What you see above is the Crosley Revolution Turntable spinning my copy of U2’s War album. The turntable was an impulse buy yesterday and thanks to Amazon’s next day delivery, I received vinyl gratification this morning around 10:00am with FedEx’s speedy delivery.
Since I arrived in Texas, I’ve been snatching up new and used vinyl in shops, on Amazon and on Ebay. You might recall me professing my love for the medium a few posts ago. My enthusiasm grew after a recent conversation with my older brother about how our joint vinyl collection had met an untimely end at the teeth and claws of a family of mice in his basement.
A shrink could have a field day with me right now, I suppose. He might say that in the midst of fatherhood and a new baby I’m reliving my childhood. He might just be right. All I know is, listening to the first few snare raps of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” seems like the way that the album is meant to be heard. It’s distorted, woozy and gritty – even in remastered digital CD form. On vinyl, the album teeters on the edge of warmth and utter metallic distortion. It’s a sound that needs to be heard to be appreciated.
Which brings me back to the Crosley Revolution. It’s a portable turntable. It runs on 6 AA batteries (and has just finished its 5th album today on said batteries), has an internal speaker, headphone jack, USB connection, and FM transmitter. It is a glorious piece of retro-tech.
After seeing me put on the first record, Little NH asked if she could play with it. Two records later, she asked for one for her birthday.
See? Cool tech is cool tech. No psychoanalysis needed.
UPDATE:
It is with a heavy heart that I must write that after a couple of days of playing with this seemingly great turntable, it just wasn’t to be. A couple spins of 180 gram vinyl revealed an underpowered platter that resulted in horrible “wow and flutter”. When listening to a $20 chunk of virgin vinyl, even my nostalgia couldn’t overcome the limitation of the device. The UPS Man just came to pick it up.
The search for the ultimate turntable continues!
NotHemingway 
You always did love a good turn table…!!!
Little brother, you always were hard on stereo equipment. And a turntable that works off of AA batteries?? Really? You shoulda known better, bro!