Bob I like that you are truly trailblazing in this color-by-number audiophile reviewer space! We need more VU meter action! We need more cowbell! Great video, as always. Keep up the great content!
VU meters, EQ, and bouncing Spectrum Analyzers are mesmerizing. Hence the disco era glitter balls and sound actuated stage lights and lasers. I would hazard a guess that accuracy of measurement is very secondary to the hypnotic twitching of cockroach antennae, but I digress. 😂 You hit the nail on the head, and visual indication of the intangible power of sound validates our purchase choice and makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Thanks so much for this discussion and sharing this with us all. Have a great weekend, my friend, and I'll keep watching my Technics SH-8046 jumping to my beats.
Love VU metres, they look awesome on amplifiers. Having said that, there is a need to have a signal display on audio equipment and that is for cassette and reel to reel decks. When it comes to recording on cassette, you have 4 types of tape and this relates to the type of particles in the tape, type l (ferric oxide), type ll (chromium oxide) type lll (ferric-chrome) and type IV (metal). This is important because not all tapes can handle the same amount of signal being saturated onto the tape. Therefore, we need to have record metres as a record reference, so we do not over saturate the tape, but get as much signal onto the tape before distortion, and make the perfect recording.
When shopping for a stereo system back in the 80’s, I went with the M500t from Carver over other models because of the meters. Still love making those needles dance.
You are so right about VU meters, never had any equipment with VU meters. I did buy a separate VU meter from Radio Shack back in the day, that I had hooked up to my old Sansui. The VU meters never work on the carver though, darn things would trip the circuit protection.
I returned my SMSL SU-9N for the Topping DX-9 just for the VU meters. I hope to see a (favorable) review of this gorgeous DAC/headphone amp very soon! Great channel, btw
Fully agree! I bought a vintage Kenwood amp for its VU meters. Pure nostalgia. Now I’m looking for LED meters as you mentioned. I remember my cassette deck of the 80s with white and red LEDs. I have an eye on pioneer amps of their blue line, with blue LEDs.
New subscriber to your channel and I’m really enjoying it. Thank you for the great content. I have always enjoyed the VU meters on my equipment, the largest ones I have are on my Onkyo Integra M-504, and I have the meters on my Carver TFM amplifier and on my Pioneer SX-1980 and I also use the meters for recording levels on to my R to R and other tape devices that have the UV meters.. and I also have the Douk little bear but purchase that for a switching device and necessarily the UV meters but they’re fun to watch too.
I had a carver stereo power amp for awhile! Those VU's were round, correct! Where did Carver go? I have to see what they are up to! Thanks for watching! See you back here soon!
I bought the Douk Audio VU3 One Little Bear on seeing it in gear you own and recommend. Got it for the switching capability but the VU meters are Awesome. They just add to the experience.
To go with your meters I'm playing an album called Sideways To New Italy by Rolling Blackouts C. F. (I never heard of them before either), song is The Second of the First.
Great video again Bob-father, thanks man. I loved those old Radio Shack VU (sure was one Tandy corporation) meters and had one in my system back in the 80s with various EQs and I honestly look at these newer ones like from Douk and they are a modern resurrection of those classic bits of kit us older-philes remember. Honestly Bob I want a couple of those little meters like the one on the bat beside you if I can find them.
VU meters are a must in an amp. Tape players have things that spin and have VU meters. Turn tables spin and sometimes have flickering strobe lights. Tube amps have glowing tubes. Some equipment have dancing LED power meters. All these things add to your listening experience. They bring you in to the music visually. VU meters dance. Dancing to music is a good thing. I wonder how many of the people that stream into a boring black box spend time surfing and getting distracted instead of fully listening to the music? I have a lot of equipment but my go to amps are my Luxman, McIntosh and vintage amps with VU meters. They have the tachometers to my musical vehicle.
Onkyo Integra M504 Power Amp also known as the "Green Monster" with the large glowing green VU meters is the main reason I purchased. I know, very shameful but thankfully I have not regretted the sound quality either. Great amp.
