OK, so many vinyl fans, but who's just DONE with it?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by head_unit, Jun 8, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Starting in the middle, I'm primarily a classical and opera collector, but I do have a nice collection of traditional jazz (much of it courtesy of a college friend's dad, who passed me his family 78 collection). I've noticed the effect of demographics over the years. Back when I started, as a beginning high school student in the middle 1970s (and oh, my, was there ever a better girl magnet than collecting 50-year-old 78s as a young teen?), records from the teens and '20s were everywhere and went for maybe a quarter each. The "easy" material gradually crept newer over time--what I realized after quite a lot of years was that the records readily available in flea markets and such were coming from all the basements and attics and garages of a succession of generational cohorts--first the folks who bought fox trots in the '20s, then the big band music from the '40s, and so on. By now, I think, we've largely passed through all the 78-buying cohorts, and the records don't turn up very often except on eBay or in dealer catalogues, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if those blues records have become exceeding dear. The most expensive format with which I have direct experience, by far, is operatic cylinders; those really are a rich (or soon not to be rich) man's game. And, yes, I've bought some of those. Er. Um. That cylinder machine that you saw at LC, by the way, was probably an Archeophone. Those run around $20,000 apiece.

    "Visceral." I like that--it's a perfect description of the kind of sound I was trying to describe. It may not be as "high fidelity" as what comes off LPs, but it has real power and impact.

    Now, pardon me while I practice my back stroke! ;)
     
    Bill Hart likes this.
  2. mkane

    mkane Strictly Analog

    Location:
    Auburn CA
    And I agree. Out of about 500 records here very, very, very few have any surface noise. I'm a cheap SOB and use SB for cleaning. Works a treat.
     
  3. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    $30 and perfect as it was recorded on the original tape? :laughup: fat chance!

    Try spending $500 per album then it becomes a serious conversation. Analogy Records | Studio Original Master Tape

    In the meantime I am listening to my half speed queen greatest 1 which does a pretty good job for less than 50
     
    dkmonroe likes this.
  4. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Vinyl::.its easy and fun
    It’s not a pain to set up: just do it and your done, I haven messed with mine in two years.
    Pops and clicks:: you have dirty records, clean or get rid.. buy clean vinyl.
    It doesn’t have to be expensive. A modest setup sounds amazing.
    If you like digital then do that. It’s cool also. Just not as cool:)
     
  5. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    Your analogies seem a little exaggerated.
    If you bought a meal with too much salt in it you would either have them take the dish away or just never go there again....bad product.
    A woman beating you over the head!..........ridiculous.

    And the whole point of LP playback is that you don't have to try and connect with the music... it will connect with you in a authentic way.

    First off the condition of the LP has to be good.
    You cannot expect an LP that has been damaged,neglected, or is filthy to sound correct.
    You will not be hearing clicks and pops with a LP in excellent condition, used or not.


    And you give a example of a song that has some very quiet passages that need to be heard with no noise KC's - Moonchild.
    I have a few copies of King Crimson's - In The Court.
    So I threw on my latest acquisition of said title - Panegyric - KCLP 1, 200 gram pressing.
    And I played Moon Child start to finish.
    I listened intently for anything that could possibly detract from the listening experience.
    It displayed an almost dead silent noise floor and no clicks or pops.

    My point?
    It's all about the LP's condition and your turntable/cartridge's ability to track that LP.
    If those criteria are met sufficiently it's a very enjoyable experience.
     
  6. broshfab4

    broshfab4 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Worth the trouble, especially on a good system that brings out the details. CD's are great too but nothing beats the warmth of a great sounding record.

    Love mine and I will be buried with a few of them LOL
     
    Manimal likes this.
  7. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    The Great Vinyl Purge Of 2000 took place without fanfare or drama. Was glad to have it off my back. Shortly thereafter, it became evident that there were more botched Zappa CDs than I anticipated, and I did panic briefly. But finally, proper remasters materialized. So, no regrets. Ever.

