"What is that thing?" is what some may expect to hear from a child as you walk through aisles of audio equipment and happen upon a turntable.  Surprisingly, however, new turntables and new vinyl albums have seen a resurgence.

In a quote from an article by Andrea Mohin of the New York Times, "The turntable, once thought to have taken up obsolescence with reel-to-reel and eight-track players has been reborn.  Sales of vinyl albums have been climbing steadily for several years, tromping on the notion that the rebound was just a fad.  Through late November, more then  million vinyl records had been sold in 2009, an increase of more than 35 percent in a year."

As sales of CDs fall due to the increased demand of downloadable music from the internet, it is interesting to see the increased demand of a music format thought to be dead.  Much of the increased sales is due to the "IPod Generation" trying to start up or increase their vinyl collection.  Many people are discovering a quality of sound that they have never heard before.

There are of course improvements to the latest generation of players.  Newer, higher quality materials and manufacturing methods have made the turntables of today sound better than ever.  The vinyl itself is thicker and sounds better than it did back in the 60's and 70's.  It may not make sense from a convenience and portability standpoint but it's easy to overlook for the love of good sound.