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Blake Donley

@blakedonley

3700

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<MSP/ATL/FLA/Earth><Author/Writer/Novelist/Scribe/Essayist/Poet/Songwriter/Geek><Vinyl/Cassette/RTR/8Track/CD/MP3><HiFi/Pioneer><INFJ/Pisces>

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I'm sorry, but when I saw the "custom Pioneer PL-570 dust cover" from eBay, I had to inquire further. Though it wasn't precisely what I'd searched for—thanks Gemini—it was intriguing—thanks Gemini!eBay seller: JSE Amateur - Ham - CB Radio sells these smashing creations. And yea, that's mouthful, and yea, where's the Ham - CB Radio tie-in? Personally, I don't care. Why?The World's Most Meticulously Cluttered Basement is dusty, 'cause unfinished basement. And I'm splitting my time between two states, so dust accumulates. And I'm meticulous—ask the hot wifey which one of us keeps everything sleeping-with-the-enemy pristine. I can't tell you how many times I've been flogged for not stacking the dogfood dishes just so at the Crosland Ranch; she could 😉Anyway, it's CLEARLY the embroidery that makes these covers magical. They fucking matched the Pioneer Fluoroscan blue!!! Just compare the embroidery to the meters.More than that, they only had a PL-570 and PL-530 for sale. On my order for the PL-570, I inquired about a PL-630. They replied: "Send us the outside dimensions, and we'll sell you one!" I did.They did.If you're lucky enough to posses one of Pioneer's best TT's ever made (PL-630), you can buy your own embroidered cover (thanks to me). These embroidery savages are so prolific, that my custom PL-630 dust cover did not cost a penny more than their stock models. And now it's a stock model.Next up: they build me a PL-560 dust cover!Cheers!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&~~~~~~~~~now~~~~~~dem~~~~~~~tags~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#pioneer #pioneerelectronics #pioneeraudio #pioneerstereo #pioneersilver #pioneersilverface #hifi #vintagehifi #hifiaudio #hifiporn #hifisound #vintageaudio #vintagestereo #music by @blakedonley

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2 years ago

A few have asked about my stories re: "Worst listening room ever!"As the story goes...I live in two states at the moment. I maintain a home in suburban Minneapolis: the Urbandale Estate. The hot wifey maintains a home in suburban Atlanta: the Crossland Ranch. The World's Most Meticulously Cluttered Basement is in MSP. The Listening Lounge is in ATL.About five years back, we undertook a basement finishing project at the Crossland Ranch. We'd always planned a listening room. Our contractor executed a brilliant design, build, and finish. For the small space we had, it turned out perfectly!The hot wifey is a pro photog, and during the pandemic, she was asked to contribute to Atlanta Magazine's "Room Envy" column. Here is the column: https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3102519038231-room-envy-this-relaxed-listening-room-is-a-music-lover-s-perfect-escapeWell, the photo has since appeared on every crusty audiophile HiFi FB group imaginable. As I am a member of some of said groups, I started to see our listening lounge everywhere.Needless to say, the comments started flying. Swipe to read the primary complaints. Frankly, we designed the room for us—not a bunch of tedious audiophiles. And that their fussy bungs get all puckered by photos of our lil' ol' listening lounge is a badge of honor.Yea, there are two chairs, because there are two of us. We can move the chairs for "optimal" listening—they ain't fucking nailed to the floor. Much of the time we're in the adjacent room entertaining, so the speaker placement is perfect.Yea, Pioneer is not the highest of the high-end vintage audio components, but my ol man had Pioneer gear, so I have Pioneer gear—suck it!I have all my EQ settings in the "double smile" on purpose—because it pisses off audiophiles more than any other EQ setting. Guess what? I can take the EQ out of the sound stream with the flick of a switch (and do when I'm listening to records). So that's the story of the world's worst listening room.Cheers!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&~~~~~~~~~now~~~~~~dem~~~~~~~tags~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinyljunkie #vinyladdict #vinylcollection #vinyl #records by @blakedonley

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a year ago

Yea, I need to trim my nose hair. I try to stay on top of that shit, but CLEARLY I'm in arrears on that front. #noted.Also, when you hit 50, you chin drops to the floor. Good luck avoiding #chindrop you lucky young fuckers out there. Trying to stay beautiful forever is H-E-L-L! Squared.I'm out.... by @blakedonley