I LOVE VU meters! I last had VU meters on my TEAC cassette deck back in the 70s. I had fluorescent lights and LEDs in the 80s and 90s but I missed VU meters. I recently bought the One Little Bear and I love it. I have it connected to a 1983 Harman Kardon integrated amp that my wife bought brand new and surprised me with one day along with a matching tuner. BTW I watch you on a 60 inch TV in my man cave/listening room. There is a TH-cam channel called Track Tribe that has royalty free music that TH-camrs use for demos.
It's funny you should say that... I have experience that as well! Great ALH -Audiophile Life Hack! You just gave me an idea for my next video! Send more! Thanks for watching!
The VU meter never did anything for me, frankly they're rather boring like a plain baloney sandwich and slightly before my time. then (and thankfully) came the 1980's....and the popularity of the graphic equalizer...with the spectrum display. Oh, sweet domination. That device transformed that boring baloney sandwich, by inserting a mountain of crushed Doritos that will give that sandwich a heapin' helpin' of texture, crunch, flavor, presence, and fulfillment. All that's missing is a Pepsi. It turned a boring-looking stack of components into something Dr. Frankenstein himself would likely appreciate; it also improved the sound while doing it...and ya can't beat that, but that's just me.
@@UnitedStatesofAnalog I appreciate that but my issue is I can write far better than I can talk. Put me in front of a keyboard and I can write with some of the better writers out there, and I ain't kiddin' my good man, but speaking on the fly, I've all the eloquence and appeal of a '73 Ford Pinto.
@@moonytheloony6516 (spoiler alert) lots of your favorite reviewers write their reviews out completely and deliver them with a teleprompter. No mistakes!
I fully understand that "Better" is a subjective term, but how ANYONE with half a working brain cell can emphatically state that putting more crap in the signal path is "better" is a real mystery. And, pardon me if I point out that the VU meters on a Lux or a Mac product may slightly differ in quality and/or accuracy than those found on Ayimas products. For the past year or two I thought no one could out stupid Randy aka Cheapaudioman. Serious competition here. VERY close second. Wrong cart for the tonearm. Speakers above head level in a enclosed cabinet. Speaker turned sideways. Randy responds with a pair of $500.00 6" 2 way monkey coffin speakers alleging to do 32 hz. Randy says "they probably go lower IN ROOM" A 32 hz note is a 26 foot long physical wave. The speakers Randy reviewed do NOT give a +/ tolerance for that 32 hz spec, so it's meaningless. Your move Bob.
![Get VU meters in your system and in your life [Fosi Audio LC30]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eKH0QT0FqvA/mqdefault.jpg)
"We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving."
Dude, my very first "Thank$!" You have made United States of Analog history!!! Who's next? Gracias, Amigo!
Bob I like that you are truly trailblazing in this color-by-number audiophile reviewer space! We need more VU meter action! We need more cowbell!
Great video, as always. Keep up the great content!
Yes, more cowbell! More albums produced by Bruce Dickenson, too! Thanks for watching!
I loooove me some VU meters! They were a big factor in my last purchase of a vintage Rotel RA-1312 integrated.
Yes.... Rotel!!! They do VU right, too! Thanks for watching!
VU meters, EQ, and bouncing Spectrum Analyzers are mesmerizing. Hence the disco era glitter balls and sound actuated stage lights and lasers. I would hazard a guess that accuracy of measurement is very secondary to the hypnotic twitching of cockroach antennae, but I digress. 😂 You hit the nail on the head, and visual indication of the intangible power of sound validates our purchase choice and makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Thanks so much for this discussion and sharing this with us all. Have a great weekend, my friend, and I'll keep watching my Technics SH-8046 jumping to my beats.
Yea... for once I was right! Keep enjoy your system, Simon! Audibly and visually! See you next time!
I'm going to see how many times I can squeeze the phrase 'Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs' in my conversations today. Wish me luck.
Proceed with caution, Sir!
Love VU metres, they look awesome on amplifiers. Having said that, there is a need to have a signal display on audio equipment and that is for cassette and reel to reel decks.
When it comes to recording on cassette, you have 4 types of tape and this relates to the type of particles in the tape, type l (ferric oxide), type ll (chromium oxide) type lll (ferric-chrome) and type IV (metal). This is important because not all tapes can handle the same amount of signal being saturated onto the tape. Therefore, we need to have record metres as a record reference, so we do not over saturate the tape, but get as much signal onto the tape before distortion, and make the perfect recording.
