Transistor radios were a breakthrough in entertainment. Especially for young people. When they debuted in the 1950’s, they were expensive, but they condensed the ability to hear radio stations from across the country into a small device that ran on batteries. Transistor radios easily fit into someone’s pocket, purse, or under their pillow. This allowed listening late at night when we were supposed to be asleep.

My first transistor radio was a Sony that my grandparents gave me. I still have it and it still works, some 50+ years later.

The downside to these radios was that they had no low end (bass). They sounded tinny. But because of their portability and the fact that with some earbuds you could pick and listen to your favorite radio station, we were OK with it. But by the time I got my radio, my parents had purchased an RCA console stereo. It had AM, FM, a record player, and an 8-track tape deck. And the sound was amazing. Whether you were listening to an FM station, my dad’s Buddy Holly or Simon and Garfunkel albums, or my mom’s 8-track tape of Bobby Goldsboro, it sounded as if they were performing in the room with you.

This was after we had moved from Beech Street to Locust Street in Ashdown, Arkansas, and my parents had built a new house with a game room. We had a pool table, ping pong table, and that RCA console stereo. Every member of the family spent many an hour in there, and we wore out many records and tapes.

But something happened in the 2000s that changed things. We started going back to personal devices. Whether it was an iPhone, laptop, or other electronic device, we started going back to a sound that was much less full. Granted, there are now earbuds that greatly enhance the sound of what we hear, but I argue that digital music just doesn’t sound as good as vinyl records.

Which is why I was pleased to see a story on television recently of a company run by younger people who are building “listening rooms” in different cities around the country. People pay $20 each to book a seat in a room with some of the finest sound equipment available today. And they listen to music on vinyl.

No one is allowed to talk during the session, which allows every paying customer to just sit back, close their eyes, and soak in the tunes.

I never got away from having good sound equipment. That dates back to the game room days of sitting in front of that RCA console and listening to every note and lyric and many different artists. After I grew up, I went to the Audio Center on Stateline Avenue in Texarkana, Texas, and spent $1,000 on a Technics receiver and amplifier, cassette player (8-tracks were phasing out by then), and a set of Bose 501 Speakers.

To put this in perspective, $1,000 in 1980 is worth $4,225 today. It was a lot of money and I had worked hard to get it. But that’s how valuable listening to the music I liked, with the best possible sound, was worth to me.

A few years ago, I saw an ad for a 1964 Magnavox console stereo for sale. It belonged to a lady who was 90 years old, but it looks like it just left the showroom floor at Sears and Roebuck. It even still had the paperwork and warranty card. People used to take better care of their things than they do today.

I picked it up for $100. Everything worked, but it needed a needle for the record player, which I easily found online, ordered, installed, and promptly put a Frank Sinatra album on to hear. It now sits in my office, where I frequently tune in radio stations, or I put a favorite album on the platter.

Some records from the mid-20th Century were produced better than others, but the vinyl made in the 50s and 60s had wider grooves and produced better sound than what was put out in the 70s and 80s before vinyl was being phased out.

But a funny thing happened about 10 years ago. Vinyl became popular again. Which led to manufacturers making records again. And some of the vinyl that’s made today is superior to what was made when I was a kid. The records are measured in grains (the texture or composite of the vinyl itself). I have no idea what that means, but it certainly sounds great. I’ve purchased some of the high-quality albums from bands such as Heart and Joe Walsh, and they do sound great. But, they are way more expensive at $40 and $50 or more each than the records I bought for $5 back in the day.

If you’ve never experienced really good audio, I recommend you invest in a good sound system with some vinyl records. Or, you could by a $20 ticket to one of the listening sessions if you’re close to where one is open for business.

Or, you could stop by my office and listen to it there. Let me know you’re coming and I’ll put on a pot of percolator coffee.

© 2026 John Moore

John’s, “Puns for Groan People” and two volumes about growing up in the South called, “Write of Passage,” are available at TheCountryWriter.com. John would like to hear from you at John@TheCountryWriter.com.