Wow and Flutter

Sitting unused and apparently broken is an appliance that has been with me for over 30 years: my Pioneer SX-950 stereo receiver, capable of delivering 85 watts per channel of wonderful music. It is a somewhat archaic relic of my past, something that I purchased in the Navy Exchange in Yokosuka, Japan. I had free time and disposable income then, and I spent hours evaluating stereo components--the frequency response, the wow-and-flutter, the distortion.

The 950 has been out of commission for awhile. A year ago it simply started shutting down after it had been on for 30 minutes or so, and then it just stopped working at all. Like what's inside of me, what's inside of that heavy wood-and-metal box is tired and probably dirty. It was once part of a nice family of sound: a Teac tape deck; a Technics turntable; two Pioneer HPM-100 speakers. The tape deck was discarded years and a couple of repairs ago; the turntable is boxed in the garage, sans needle, next to crates of record albums; the speakers are little more than tables for prom pictures and plants. The newest addition to the family, an adopted Pioneer CD changer, is 7 or 8 years old. I accept it, but I have never embraced it.

Oh: If I were a speaker capable of handling 100 watts of continuous power, I would greatly embarrassed to be standing like that.

Of course, along with spending over 2 years working beneath an aircraft carrier's steam catapults, those speakers are probably partially responsible for the slight hearing loss in my right ear. I played a lot of music--a lot of loud music--through those speakers. Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC--they were meant to be played loudly. Likewise, my small collection of Mozart, Brahms, and Haydn deserve good speakers even if the volume is lower.

Today, though, as part of the iPod-sucking public, I spend most of my music-listening time tethered to headphones or, worse (much worse), tiny ear buds that deliver music of such low quality I fear that young people today will think that's how music is supposed to sound. I also listen to music during most of my 40-minute commutes to and from work, but the speakers in my car are good enough only to let me know that I am missing something, something nice.

I want to get the 950 repaired. Perhaps there is someone in town who remembers how to fix such things, just as I'm sure there is a place where cobblers and coopers thrive. But, I know that such a repair would probably be as costly as buying a new receiver, so I hesitate because I have less of both free time and disposable income these days. I also have a wife, a simply wonderful woman who nevertheless not only does not see such a purchase as necessary, but who also has no desire to listen to loud music.

So, the 950 collects more dust on its silver face. The HPM-100s support photographs and plants. The Technics turntable--well, I don't know what it does. Perhaps it waits beside the crates of record albums for just that right moment.