    Because girls really wanna come over to look at your records and tube preamps. Just sayin'

    That is a legitimately depressing development. And I'm convinced they're doing it on purpose, so no one will have good digital copies to distribute (never mind us honest suckers who don't do that). And then Onward To MQA. :mad:

    But that still works out for me – coincidentally – because I (almost) never buy mainstream releases, where most of the brickwalling occurs. My tastes run ultra-weird anymore: abstruse, prog, world, indie, polka, psych, antique. And the vast majority of those are engineered in a passable-to-excellent manner, insofar as they're not expected to sell a zillion copies, or be heard via earbuds, and thus aren't subject to the whims of label Suits.

    The real bottom line is that there is less disposable income around here as time goes on. One thing I think we can all agree on is that vinyl is a Money Pit (aaaand here comes the rebuttal). I'd rather buy new weird music and attend concerts.

    Like everyone else here, I construct and rationalize my own little world to my satisfaction.

    Semi-ironically, I still have my Planar 3. All boxed up. It will go to my brother whenever one of us thinks they can afford to ship it insured 1500 miles. o_O

    What I can honestly say is that music at home has never sounded better as it does since I set up a server.

    "Humphhh, that guy's no audiophile."

    You might be right.
     
    Vignus likes this.
  8. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    Well said
     
  9. libertycaps

    libertycaps Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    My Dad can kick your Dad's ass.
     
    SirMarc and Bathory like this.
  10. James Glennon

    James Glennon Senior Member

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    If you put your money where your mouth is, then you are entitled to feel like that!

    JG
     
  11. captwillard

    captwillard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville
    LP's are fun and if I have time to sit down and listen to them, I will. Often I can only get 2 or three sides in on a session. With CD's and streaming I am able to do things like prep food, cook, clean, etc... without having to wash and dry my hands to attend to the turntable. I also don't like to mess with LP's once I reach the half bottle of wine point. I'm happy with my digital playback system, so it is all good.
     
  12. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    Well, I’m happily married now, but inviting a girl over to listen to records always worked for me. Even now, my wife loves my record collection. She thinks it’s amazing, and keeps trying to talk me into moving out of my little music room and into our living room.

    Sorry if it didn’t work out that way for you. :shrug:
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
    wgriel, SirMarc, andybeau and 4 others like this.
  13. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    But what if someone wants to feel a slap to the head when they're with a beautiful woman? Shouldn't they be allowed to enjoy themselves or do they have to capitulate to your way of thinking?

    I don't think you are being harsh at all. But you are basically suggesting your way is the only way to listen to music.

    Your examples don't work that well either because you'r equating ticks with loud coughing in a hall or being slapped repeatedly in the head, when people who don't mind ticks would still be annoyed by the coughing and the head slapping. But for you ticks are equal to those. For others they aren't, they don't mind the ticks.

    You wrote, "If I spend..." That's the key. If it's your money you can appreciate it as you see fit. Just like when someone spends their money they can enjoy their records the way they want.

    I don't like noisey records either. I spend a lot of time trying to find better copies, often never actually succeeding! But if someone wants to buy a VG record and enjoy it, go ahead. I see people on various forums buying up beat up records and loving them. I shake my head but I'm quite happy when I'm able to sell mine. :D
     
  14. Sane Man

    Sane Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bethlehem, PA
    I don't buy many new vinyl. But I love hunting down original pressings of music that was first heard by people through that medium. I love the historical context and the medium (cover artwork and vinyl) is as much a piece of the art as the music. I've kinda slowed/started to avoid collecting rare vinyl from the 90s when reissues are available. Most of the time, the vinyl was an afterthought and the CD is the medium to have anyway. Plus, the prices and demand are insane because a lot of newer collectors my age (mid-30's) that want the music they grew up with on vinyl. At a local shop near me, I saw a sealed copy of Tool's Aenima from 1996 go for $600. Open copies $300+. A lot of examples of things like that (Alice in Chains tripod album, most of the Mars Volta catalogue) that I'll just wait for proper reissues or be happy with the CD.
     
  15. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Yes, playing records is more romantic. Chicks dig it more than "hey come over and lets play some music files from my computer."

    But really for many guests to my home that are not interested in music they will more likely sit and listen to records. It the whole thing, looking through a collection, checking out the album art and watching it spin. It gives one more to do and discuss than "shut up and listen."
     
    SirMarc, Helom, jon9091 and 1 other person like this.
  16. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    Love of music means never having to say "I'm sorry" :cheers:
     
    jon9091 likes this.
  17. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    I started buying records because I was in college, records were going out of style and, without a lot of money, cheaper to buy than CDs.

