Hi-fi near and far

As the Spin Doctor, I tend to lead an analog life. I'm not just talking about my preferred ways of listening to music, but also my approach to other everyday technology.

- BY MICHAEL TREI

For decades, there has been a push to turn everything we use into a connected, “smart” device. We now have technology that allows us to change the color temperature of the lights in our living room while we sit on the sofa, or to answer our front doorbell from the other side of the world. I prefer an older-school approach. For one thing, I drive a very analog car, a 33-year-old Mercedes-Benz diesel, which, once started, could happily drive all day without so much as a battery or alternator. Once it's started, you don't even need electricity, let alone anything digital.

Another piece of old tech I embrace is my analog landline telephone, which proudly boasts a phone number in the coveted 212 New York City area code. That area code ran out of numbers decades ago, so having a 212 number lets people know you're not some NYC newbie—that you've had the same number for decades. I use a slick-looking and great-sounding Bang & Olufsen phone on that line, but I have considered switching to a vintage Western Electric Model 500 rotary dial phone, just so I can challenge my Gen Z nieces to try and make a call. Even my refrigerator is behind the times, with no internal camera to scan its contents then text me when it thinks I'm running low on milk.

One concern I have with today’s smart devices is oversharing. I just don’t think Samsung needs to know how many eggs I have on hand. Some may say that makes me a Luddite, but as my dad always said as he went through the options list for a new car purchase, the things you leave off never break down.

The Belleson Radiance Phono Preamp