This Summer’s Biggest Hits
Each summer the songs blasting out of our car audio systems become touchstones to what that summer meant to us. Last year, for many of us the summer anthem was “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. It came blasting out of in-dash receivers thanks to terrestrial radio and homemade playlists on Spotify and other streaming services.
This year there is a slue of possible summer anthems from a wide array of different acts.
The edgiest potential summer anthem might be by the band CHVRCHES. Their single “Recover” has been out for months but has only started picking up serious steam lately.
At the moment it seems the radio mega hit to beat is Mariah Carey and Miguel’s hashtagged lump of infectious pop R&B “#beautiful.” The song is already blasting out of in-dash receivers across the globe.
Finally, if there is a bigger hit than Daft Punk’s new album Random Access Memories, it has yet to surface. These French DJs have finally broken through in a huge way. “Doing It Right” featuring Panda Bear is a clear album highlight.
Permalink | Tags: Car Audio, chvrches, daft punk, in dash receiver, in-dash receivers, mariah carey | Posted in Car Audio, Car Electronics, Car Video, LPs, Pro Audio Equipment | No Comments
Wings Over America on Your Retro-Style Turntable
Nothing can sell a retro style turntable like a thick 180 gram reissue of one of your all-time favorite LPs. For many music fans one classic is Paul McCartney and Wings seminal live album Wings Over America. Originally released in December of 1976, this double live album might have–at first–seemed like a holiday cash grab, but a listen will reveal a stellar live act filling stadiums with classic songs performed in a way that is more muscular than McCartney’s previous bands (the Beatles, ever heard of them?) could never quite muster.
This year’s reissue includes a ton of previously unreleased live cuts, expanded liner notes and most importantly the original album remastered to sound awesome on your retro turntable.
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Sharing the In-Dash Receiver on Family Vacation
Road trips with the family these days can descend into a collection of people huddled into their own worlds via individual headphones attached to smartphones, on-the-go video game systems and digital music players. In many ways this can make the trip feel less like bonding time and more of an exasperation of modern domestic distancing.
In an effort to make your family communicate a little more this summer, why not split your in dash receiver‘s time among everyone in the car. On a four hour long trip, each family member can take a time slot and pick the music or podcast the family listens to. While you might not be in love with everything your sons and daughters pump into the car stereo, it will be helpful in getting to know what kind of stuff they are currently getting into.
These days it is so easy for family members to retreat inward, and an in dash receiver on a road trip can be a useful tool in opening up the whole family to each other’s interests.
Family vacations are supposed to be about bonding and getting back in touch with the family. By splitting the use of the car audio system, you will be opening up the possibilities of what you and your family can talk about.
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Repair Your LPs for Your Retro Turntable
These days, much of the music being purchased on vinyl is being released by smaller companies who print said records using equipment purchased second-hand from now defunct record manufacturers. The quality of vinyl is still richer than that of a compact disc or digital music file when played on a retro style turntable, but there are occasionally some small production mishaps that can limit or prohibit playing if not dealt with appropriately.
For record collectors and enthusiasts, there have always been ways to troubleshoot damaged or misprinted records. One common problem with independently produced records is occasionally the hole in the center is sized too small for newer retro turntables. In this case, a small drill bit or nail file can be used to gently remove some vinyl from the center of the record, allowing it to lay comfortably on your retro style turntable.
In other cases, older records left dormant in damp garages or basements can sometimes warp. When this happens, intrepid record collectors have placed records between two pieces of glass and heated them in their oven at 200 degrees for five to ten minutes. The warp might take longer to melt out, but there should be a process of heating up and cooling down to avoid liquefying the record altogether.
Permalink | Tags: repairing vinyl records, retro style turntable, retro turntable, retro turntables | Posted in Home Audio, LPs, Pro Audio Equipment, Turntables | No Comments
Bluetooth Speakers Limit Flimsy Wiring
If you have ever plugged your smartphone or digital music player into one of those flimsy connector cables that go right into your stereo, you have probably exclaimed, either with your internal voice or aloud, “There has to be a better way!” Lucky for you, you are actually correct.
These days home stereo systems, televisions, computers and your phone or portable music player can be played through Bluetooth speakers. These speakers are perfect for entertaining guests as well as for simply enjoying all of your electronic gadgets alone. With Bluetooth speakers you can enjoy all of your entertainment options without wrestling with any finicky wiring to do so.
As with so many pieces of electronic equipment, the connectors responsible for keeping everything working are the first pieces to break. Wires that run sound into speakers can often become damaged with just their basic usage. Bluetooth speakers remove these connectors altogether and allow for a more seamless option for playing your favorite music, movies and other entertainment options.
Whether playing tunes from your smartphone or your retro style turntable, a set of speakers with Bluetooth capability are more reliable and of a higher quality than those pesky old wires.
