How did I fall in love with analog sound?

How did it all start?

My childhood

It was a long time ago when I was a little kid. My father used to have an old wooden record player with a speaker on its lid. This thing has an awful sound but to me, it sounds like angels singing.

I used to listen to audio stories for kids and some children’s songs.

Later I switched to the cassette player and radio listening.

I used to listen to Radio 101 Network from Milan, Italy. I even recorded some songs on my cassette/radio recorder.

My high school days

I attended high school from ’90 to ’94. It was wartime in Croatia and in second grade one Vukovar refugee came into our class.

He was fun, relaxed, and witty and he knew how to play the guitar.

I had a guitar which I got for good grades at the end of elementary school but I didn’t know how to play. My new friend from Vukovar taught me some basic chords.

I slowly started to practice the guitar and my playing improved. I was able to play some songs and entertain my friend at our gatherings.

Days after high school

After I finished high school, I went to serve compulsory military service for 10 months. In the army, I had the opportunity to play the guitar a bit, but there was not much time for such activities. You know how strict military commanders are, right :)?

Later in my life, I had a so-called ‘pause’ from my guitar and audio activities for quite a long time.

Nowadays

Before a month or so I run into a great deal in Croatian local classifieds njuskalo.hr. I was able to buy Pioneer PL-X55Z in perfect condition for just $ 64. But this was just the beginning – now I needed a preamp and amplifier to be able to listen to my records.

Since this turntable has an MM cartridge I needed an MM preamp. I decided to buy MM Analogis Easy Phono preamp.

Now I just needed some amplifier to be able to hear some sound from my records. I decided to buy Philips TAM3205/12 micro hi-fi system.

This micro hi-fi system has everything I need. USB reproduction, Bluetooth, CD player, and line-in for my turntable. Output power is 2×9 W RMS which is just enough for my living room.

I connected everything but, unfortunately, I got a ground loop 50 Hz hum on my speakers. To avoid this I needed to connect the turntable chassis to the preamp ground connector. As soon as I did this the hum disappeared.

Finally! Now I can enjoy and listen to my records. The sound is as I expected from Pioneer: nothing is overemphasized and the sound is perfectly balanced.