What a difference!

I forget exactly when I bought the Yamaha stereo receiver...it was either 1978 or 1979...but, when I bought it, it was a really top-of-the-line receiver. It has been my primary music system for all these intervening years, and I thought that it drove those JBL speakers pretty well. At least I did until about two weeks ago. I have to admit that over the past few years...OK, maybe more than a few...the sound quality has deteriorated a little...OK, a lot, and the left channel has gotten a little tempermental--you have to give the receiver a couple of whacks to get that channel actually putting out sound--recently.

About a month ago I saw a neat little gadget for sale on Woot: a transmitter that you can use to hook up your computer to your stereo...now you can stream that music anywhere in the house. I bought one, but now I needed to get the stereo actually working. So, I went out to buy a new receiver. I had been cruising the Best Buys and Circuit Cities of late, and had found a Sony unit that was selling for under $200. I figured Sony was a good name and that the price was right, At least I did until I talked to the sales guy. He looked at me with a certain amount of pity and condescension, then took me over to the other side of the audio show room. There he pointed out a high-end Denon and a comparable Sony system. Then he asked me one question, "Why, if the two units are roughly comparable in their specs, does the Denon cost about twice as much as the Sony? What can possibly cause that difference in price?" (OK, technically that's two questions...quibble, quibble, quibble.) Then he pumped some sound from the Sony through the speakers, and did the same for the Denon unit. WOW!! The difference was palpable even to my poor ears.

Then he took me to the front of the store and showed me a Denon unit that was on sale 'cause it was out of the box. It was about $100 more than the Sony, but he assured me that the sound was worth it. I am here to report that he was right. Those JBL's haven't sounded this good maybe forever. I find myself moving into the living room with the old laptop rather than work in my office. I sometimes stand in front of the speakers and wallow in the richness of the sound emanating from them. It is soooo cool. I can hardly stand it!

Sometimes life is good!