Just like many people in my generation, my life was all about music in the 90s. Sitting down with friends and listening to the new Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, or Tragically Hip album was an event. Sometimes an event that was returned to a number of times over a few weeks because music meant so much to us.

This year I’ve spent some money and time trying to recapture that feeling and it was surprisingly easy. I just took some cues from myself in the 90s. Cues that even my kids are loving.

A Stereo

First off I went back and purchased a stereo. Yup that means an amp and speakers that stand alone, just like my dad used to own. I ended up with a set of Paradigm 9s tower speakers for the low price of $100/CDN including an amp. To that I added a sub so I can get some punch out of the lower ranges in some of the songs I enjoy.

For an amp in my office I use an Ayima T9 Pro because it was inexpensive and had 2 digital inputs (coaxial and optical) for my two different sound sources.

Into that amp goes the TV in my office via the optical audio in. I most often use this to play the CDs I ripped, because I never threw out the 500 discs I collected in the 90s and early 2000s. The second sound source is a CD player from SMSL which I’ll use when I get a new disc and just want to listen to it.

The big hack here is that while brand new speakers are expensive used ones can be very inexpensive. I outfitted the main TV room in our house with a set of PSB bookshelf speakers and a sub. My office with the system above, and my 15-year-old daughters room with a small set of Edifier speakers and a sub for less than $700 dollars. Plus I spread that expense out over a year.

Previously I had 2 sets of Sonos Play:1 speakers which totalled $1000 Canadian. Yes they sounded better than basic computer speakers or the TV speakers, but they were also plagued by connectivity issues. My wife hated them because they rarely connected as expected to the TV via AirPlay. Now she loves the bookshelf speakers that are simply wired into the TV.

She puts on a show and gets to use the speakers without needing to ask me to connect them.

Next I need to sell my Sonos speakers and use that money for something else.

Owning my Music

The second big hack was going back to music I own for listening. Yes Apple Music or Spotify do give us access to all the music we could ever want to listen to. With that also comes the same problem we have when we want to watch something on Netfix, so much choice we choose nothing.

With a more limited (I own 300 CDs) selection I now just play an album that I enjoy and listen through it. Then I’ll pick another one.

For music discovery I haven’t found anything better than starting a music video on YouTube and then letting it play whatever is next. I’ve found bands like Twenty One Pilots and their amazing story, a years long effort to tell a single story across multiple albums.

My kids are even interested in the CDs we own, with my oldest suddenly becoming extra cool with her friends because we had a library of CDs. They come over now and listen to our music on the CD player I found for her room.

Yes streaming provides the opportunity to test any music, but there is something about a curated physical media library that scratches an itch.

Sennheiser HD 550 open back headphones

My most recent purchase to enhance my music experience was a set of Sennheiser HD 550 open back headphones. They’re not cheap, but they’re also not crazy expensive. In fact they’re cheaper than the Apple AirPod Max by half and sound better.

The HD 550 was a revelation in headphones. No they don’t have noise cancelling but sitting down to read before everyone wakes up and listening to music while reading in these headphones is an amazing experience.

They’re far lighter than the Apple AirPod Max, in part due to batteries and in part due to the plastic construction. This has made them wearable all day at my desk when the kids are home and I need to get focused work done. The AirPod Max would last at most an hour before my head hurt from the metal band pressing on the top of my head.

Digital Audio Player

Just after I got a stereo again I purchased the HiFi Walker H20 Pro DAP (Digital Audio Player). On it I loaded my favourite music from the collection of CDs I’ve copied to FLAC.

The best thing about this device is all the things it can’t do. It can’t get notifications from anyone. I can’t look up something online quickly. It only does music.

This lack of functionality has turned my daily dog walks from something that often felt like a chore, into something that feels relaxing. There seems to be something about walking with a device that has you disconnected from the wider world that lets you rest. Even listening to the same music on my phone doesn’t achieve the same feeling of taking a quiet walk.

There seems to be something about a phone in your pocket that makes my brain scream…it’s not really resting.

Around the house I use the HD 550 but out and about I listen via the Linsoul KZ ZS10 Pro, an inexpensive set of in ear headphones that blocks out more noise than my AirPod Pro’s do because they fit better. Noise isolation tech isn’t needed if the headphone just fits.

These few changes, amounting to less than $1200 CDN have transformed my relationship with music taking it back to a time in my teens when music was everything in my life.