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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

To that end, there has been a recent uptick in the sale of vinyl records, as well as retro style turntables. Slapping an LP on your retro style turntable is such a different, deeper experience than skimming digital music files on your laptop. It allows you to know a record fully and is a great way of appreciating the work of musicians more deeply than our current hyper casual music consumption.

If you are missing the connection you once felt when music meant something, buy a turntable and some of your favorite albums on vinyl. In fact, buy recent music as well. You might be surprised to find that it is not actually the quality of records that has declined, but the attention and passion you are willing to give them.

If you are a hip hop fan, you are getting ready for the latest from Drake. While his forthcoming album has no release date, it does have a stellar new single that is just begging to be blasted from your car’s subwoofer called “5AM In Toronto.” You might want to boost up your automotive electronics just to handle this bass.

Hipper rock fans are currently bouncing around to the striking sophomore album from Iceage, You’re Nothing. While the noisy production might not seem right for the best clarity car stereos, it does sound incredible as you speed down the highway.

We here at Pyle Audio love all kinds of music and are eager to hear what you are currently cranking as you drive.

Last week it was announced that New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is about to plunge $250,000 into a campaign to increase awareness of the damage that headphones, and especially earbuds, are doing to our hearing. The campaign will mostly focus on telling young people, through social media, to turn down their constant supply of sound piping directly into their heads.

At maximum volume, an iPod reaches 115 decibels. By most researchers’ standards, a maximum volume of 85 is the cut off for safe and healthy listening. The spread of portable music players, as well as an appetite for louder sounds from high quality home audio equipment, has led to skyrocketing hearing loss among young people. According to data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1988 and 2006, hearing loss among teens has jumped 30%.