the difference. Think of it like setting your screen colours from thousands to 256 but not as noticeable.

It truly is a shallow and almost hollow sound depending on the bitrate compared to vinyl.

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The problem ultimately is that people can hear the difference. So, either too much was stripped out, thinking it didn't matter, a trade-off was made for size or other reasons, or assumptions were made about human hearing that don't pan out...while it is believed we can't hear certain frequencies, perhaps those frequencies (particularly the lows) set up harmonics that we can hear...or perhaps our hearing is more complex than believed - like the sense of smell affects taste, perhaps something like "feeling" sound waves has an impact on how we hear.

No facts there...just more Spam.

Hmm...I guess I missed Spamalot playing here...sigh.

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Ultimately its about what you are using to listen with...

Crappy Wallyworld earbuds you would never hear the difference. A quality sound system in a designed sound room and it would be night and day.

...MP3's are for ear buds and for maybe car stereos.

Ahhh yessssss......MP3 The SPAM of music quality :D

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Guest Rob McDonald

As we've determined on another nearby thread, most of us are of a "certain age". Making conservative assumptions about our hearing is probably not far off. I've been grumbling to myself lately about the Alpine stereo in the family Bimbox ('95 BMW 525iT). The high notes are garbled and "ringy". Imagine my disappointment when I went to a live concert recently and discovered that it's not the stereo that's worn out. The high notes sung by a very accomplished classical soprano also sounded to me to be garbled and ringy. Heavy sigh. Please pass the Spam.

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Rob, perhaps things need some "deposit removal", just like decarboning an engine? Unfortunately, getting the wax out is not as much fun as blowing the carbon out. Might be some other health items which might be causing your issues, too?

Back when cassette tapes first came out, the good brand of recorder/players had a top end frequency range to 10K hz and a lower range of 100 hz, which encompases most of the sound frequencies we can hear. Must of what we like to listen to is "boosted" from what it really accurate, especially in our own sound systems. Acoustic Research (AR, in the late 1960s-early 1970s) speakers used to get a poor performance rating from the general public as they sounded weak in the lower frequencies compared to Pioneer (more "rock music" oriented) speakers, but when you got used to listening to the ARs, they really did sound as good as a live performance with no coloration of the program material being reproduced.

The other day, some work associates were playing ringtones which some young 'uns had found on the Internet for download. Seems these particular "tones" were high enough that older, even middle-aged, people couldn't hear them yet the kids could. As a result, the kids were using them for text notifications on their cell phones, while in class. I was surprised! I haven't figured out just why they couldn't be heard as they didn't seem to be all of that high of a frequency.

Does "high-frequency" SPAM have less calories? Or just calories you don't know about until you feel them?

Respectfully,

NTX5467

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Rob, I think the term.."turn it up louder" comes to mind..However, it is a known fact, especially in men that the hearing loss in the 2500 - 5000hZ range as men age is documented. It is also a coincidental fact that most women speak in that range, so either nature is a cruel jokester or we men really tune out, by nature.

As for the Vinyl...I truly think that there is a difference as y'all have stated in the thread thus far. Yep..maybe The Who or Bob Seger or Pink Floyd turned up loud wasn't a good idea in the long run, but man it was fun at the time..

..dude..I'm getting hungry..you going to eat all that Spam...:D

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