![The First Watt F8](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/5798/550407/5fbb50fa45d46/The-First-Watt-F8.jpg)
He used a wind-up Victrola sitting on a shelf directly in front of the cows, just below a framed reproduction of an Alpine landscape painting. He said the music and the mountain scene relaxed the cows, causing them to give better milk. Harold played the same Gustav Mahler symphony every day. I remember how quickly each disc ended, how I had to run over and change it, and how cross he got when I played the discs in the wrong order. I remember how the room smelled like hay and wet cow pies, how half the sound from the Victrola was a scrapey, hissing noise, and how Mahler’s (and Harold’s) Austro-Bohemian German-ness dominated the room.
These sensuous farm memories entered my mind after watching a movie, Desperate Man Blues, about a notorious radio disc jockey and 78rpm record collector named Joe Bussard, who explains that he found many of his most valuable discs by knocking on the doors of houses without electricity, in one case walking waist-deep through a swamp to get there. Joe Bussard is legend. Watching him in his wood-paneled basement playing rare discs from the 1920s is the purest illustration of what an evolved, music-loving record collector looks like.
Joe wears plaid flannel shirts, drinks beer, and sits in a gray steel office chair at the end of a long wall containing thousands of brown-sleeved, unlabeled, deliberately disorganized 78rpm discs. In front of him are several turntables, including his current favorite, a Technics SP15 with an Audio Technica ATP-12T tonearm. To his side is a 1970s-looking equalizer amp with faders that he plays like a dobro (which he also plays) and a shelf with a row of cassette decks.
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av Stereophile.
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Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av Stereophile.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![My last Far East trip](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/aEItiXEGu1724762735486/MY-LAST-FAR-EAST-TRIP.jpg)
My last Far East trip
First comes the anticipation, that initial jet of warm water, that miraculous searching, finding the sweet spot, then heaven on earth as it cleans and caresses.
![Riding the Common Wave](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/m5s8eYaZl1724762611904/RIDING-THE-COMMON-WAVE.jpg)
Riding the Common Wave
In the e-commerce era, brick-and-mortar dealerships must give customers compelling reasons to stop by. Los Angeles hi-fi dealership Common Wave's owner Wesley Katzir keeps customers coming through the door with a simple idea: that music matters in our everyday lives and that what he enjoys, other people will enjoy, too.
![Mind Games to the bottom of the rabbit hole](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/X4tEo86l21724762439034/MIND-GAMES-TO-THE-BOTTOM-OF-THE-RABBIT-HOLE.jpg)
Mind Games to the bottom of the rabbit hole
After a wild decade in the biggest pop music group ever, John Lennon's post-Beatles years were spent in protest, in various kinds of therapy, in immigration court, and in search of a new musical identity.
![Trane meets the Motor City](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/4-LZL7hkh1724762332940/TRANE-MEETS-THE-MOTOR-CITY.jpg)
Trane meets the Motor City
Detroit became a destination for migrating African Americans early, starting with the Underground Railroad; the city's proximity to Canada was convenient for those seeking to escape Southern slavery.
![Vital art never rests](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/8Uk3N32Tf1724762169534/VITAL-ART-NEVER-RESTS.jpg)
Vital art never rests
At this late date, it seems impossible that there could still be \"lost\" albums lingering in the vaults by musicians as important and successful as Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney.
![DUKE IN 10](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/Ped4C6r-R1724761656461/DUKE-IN-10.jpg)
DUKE IN 10
TO COMMEMORATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DUKE'S DEATH, ROBERT BAIRD SELECTS A DOUBLE HANDFUL OF EXEMPLARY TRACKS FROM PERHAPS AMERICA'S GREATEST MUSICAL GENIUS.
![Piega Coax Gen2 811](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/EcFc4VTnI1724761024565/PIEGA-COAX-GEN2-811.jpg)
Piega Coax Gen2 811
It's funny how we discover some music in unexpected, twisting ways.
![Pass Laboratories XP-27](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/6qbCjKWEC1724760143040/PASS-LABORATORIES-XP27.jpg)
Pass Laboratories XP-27
One of the pleasures of reviewing-and also using-products from Pass Laboratories is an encounter with Nelson Pass's writing, which can usually be found in the owner's manual and is always competent, insightful, and sometimes funny.
![EMT 928 II](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/2Vty9XUsU1724759639934/EMT-928-II.jpg)
EMT 928 II
Modern turntables are a paradox.
![Dynaudio Contour 30i](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/YoRj_o-0w1724758944223/DYNAUDIO-CONTOUR-30I.jpg)
Dynaudio Contour 30i
Ah, Denmark. Land of the Vikings and blue-eyed, blond-haired folk with faces sculpted just so.