Phono stage… what a phrase. Though it is a well-known synonym for “phono preamplifier” amongst the audio initiated, I think it also aptly describes a state of mind for most of us vinyl-obsessed souls. To paraphrase PG Wodehouse, the “phono stage”… like golf and measles… is often caught early, at which point, with various sub and sub-substages, it follows us to the grave.
Mine began around the age of five or so, when I first laid eyes on the spinning contraption that appeared to be the source of all the mysterious auditory stimulation I was experiencing around the house. It was love at first sight, though I’m ashamed to say I don’t know exactly which turntable it was I fell in love with – some modest mid-70’s Technics belt-drive I believe. Later on my dad would purchase a Technics SL-QD2 (p-mount deck – loved his hi-fi, dad, but craved convenience), which he passed on to me and which served as my daily driver for years afterward. I abused that poor beast, did not care for it in the slightest, just pelted it with a never-ending barrage of bargain-bin-quality wax. It never showed the slightest sign of strain. Eventually, inevitably, I sold it to move on to more rarified realms. I imagine it’s spinning a disc somewhere right now, and will keep doing so – at exactly 33.3 rpm – until the end of time.
Over the years, my own audiophile preoccupations have evolved to ridiculous proportions, to a level that has prompted me to ask myself a number of questions, like “what is it that I actually want from whatever time I have left on the earth and why is listening to music such an important part of it?” Also “what the fuck is wrong with me?” That is a big one.
I can’t help but recognize in the whole business a sincere effort to recapture the joy and curiosity I felt as a toddler laying on the wall-to-wall carpet of my childhood living room as my dad played “Court and Spark”, or Chic’s first album, or “Man of La Mancha”, or “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.” I marveled then that such sounds that brought such pleasure could even exist, and I still do to this day (“what he has to say now is a long wonder the world can bear & be”). My purpose with this site is simply to have a venue to express and share that wonder. Analog, digital. Tubes, solid state. However, wherever it goes down. Music has given me so much. I could never say or write enough about it.
-DL