Can I get sound "AS CLOSE TO PERFECT AS I'VE EVER HEARD" with vinyl on a budget?

Guaranteed? That's a bit much.

 

No. It depends on the condition and whether or not you have a cleaning system. I've got $2 and $3 records I bought used that sound amazing. Of course they were in great condition and needed a thorough wet cleaning.

 

Right, I still find cheap records that sound great. Cheap often means crappy sounding but not always.

 

Shrewd buying gets you good deals on LPs, CDs, and the rest. I used to buy plenty of pristine cheap records when I still played vinyl.

 

When I started back up again with vinyl in 1999 all vinyl was cheap or free. I have tons of great sounding records that I paid very little or nothing for.

 

So, you don't have a digital "First Songs" that sounds better than the AF vinyl?

I'm asking you and several other people very specific questions about specific albums but can't get a straight answer from any of you.

 

I was just spinning my BC-13 Japanese White Album and I heard it skip a single word in "Dear Prudence". I immediately jumped out of my seat and lifted the needle. While inspecting the record I whispered to myself, "It must have been a disturbance in the force." I dropped the needle back on the spot and nothing. It's a minty version too so I was surprised to hear it. But I guess what I'm getting at is that this whole vinyl business brings out the crazy in all of us. Grown men (and women) nearly losing their minds (not to mention their paychecks) over, to and for music. What a weird bunch we are.

 

You have a point, obviously, but how fortunate we are to be so passionate about something. Everyone must/should have hobbies. This one is expensive but also deeply satisfying. Being very new to vinyl, I can certainly relate to your point. To channel my inner 4chan:

Be me, listening to latest "1st press UK vinyl"
Track 3 of 4 has distortion in right channel
Be me, taking record off, putting on test LP, verifying bias is set right. Good - on to the next
Be me, break out arc protractor
Contemplate if Lofgren A or B *really* suits me
Be me, searching for allen wrenches
Be me, I need whiskey and a smoke
Be me, just slightly less sober
Hey, sounds great! Wonder what that was?
Ah crap, it's the test LP again.
Where the hell is my stylus force gauge? Not the digital one, that thing isn't the right height. I need the weird one. That balances.
I can't find my flashlight.
Be me, putting another LP on

Ok, so that's a bit of an exaggeration. Or... is it? Regardless, I'm having a ton of fun over here, don't mind me

 

Sounds like you guys are nervous wrecks when listening to music!

 

Perfect never happens, even on huge budgets. Excellence is more like it. He or She who wants vinyl on a budget must be savvy and be prepared to buy thy used gear well chosen at the right time often.

 

My personality is about as type B as it gets. Last night I spent two hours listening to music and didn't get out of my chair once. Heavenly.

 

I recently have bought Ricky Lee Jones self-titled LP and Suzanne Vega Solitude Standing LP for $2 each, gave both a good cleaning and they sound fabulous.

 

and don't forget, 60's and 70's vinyl is 40 - 50+ years old, and has probably been played a million times with a needle that weighed a pound and a half.

 

Depends on what the owner had and how he took care of it. Not everyone owned rubbish. Remember too that there were even consoles which were gentle to records if cared for, better Packard Bell, Fishers, Zenith Micro-Touch changers, the Philco-Fords with similar to Micro-Touch being some examples. Plus 40-50 years ago and more people had good separates also.

 

To the OP. You thought that CDs sounded better than your vinyl setup at one point. So you sold most of your vinyl (and I presume your vinyl setup). But now you want perfect sound from vinyl and on a budget???

o There's no such thing as perfect sound. From vinyl or CDs.
o Why do you think budget vinyl system can sound "close to perfect" now when you didn't prefer it previously?

 

The title to my thread with perfect in quotes came from this thread: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/vinyl-playback-sound-quality.493926/page-23#post-13725763
FWIW, I certainly don't expect perfect sound from a budget vinyl setup. At this point I am hearing the best sound I've ever heard from my rig; extremely happy with it. The impetus for my thread came from reading several overly exuberant threads on the joy of getting in to, or back in to vinyl. It's been years and I am much more experienced now then I was when I quit vinyl.
I'm just mulling over the idea and will probably purchase a modest set up for kicks. I have a phono pre so why not?

 

Okay, fair enough. I tried getting back into vinyl a few years ago, after reading many enthusiastic posts here. The short version is that it just isn't for me. YMMV. Good luck and have fun with it.

 

Bahahaha exactly...too funny...that includes me! A great caricature of me listening to a record for the first time haha.

 

If they had Fairchild in the mastering system, cheap used old vinyl will sound pretty damn good, guaranteed.

 

even with all the years of accumulated surface wear?

 

I'm a firm believer that you will enjoy vinyl playback only if you enjoy vinyl playback. Vinyl has a whole set of idiosyncrasies which are glorious to some and just a pain to others (clicks and pops and surface noise, which always seem to be present in at least some degree especially with ordinary pressings, plus wow-and-flutter). If you liked listening to vinyl, then as bluemooze said you can probably enjoy without spending zillions. If you're trying to match the silence and lack of wow-and-flutter of digital, you are doomed to failure or bankruptcy. They are simply different animals. And, either can have horrible production and/or mastering give the technology a bad name.

I frankly think you'd be better off spending the money in other areas, such as a good subwoofer to fill in the very bottom octaves below your Revels.

By the way as for "I am retired USAF after working in communications maintenance. Best job there was as the chief engineer at a radio and television station.":
- Thanks for your service!
- Not a job associated offhand with the Air Force. Just goes to show there are a lot of things you can do in the military.

 

No need to thank me really as I enjoyed almost every minute of it. The radio/tv station I worked at was on the island of Crete, a veritable paradise in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The purpose of the radio/tv is to provide official information to military members and dependents; entertainment was a bonus.
Here's another one. My last three years were spent as a newspaper editor. At least that was my title. Another fantastic job.

 

And...must be prepared to pay for repairs on failing used equipment. And...hope the tech they are paying$$$ knows what they are doing.