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a year ago

I don’t hate this new rig… by @blakedonley

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4 hours ago

There’ll be a REALLY long Substack post re: this, which no one will read.I’ll just say this, now, what I did hear is the culmination of an impossible dream 15 years in the making. It’s been a fun wild insane ride.Too many thanks to the hot wifey for helping out in too many ways. None of this…without her. Kisses bae 😘It’s a terrible setup in every conceivable manner, I know, I’m and audiozfilez, dammit! It’s an utter aural train wreck. You cannot imagine how bad it sounds IRL.its atrocious—seriously!Enjoy it anyway. I did!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#pioneer #pioneerstereo #hifi #vintagehifi by @blakedonley

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a day ago

We’re doin’ day 23 of the #neonsummernights challenge brought to you by your hostesses with the mostesses: @singlegirlsaturdaynight + @33rdandabbey and I was a lost boy.Not the bitey Draculan variety, however.I was a boy hopelessly, haplessly, endlessly lost in (imaginary) love.Though I had no actual girlfriends during my teenage epoch, I orchestrated pretend relationships with the gals of WHS whom I coveted. I not only imagined “going with” these girls, I imagined elaborate dates. Things like: how we’d get to the mall, which food court establishment we’d patronize, the shops we’d visit (Musicland, Suncoast, and Spencer’s Gifts), and ultimately which flick we’d catch at the cineplex were meticulously detailed.In my teenaged fantasy world, my alter ego was totally one of the cool dudes at school. I was confident, swuave, even a bit brash. I was a total stud.In my teenaged reality, I was painfully introverted, extremely quiet, and tragically sensitive. I was an utter loner.Me actual loved the girl singers of the era: Heart, Bonnie Tyler, Pat Benatar, Gloria Estefan, Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson. As I listened to their music, my alternate reality scenarios would play out in my head over and over. I was a boy lost in imaginary love.If any of the few friends I had in those days had ever seen my music collection, they’d have guffawed. In 1987, it was NOT cool for a teenage dude to listen to Debbie Gibson—NOT COOL AT ALL!But it all worked out. I believe all that intentional effort imagining “the perfect love” drew me into the hot wifey’s orbit. But that’s a different story...more like a book...more like a trilogy...~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinylcommunity #vinyl #records #debbiegibson by @blakedonley

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3 days ago

🎵Monday🎵That can only mean another episode of #mellowgoldmondays with your cruise director @christinavinylphile has set sail.While the first real weekend of less-crazy post-move activities down south was raucous fun, today’s vibe is milder for sure. I was supposed to be Kevin McCallister today, but the crazy east coast storms upended the hot wifey’s travel plans. So, she’s home.I continue putting away albums in the world’s worst listening room’s staxx of waxx. Guess what letter I’m still on...?“Silent Letter” is the first America duo album. Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Dan Peek departed just prior to the recording session. Beckley and Bunnell would release six more studio albums throughout the ‘80s as a duo, while Peek veered off toward a Christian music career.This one is a bit more adult contemporary than the previous America efforts, but I’m still a fan.Take ‘er easy everyone, Mondays can be ruff.~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinylcommunity #vinyl #records #america by @blakedonley

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6 days ago

🎵Friday🎶Annnnnnnd #ElvisFriday hosted by @bookandvinylvibes has got me all shook up!“I Got Lucky” has got to be one of the great album titles of all time. And look at the King in a quintessentially the King pose. It was also the second in a series of two albums featuring soundtrack tracks. So, yea, it’s soundtracky.My blue label copy is a much-vaunted MONO copy, so that’s exciting!As the redhead would say, go out and have a slay day 🤩~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinylcommunity #vinyl #records #elvispresley by @blakedonley