When shopping for a stereo system back in the 80’s, I went with the M500t from Carver over other models because of the meters. Still love making those needles dance.
Yes! Make them dance!
Good info, I don't know too much about sound equipment but would love to know more about it. Would definitely watch more often.
I got you! Thanks for stopping by! Also follow my good friend Randy, The Cheap Audio Man! You'll be glad you did!
You are so right about VU meters, never had any equipment with VU meters. I did buy a separate VU meter from Radio Shack back in the day, that I had hooked up to my old Sansui. The VU meters never work on the carver though, darn things would trip the circuit protection.
You'll get to VU meters! Keep on keeping' on!
I've got a old Carver TFM 15 that has VU meters. It's in storage, but still going strong.
I had a thin but heavy carver stereo power amp. It had round meters! Is Carver still around?
I returned my SMSL SU-9N for the Topping DX-9 just for the VU meters. I hope to see a (favorable) review of this gorgeous DAC/headphone amp very soon! Great channel, btw
I'll see what I can do!
Only thing I love as much as a VU meter , is a green spectrum analyzer.
Fully agree! I bought a vintage Kenwood amp for its VU meters. Pure nostalgia. Now I’m looking for LED meters as you mentioned. I remember my cassette deck of the 80s with white and red LEDs. I have an eye on pioneer amps of their blue line, with blue LEDs.
New subscriber to your channel and I’m really enjoying it. Thank you for the great content.
I have always enjoyed the VU meters on my equipment, the largest ones I have are on my Onkyo Integra M-504, and I have the meters on my Carver TFM amplifier and on my Pioneer SX-1980 and I also use the meters for recording levels on to my R to R and other tape devices that have the UV meters.. and I also have the Douk little bear but purchase that for a switching device and necessarily the UV meters but they’re fun to watch too.
I had a carver stereo power amp for awhile! Those VU's were round, correct! Where did Carver go? I have to see what they are up to! Thanks for watching! See you back here soon!
I bought the Douk Audio VU3 One Little Bear on seeing it in gear you own and recommend. Got it for the switching capability but the VU meters are Awesome. They just add to the experience.
Yeah... it's pretty cool! Have fun!
I love my MAC7200. I don’t typically listen to very loud music so the VU metered are just there to remind me that I probably don’t need all 200 watts.
Good to know they're there! Thanks for watching!
To go with your meters I'm playing an album called Sideways To New Italy by Rolling Blackouts C. F. (I never heard of them before either), song is The Second of the First.
Great! I glad I could contribute to your enjoyment!!!!
Your channel reminds me why i started following CAM.
I went from Guttenberg to cam to Darko
Great video again Bob-father, thanks man.
I loved those old Radio Shack VU (sure was one Tandy corporation) meters and had one in my system back in the 80s with various EQs and I honestly look at these newer ones like from Douk and they are a modern resurrection of those classic bits of kit us older-philes remember.
Honestly Bob I want a couple of those little meters like the one on the bat beside you if I can find them.
Thanks for sharing
VU meters are a must in an amp. Tape players have things that spin and have VU meters. Turn tables spin and sometimes have flickering strobe lights. Tube amps have glowing tubes. Some equipment have dancing LED power meters. All these things add to your listening experience. They bring you in to the music visually. VU meters dance. Dancing to music is a good thing. I wonder how many of the people that stream into a boring black box spend time surfing and getting distracted instead of fully listening to the music?
I have a lot of equipment but my go to amps are my Luxman, McIntosh and vintage amps with VU meters. They have the tachometers to my musical vehicle.
Onkyo Integra M504 Power Amp also known as the "Green Monster" with the large glowing green VU meters is the main reason I purchased. I know, very shameful but thankfully I have not regretted the sound quality either. Great amp.
I LOVE VU meters! I last had VU meters on my TEAC cassette deck back in the 70s. I had fluorescent lights and LEDs in the 80s and 90s but I missed VU meters. I recently bought the One Little Bear and I love it. I have it connected to a 1983 Harman Kardon integrated amp that my wife bought brand new and surprised me with one day along with a matching tuner. BTW I watch you on a 60 inch TV in my man cave/listening room. There is a TH-cam channel called Track Tribe that has royalty free music that TH-camrs use for demos.
