Mourning The Component Stereo System

There was a time when a wall of stereo equipment was enough to impress most people. Names like Altec Lansing and Kenwood inspired envy among friends and one’s status could be measured by the weight of their speakers.

Times have changed of course. My wall of sound now consists of two small Bose desktop speakers and a woofer at my feet. Two heavy stereo speakers serve as sturdy end tables in my office and the component stereo system sleeps inside my television cabinet hoping cassettes will make a surprising comeback.

I have come to the sad realization that my stereo system is no longer valuable or impressive. In fact, it has almost no value at all. I cruised Craigslist and found several folks who were trying to unload their stereos for prices they probably would never see. My favorite listing stated “stackable JVC receiver with am/fm radio, Pioneer 6-cd changer, JVC dual cassette player and equalizer plus two large speakers – paid over $2000 eight years ago but will take a loss.”

My IPOD holds more music, sounds better with headphones and fits in my pocket for $300. I think he will be taking a big loss.

I came face to face with stereo reality last week at Best Buy. I wanted to replace a broken CD player for one of our elementary schools. First the salesman tried to sell me a home theater receiver. Then he pitched the new Blue-Ray players.

“I just want an inexpensive CD player to hook up to a stereo,” I explained. He looked at me blankly and I realized that the store no longer carries stereo components. Even the CD music had been moved to the back of the store and replaced by video games.

Strange as it may seem, they did have a turntable at the store but it was made to convert scratchy records into digital files.

The big speakers were meant to impress but it was the turntable that showed folks how serious a person was about music listening. A stacking turntable was considered low class. The showoff turntables were fully manual and heavy so they wouldn’t vibrate when your neighbor cranked up his mega-stereo. Cool turntables also had lights and gadgets that allowed the owner to carefully adjust the speed but very few people ever did.

My favorite stereo component was a graphic equalizer. It had lots of lights and announced to everyone that I was a very serious audiophile. A better description was probably audiodork but aren’t we always the last to see that?

If there is one thing I miss about my stereo system, it’s the pleasure of opening a new album and just listening to it while I read the liner notes. There would be listening parties in our college dorm rooms when someone bought a new album release. Now kids download the album and share it within 5 minutes.

Like an old set of golf clubs or that Yashica SLR in the closet, home stereos are too good to throw out but worthless to anyone else. That explains why garages have amazing sound systems. The stereo was headed for the trash but didn’t quite make it that far. Instead it provides a soundtrack for weekend projects in the workshop.

My favorite Craigslist posting summed it up very well – “amazing Kenwood stereo system, wife says it must be sold, will trade for tools.”