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9 days ago

🎵Thursday🎶That must mean it’s #tapethemethursday hosted by the sauciest bloke in the vinyl community—Company.@vinyl_sauceNow that I’ve put the last compact cassette in the World’s Worst Listening Room’s tape wall, I can stare at 1,400+ cassettes and pick one to play. Today, I picked “The Best Of Bad Company Live...What You Hear Is What You Get” by, not surprisingly, English supergroup Bad Company. As it dropped in 1993, it’s heavy with tunes from Bad Co.’s ‘92 release “Here Comes Trouble.”[cue the “Wayne’s World” flashback noise: doodley-do doodley-do doodley-do...]In 1992, I was a junior at UW-EC. I was still heavily into classic rock; I still am. Also, I was a huge fan of the slicky produced “corporate” rock of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s—blasphemy, I know! Also, I still am [a huge fan of the slicky produced “corporate” rock of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s].I recall buying “Here Comes Trouble” on CD at Disc Jockey in Oakwood Mall when it dropped in September of ‘92. Back then, I was rocking my trusty AIWA NSX-2700 bookshelf stereo in my dorm room. I surely played that CD nonstop for at least a week. Remember playing the same album over and over and over and...Pepperidge Farm remembers...As a result of all this, I’m totally digging the spark this album is giving my afternoon workout on #treadmilldesk.~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#tapes #cassettes #badcompany by @blakedonley

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9 days ago

🎵Thursday🎶That must mean it’s #europopthursday hosted by @najdier — my LOD partner & friend on the other side of the magic door.It is indeed is better to travel! And I know my mate Kamal is doing that right now. In fact, other Blake (aka @blake_spins) got to hang with Kamal in L.A.—lucky bloke! “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”—Samuel Langhorne Clemens, “The Innocents Abroad”We could all stand to be a bit more like ol’ Sammy.Getting back to this spin...known chiefly for their worldwide smash “Breakout” from their ‘87 debut album, Swing Out Sister went on to release 10 more studio albums. The trio formed in the mid ‘80s in Manchester, UK. They would eventually pair down to a duo for the balance of their prolific musical run.This album is just a straight great Euro vibe. I like to tell the hot wifey that when I hear this style of music, it reminds me of our honeymoon in Paris when we were sipping on coffee and shopping for scarves. Yea, that sounds pretentious AF, but it sure was fun! I cherish the European vibe...a...lot!~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinylcommunity #vinyl #records #swingoutsister by @blakedonley

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9 days ago

🎵Wednesday🎶That must mean it’s time for another #hornyhumpday hosted by a man who needs no introduction, but I’ll introduce him anyway—professor of PROGology @made_you_a_mixtape Taking a break from sorting records to play an actual record. Though Ol’ Thelonious is in the pantheon of jazz pianists, he employs the tenor saxing talents of Charlie Rouse to great effect on this record. It’s uber saxy 🖤 🎷 Whoa, we’re half way thereOh-oh, livin’ on a prayer~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinylcommunity #vinyl #records #theloniousmonk by @blakedonley

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11 days ago

We’re doin’ day 14 of the #neonsummernights challenge brought to you by your hostesses with the mostesses: @singlegirlsaturdaynight + @33rdandabbey and it’s all about the boys of summer.I was unaware of the synthpop duo the System until the summer of ‘87. NYC musicians David Frank and Mic Murphy. formed their band in the early ‘80s, They released three studio albums before breaking big with the title track from their fourth studio album “Don’t Disturb This Groove.” The album would climb all the way to no. 1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart in the summer of ‘87.During that summer, I was 15—so coming off a lackluster final year of junior high school. I was not a popular kid. I had a core group of neighborhood buddies but few other friends (and absolutely zero girlfriends). Back then, we spent the summers like all ‘80s kids: in the woods, on our bikes, at Shinders (sports cards, comics, magazines, and porn in the back behind “18+” saloon doors), at the mall (Ridgedale), and at Holiday buying 64 oz. “Big Swig” Cherry Cokes.I also played soccer, or football as it’s known everywhere else, except here, where football is a completely different thing altogether. Obviously, as I’m utterly average at everything, especially positioning HiFI speakers, I played in the community “house” league.Despite my unimposing stature, I was a standout on our team. I was the starting right defender. I handled nearly all the goal kicks. My nickname was “Thunderfoot” and I was quite proud of that. That year, we went 15-1 and finished no. 1 in our age bracket. ‘Twas the highlight of my sporting career.I remember getting home just before sunset after long hot summer evening games, showering, and plopping down on the family room sofa in the basement to unwind and listen to my trusty Walkman. That summer, “Don’t Disturb This Groove” peaked at no. 4 in July. I vividly remember hearing that song on KDWB or WLOL after a long night of soccer and loving life, and music.~~~~~~~~~~~~~TAG! YOU’RE IT!~~~~~~~~~~~~~#vinylcommunity #vinyl #records #thesystem by @blakedonley

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11 days ago