Permalink | Tags: bluetooth speakers, ipod connector, retro style turntable | Posted in Home Audio, LPs, Pro Audio Equipment, Turntables | No Comments
Remake Your Home Entertainment with Bluetooth Speakers
One of the great disappointments of my young life was a set of wireless headphones that I assumed would revolutionize the way I heard music forever. What happened instead was–at best–reception that could be described as “wonky.” The sound went in and out and the volume was middling. This was terrible, and it made me eternally skeptical of wireless anything for a long time.
That, however, was before Bluetooth technology was available. These days people use Bluetooth to have important business conversations without fear of that same low volume and messy reception. A pair of kicking Bluetooth speakers can blast music from the iPhone in your pocket into every room of your home or, in the case of the great selection of outdoor audio products on our website, into your entire backyard. The game it seems has been changed.
Bluetooth speakers are a smart purchase for music fans moving away from their physical music collection and into MP3 files and streaming services. This might be almost all of us. If having some easily accessible and always loud music at your fingertips is important, these speakers can remake your home entertainment experience. Step into the future and upgrade your system for better music listening.
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Summer Cruising with an In-Dash Receiver
Enjoying beautiful summer days is easy, at least it is if you have ample time to cruise around listening to your favorite music. With the right car audio equipment and a set of reliable wheels, you can enjoy the nice weather in ways that have shaped American recreation for a hundred years. Blasting your favorite summer music out of your car’s in-dash receiver is the way we take in some of the best music in our lives these days. It is an experience no different than popping in your favorite CD, 8-track, cassette tape or simply blasting your favorite radio station.
Of course these days CDs seem like a money pit, 8-tracks and cassette tapes have been obsolete for decades and your favorite radio station has likely been bought by a gigantic corporation and sucked dry of your favorite music. That is where your in-dash receiver and your smartphone, MP3 player or satellite radio transmitter comes in to play.
With the right mix of shuffling settings or a streaming radio station from the likes of Spotify or Pandora, your car stereo can once again be an exciting way to enjoy a summer drive. It might not be the good old days, but that might make summer living even easier.
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Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers for Summer Fun
Looking to spruce up your outdoor audio setup for the spring season of barbecues and outdoor fun? Have a pool party and looking to ensure the tunes keep spinning deep into swimming season?
Summer is a time for great fun in the sun, and it is also a time for a stellar soundtrack of summery songs. What barbecue would have been complete last year without “Call Me Maybe”? What would a 1960′s summer pool party sound like if not for the amazing “Summertime Blues”?
With some well placed outdoor Bluetooth speakers, you can assure that your favorite summer playlists beam right from your phone or MP3 player all summer long. You can make your own playlists, or using a wide array of currently available music streaming services, borrow a playlist from the crowd-sourced world of the Web.
Music has an amazing way of informing a time and a place. It fills what might otherwise be awkward silences. It offers a wide array of conversational tangents to engaged revelers. On top of all that, when it needs to, it can float along seamlessly in the background without troubling your conversation.
This summer make sure your soundtrack does not stop with a set of Bluetooth speakers.
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Great Vinyl for Your Retro-Style Turntable
In the coming weeks there are some great LP releases coming down the pike, perfect for dropping the needle on your retro style turntable and enjoying new and old tunes alike.
One of our favorites is Kurt Vile’s Walkin’ On a Pretty Daze released by Matador Records this past Tuesday. It is a double album loaded with slowly evolving, even tempo rock music, great for fans of Neil Young or indie rock in general. It was released on a clear blue vinyl and has stickers for you to personalize your own album cover.
For fans of classic rock, nothing could be more exciting than the deluxe reissue of Paul McCartney and Wing’s Wings Over America. The entire record will stretch out over three slabs of 180 gram vinyl, and it will likely sound better than ever before.
If you would like to throw some futuristic tunes on your retro style turntable, we might be inclined to recommend the latest slice of ghostly electronic weirdness, Shaking the Habitual. It is a challenging record for even their most ardent fans but worth the immersion listening on vinyl can offer.
As always, we encourage you to listen to your favorite music on LP. It gives things more weight and pushes the ear in a little closer.
Permalink | Tags: kurt vile, retro style turntable, wings over america | Posted in Home Audio, LPs, Turntables | No Comments
Personalized Playlists with In-Dash Receivers
Back in the day we were all at the mercy of the radio while driving. It was nifty to turn on the car stereo and be able to hear the biggest hits of the day on one station or classics on another. This was “good enough.” Alas, things could not last that way forever.
The last 20 years have seen entertainment become more and more of an easily cultivated experience. Music, thanks to MP3 players and USB drives with seemingly infinite memory capacity, has become fully personalized. You may never again have to sit through a mediocre song because nothing on the radio catches your ear.
Of course for drivers the key to having that kind of entertainment control is an in-dash receiver for your car stereo. These devices will allow you to hook up a USB drive or portable music player to your car stereo, giving you complete control of your tunes and decades worth of musical options.
Setting the mood for a road trip? Load a playlist of rowdy road songs onto your iPhone and play it through your in-dash receiver. Planning a romantic evening out? Try a little R. Kelly or Frank Sinatra on your USB drive. The musical world is your oyster.
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