    I still have my record collection, but I'm paring it down to stuff I particularly like, or can't get on CD.

    I'll only buy new stuff if I:
    1. It's a release by a musician that I collect
    2. It's weird, rare or otherwise is interesting to me

    If those criteria aren't met I don't particularly care if I buy it online or on CD.
     
  18. chromium

    chromium The power of the riff compels me.

    Location:
    Belgium
    I keep going round in circles :help:

    I bought my final vinyl album (first round) in 1987 (Inxs - Kick) and during that year I proceeded to sell off most of my my albums to my high school friends, sold about 50 albums and kept about 20.
    I needed the money to buy a CD player and my first two CDs (Joshua Tree and Appetite for Destruction). Bought about 500 CDs over a decade or so and bought my last CD in 1998 ( Massive Attack - Mezzanine) because I had discovered I could download albums and play them through my laptop hooked up my stereo. Around 2005 I ripped all my CDs and put them in storage and went digital all the way (mostly using headphones).

    Didn't buy any music for the next decade. In 2015 I picked up a Technics SL-1500 from an estate sale, fixed it up and started playing my 20 albums again. Fell in love again with everything analogue, bought three more record players and a decent amp/speakers.
    For three years I went to each record fair within driving distance, even drove the 9 hour round trip to the Utrecht record fair. Bought about 600 albums during that period, both used and new and became a full-on vinyl junkie, even making sure to hit as many record shops as possible when on holiday in any city, anywhere.

    After three years there were so few records left on my want list that I switched to Japanese pressings only..but because of the scarcity and price instead of buying 4-5 vinyl albums a week I went down to buying maybe one every month. During the past three months I've slowly been migrating back to CD :doh:. Mainly due to the fact that some of the albums I'm after are $50-$60 where I can buy the CD for $3-$4.
    Last week I bought a new Marantz CD8500 SACD player from an audio store bankruptcy auction, paid a little over $300 for it, new in the box

    So I went from vinyl to CD, then back to vinyl and now back to CD and SACD, but I'm still on the lookout for Japanese (heavy metal) presings on vinyl...so basically I'm now buying almost every media I can get my hands on.

    One day I just struck me, why should I pay $50 for a vinyl copy of Frank Zappa ‎– Strictly Commercial when I could buy the CD version for $5, especially since I have all the songs on the album on various other LPs.
     
    ggjjr and Kristofa like this.
  19. Leggs91203

    Leggs91203 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    I think a lot of audiophiles would give plenty to hear their wives invite them to the living room with their music.

    Did the LP version still have that horrid distortion like the cassette/CD/MP3 versions? Anyone who wants to know what serious brickwall sounds like just need listen to THAT horrible release. The music itself is good but the distortion is unbearable.
     
    jon9091 likes this.
  20. murphythecat

    murphythecat https://www.last.fm/user/murphythecat

    Location:
    Canada
    im done with it and have sold my entire jazz collection, it sucks a bit but I had to make a compromise. I find that analog sounds better then digital, but I tend to listen less and less to jazz or classical and more and more to modern music.
    i would have kept my entire collection and related gear for sure if my main music selection came from the 50's up to 80's though.

    I'm done with it for now, maybe ill kickmy self for having sold all my 2 eye miles, blue note or good impulse Coltrane pressings. oh well.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
  21. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    Is it the vinyl, or the wacky/gorgeous turtables? And tubes, well, they just look so cool. Er, warm!
     
  22. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    I wouldn’t go quite that far. :help:



    :cheers:
     
    gd0 and black sheriff like this.
  23. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    I guess I have apologized for this on occasion...

    [​IMG]
     
    4_everyman likes this.
  24. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    The proper term is vinyls..... :)
     
    SirMarc and Sane Man like this.
  25. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    I keep a dedicated iPod and powered speakers in the kitchen, usually playing either podcasts (very into How Did This Get Made right now) or my ongoing live playlist of recent acquisitions while I either make dinner or do the washing up. But the living room is where we do the majority of our listening, and that's almost always vinyl, usually each of us with a cat on our lap so that whoever is cat-free at the moment gets to get up and flip sides or choose the next LP. There's room for everything.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine