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As someone who has listened to tubes pretty their entire life,I find that Sirius is unlistenable.It's shrill,compressed and tinny.Most stations clearly use compressed digital files,and the radios themselves sound like crap.But I guess it's OK if you gew up listening to music on an iPod or smart phone. A good Victor 78 from 1929 played through tubes beats it all to hell. Roger > Date: Sun, 25 May 2014 00:15:18 -0400 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Public radio was Re: Future of CDs > To: [log in to unmask] > > I also like the ability to change genre of music with SiriusXM. The OTR > station definitely isn't particularly enlightened, but given good fortune > in the luck of the programming draw, it can sure help a long car trip be > more enjoyable. I force my wife to negotiate with them every year to get a > better rate. She out did herself this year-the full version for both of > our cars for $100 a year each. I used to give more than that to the local > FM Classical NPR station. I went over and manned a phone during pledge > time. Now it seems like almost every week they take away the music so they > can have a fund raising event. No doubt they are doing a Memorial Day fund > raiser. They do Mother's Day and Valentine's Day and Christmas and > Thanksgiving, and God knows what else. The scripted repetitive nonsense > they broadcast during these events makes one assume they think we are all > morons. If you added up all the regular full Monty fund drives, the > special event fund drives and the 10 second commercials, there is far more > down time, with little or no music, than any of the commercial stations. > Both of the local NPR stations make you listen to 20 seconds of commercial > every time you tune in the streaming version. I often wondered if the FM > stations couldn't let me pay an annual fee, and then allow me to listen > without the fundraising drivel. Maybe something that accesses the extra > band width, like their service for the visually impaired. I have also > wished that they would spend less money on their syndicated programming, > and just play classical music, maybe from their own library, like they used > to. Interesting to note that Robert Aubry Davis, one of the XM Sirius > Symphony Hall announcers, used to be at our local station in upstate New > York. I am very pessimistic about the future of classical FM in my area, > and I guess I wouldn't miss them much. Too bad. > > > On Sat, May 24, 2014 at 11:13 PM, Randy A. Riddle <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > > > I listened to public radio for many years. I think what happened was that > > it lost track of its original vision to educate. > > > > The public radio stations in my area are basically running many of the same > > talk or music series that have been around since the 1980s. There doesn't > > seem to be anything there I've not heard before or seen around the > > Internet. > > > > For me, public radio was at its best in the 1970s when it acted as a kind > > of curator for the best or most interesting in what was happening in > > serious music or the arts. It was the place you would turn to to hear new > > classical works or new recordings of classical music, experiments in radio > > drama, or what was happening in music scholarship. > > > > A good example is a weekly show I wish I could recall the name of that came > > from one of the public radio networks and, each week, featured vintage jazz > > and big band recordings - I recall one whole episode was just devoted to > > V-Discs. > > > > At other times, my local public radio stations featured regular broadcasts > > of classic Old Time Radio - Suspense, the Great Gildersleeve, Jack Benny > > and other programs. > > > > Sure, much of this material is available now on the Internet or satellite > > radio stations. Public radio could find its voice again by being a curator > > and gateway into what's worth my time, rather than being either background > > classical Muzak for a day at the office or offering the "comfort food" of > > "Prairie Home Companion". It's just stale. > > > > I like Sirius XM because it allows me to sample genres of music that I > > don't know much about or listen deeper into a genre catalogue to figure out > > what I might like or not like - the same thing that public and college > > radio used to do for me many years ago. > > > > The OTR channel is a little conservative for my taste, repeating many of > > the same "war horses" that I've heard many times before, but at least it's > > something. > > > > Randy > > > > > -- > Frank B Strauss, DMD