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Austin Kleon's avatar

Physical media: WATCHING

If you don't plan on 4k blurays, and you just want to listen to cds watch blu-rays/dvds something like this will do you just fine for about $75: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-streaming-audio-blu-ray-player-black/4743200.p?skuId=4743200&nrtv_cid=jlf23phnl73zf&irclickid=3JezXIUurxyPUo-Q-X05yzfnUkswch0NwSbI0c0&irgwc=1&ref=198&loc=Howl%20Technologies%2C%20Inc.&acampID=0&mpid=376373&affgroup=%22Content%22%2C%22Partners%20to%20Keep%22

I recommend pairing that with something like this $250 Vizio 5.1 soundbar system — It's crazy to me how decent these things sound for not much money. I got mine at Costco for $200. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/vizio-5-1-soundbar-wireless-subwoofer-surround-sound-w-dolby-atmos-and-dtsx-black/6583400.p?skuId=6583400

Physical media: LISTENING

If you want to go the vinyl/cd/tape route, ask at your local record store about a setup — one of my locals regularly sells "bundles" of receiver, turntable, and speakers https://www.instagram.com/breakawayrecords/?hl=en

IMO, vinyl and cassettes are just too expensive these days to start a collection from scratch, but CDs can still be had for a song, especially at Goodwill, etc. I've seen whole CD binders full of stuff for $10.

RSS: NetNewsWire

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Mitchell Volk's avatar

You're going to get a note from me in the mail asking for your recommendations because I knew you would know. It's cool you can listen to CDs on the Blu-ray player. That plus the speaker you mentioned might be a great place to start. I've been checking out some record stores in Madison but I'll start asking about a setup. Thanks Austin!

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Austin Kleon's avatar

This sounds weird but: you could also start asking older relatives whether they want to unload their tape decks / cd players / etc — the boomers in my family especially seem unimpressed with keeping their physical media, they see streaming as very convenient, downsizing, etc. (huge generalization, of course, but…)

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Mitchell Volk's avatar

That's a good idea. Surely there are some treasures in cardboard boxes somewhere.

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Dave Lukas's avatar

To find something to listen to physical media on, I’d hit up your local thrift shop or Goodwill. They usually have an electronics section and you can get a boombox or stereo there.

Definitely try them out before you buy them! They’ll have outlets for you to plug them in.

Especially if you’re looking for a cassette player. It took me a while to find one that actually had a cassette deck that could rewind and fast forward. I ended up going through 3 boomboxes before finding the one I have now, but all in I’ve probably only spent $25. So I can’t complain. I love having it.

But if you’re wanting something nicer, Austin had some good suggestions.

Austin is also 110% right that CDs are super cheap. Though I do laugh when I’m buying CDs that I used to own. Gosh I wish I hadn’t given them away.

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Mitchell Volk's avatar

I actually found a cd player at Goodwill the other day, but there was no power cord. I'll keep looking there!

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

My favorite RSS reader is hands down Net News Wire, but it is Apple only. On my Android e-ink readers I am using Feedly and NewsBlur which both have their pros and cons. Feedly has less friction in the UI, but is also slower and takes up more space (which is why I am trying News Blur). I think I’d recommend loading a handful of feeds into multiple RSS apps to try them out. The different apps definitely change the experience.

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Mitchell Volk's avatar

I knew you would come through. I’ll try the ones you mentioned so I can compare and contrast. Thank you!

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Scott Gilbertson's avatar

I don’t use RSS but Luis Mendo does. His recommendations are near the bottom of the page in item 4: https://www.mundomendo.com/turnthepageonthescroll/

(Yes, I see the irony in asking you to scroll on his page titled “Turn the page on the scroll”)

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Mitchell Volk's avatar

Thanks for sharing, Scott!

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