I had a top loading Toshiba cassette deck with huge VUs when I was in high school! Probably why I'm addicted to them today!
Let's all get along like circus people, lolololol, I'm going to steal that line. Awesome!
Can't remember who I "borrowed it from!"
VU meters are like having a 160mph speedo. I love em!
The best!
Used to love Vu meters! Still have my SAE gear with the led meters. Not as good as my old phase linear stuff, but better than nothing?
At least you have something to look at! Now you can get LED meters at Below Five for below $5. Funny how that works out!
I love all sorts of hifi meters...but ditched a Mytek DAC that had a LED meter for a Denafrips with no meter.
No shame in the Denifrips game! Thanks for watching!
Yep
No way emotiva sounds better than technics
To him it did... and we have to embrace that, Mr. Vinyl Joe!
@@UnitedStatesofAnalog maybe but if he heard your system in the flesh he would be singing a different song
I have a dayton audio HTA with vu meters and i love it
Staring at the ceiling wall junction will cause the image to seen deeper taller wider...lol
It's funny you should say that... I have experience that as well! Great ALH -Audiophile Life Hack! You just gave me an idea for my next video! Send more! Thanks for watching!
I will get there one day... All I have is the tune and signal meter on my little old Sansui 4000... 😞
Yeah, I have tune and signal meters on my Marantz 2245! Wish Marantz could have found a way to cram some VI's into some of those vintage receivers!
My Yamaha A-S3200 has a dope set of VU meters! Some of the best on the market with adjustable lighting.👀
DBX BX3. Love the looks
That's sick! I didn't know they ever got into amps. I had a dbx expander in the day!
VU meters and glowing tubes....take in the sights and sounds. MAFA - Making Audio Fun Again
Are you selling MAFA hats??? You better jump on that before I do!$$$
@@UnitedStatesofAnalog think of it as a donation to the channel. Use the proceeds to buy the next fun piece of equipment to review.
I have Luxman and McIntosh metered gear.
Lucky!!!
Too amazing VU action!!!
The VU meter never did anything for me, frankly they're rather boring like a plain baloney sandwich and slightly before my time.
then (and thankfully) came the 1980's....and the popularity of the graphic equalizer...with the spectrum display.
Oh, sweet domination.
That device transformed that boring baloney sandwich, by inserting a mountain of crushed Doritos that will give that sandwich a heapin' helpin' of texture, crunch, flavor, presence, and fulfillment. All that's missing is a Pepsi.
It turned a boring-looking stack of components into something Dr. Frankenstein himself would likely appreciate; it also improved the sound while doing it...and ya can't beat that, but that's just me.
Love your take! You should start a channel!
@@UnitedStatesofAnalog
I appreciate that but my issue is I can write far better than I can talk. Put me in front of a keyboard and I can write with some of the better writers out there, and I ain't kiddin' my good man, but speaking on the fly, I've all the eloquence and appeal of a '73 Ford Pinto.
@@moonytheloony6516 (spoiler alert) lots of your favorite reviewers write their reviews out completely and deliver them with a teleprompter. No mistakes!
Pioneer sx 590
A beaut!
I fully understand that "Better" is a subjective term, but how ANYONE with half a working brain cell can emphatically state that putting more crap in the signal path is "better" is a real mystery. And, pardon me if I point out that the VU meters on a Lux or a Mac product may slightly differ in quality and/or accuracy than those found on Ayimas products.
For the past year or two I thought no one could out stupid Randy aka Cheapaudioman.
Serious competition here. VERY close second.
Wrong cart for the tonearm.
Speakers above head level in a enclosed cabinet.
Speaker turned sideways.
Randy responds with a pair of $500.00 6" 2 way monkey coffin speakers alleging to do 32 hz. Randy says "they probably go lower IN ROOM"
A 32 hz note is a 26 foot long physical wave. The speakers Randy reviewed do NOT give a +/ tolerance for that 32 hz spec, so it's meaningless.
Your move Bob.
Thanks for your input!