So, on the way back (this was in New Paltz, NY, quite the charming sort-of-new-agey college town with a couple of very nice new/secondhand book stores), I stopped in at the Barnes & Noble in Poughkeepsie just for a quick look see, and to pick my feet (when in Rome, etc....).
In their own relatively new vinyl section they were playing records (definitely a good idea) on one of those horrible plastic little record players they're selling now (definitely a terrible idea), through these horrible little tiny portable speakers (another terrible idea). The music wanted so much to sound good, and I'm sure some of the customers browsing there would have liked really hearing said music... but on this awful little system it just sounded as unimpressive as you can make recorded music sound. Man, if they'd set up the most minimal REAL turntable/amp/speakers from, say, the 1960s, you'd have people stopping and marveling at the sound. That, of course, is a pipe dream. You'd sell records, but you'd never sell another of those horrible pieces of crap, and the manufacturers of said crap would never go for that idea. Anyhoo.....just one man's observation.
