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Considering a Move to Vinyl

Gaius,

Difficult to quantify that Joe. There is no digital processing or room treatment here, just an old pair of Quad ESL 63s, some Chord amps and a nice record player up top. Sounds like I'm in a small club and Len is just over there doing his thing.
I'm also a member of a small club. I do have an SACD/CD player, but the system is simple and straightforward -- P9 and Rega Ios (or digital source) into a Manley Stingray amp into ye olde Tannoy rectangular GRFs.

Sounds fine to me and better than a lot of new, expensive stuff I've heard.

Joe
 
Big fan of both vinyl and CD here and a firm believer that mastering is everything.

One thing I will say though is you have to first set a system up to sound right with CD as it is flat within say 0.5db, and then balance the record deck to it with cartridge and phono stage choices. If you set a system up just to sound great with a big fat ‘n’ fruity record deck it will obviously sound like crap with CD as you have effectively EQd it to a non-flat source. This being exactly the mistake all us Linn/Naim users made back in the 1980s! I remember trying a friend’s CD player in my Xerxes, 62/HiCap/140 and Kans system and being convinced it was ear-bleeding crap, that same CD player and CD would no doubt sound fine through my far flatter and more balanced current system. The CD certainly does (Prince Sign Of The Times).
 
Buying a nice TT was the best £7k I ever spent, and I've bought tons of S/H and new records since. Think about it, you buy a new car, you loose thousands on it year after year, and for what, something that just sits in the sun, rain snow etc. Your new TT on the other hand will still be looking beutiful year on year down the road and bring many, many hours of enjoyment.

You can buy some records S/H for virtually nothing and given the fact there are millions of them you will never, ever run out of choice.

Not turning this into another digital vs Analogue debate but if you have done away with CD's as many have and not streaming you are paying for downloads it's a no brainer. For example I looked on discogs tonight for an LP, 158 for sale from 17p! Even with postage it's going to less than a fiver and you'll have something you can cherish for years to come.

Yes, I know you can buy CD's for virtually nothing (I frequently do) but many people don't which is great news for me as I buy whole albums for around 1.50 inc postage online. Still much cheaper than a download from any site.

That's my 2cents worth, I'll get my coat!
 
It is never to late to start a record collection and remember when you buy a record, you own it for life.

Digital is convenient, but if you want to experience emotion in music and that illusion of real sound, what the term High Fidelity is all about, then you can't beat a good analogue front end matched to a good Hi-Fi system.

Still better, but harder, is a decent collection of phonograph cylinders.
 
It's not so hard to find the LPs and it is worth the effort.

My wife who knows nothing about records and even less about music bought me a gift of a very early copy of Electric Ladyland. I think it came from France. It is pressed sides 1 to 4 and 2 to 3 for autochangers. She's very strict about not paying over the odds.

When playing it you could be sitting at the mixing desk with the great man himself at your shoulder. The record was certainly pressed while he was still alive. If this was the only record I owned it would justify the system, it's that good.

I have owned the same LP12 for over 30 years, and even with a few upgrades over the years (Linn would call it something a bit above their Akurate spec) it's not really been a very expensive piece of kit, particularly if you factor in how long I've used it (and it will probably do another 30 years yet). How many digital sources will last 30 years let alone double that?

By the way visit Amoeba Music in the USA if you get the chance.
 
The early fat-case Polydor 2xCD (either West German or Japanese) of Electric Ladyland somewhat incompetently follows the ‘autochanger’ track order but sounds great. I assume it was a straight transfer of the vinyl cutting master. It sounds a heck of a lot better than the single disc remaster, but is worth quite a few quid these days (took me a long while to find one!). Sadly I’ve not got original Track vinyl to compare against, but it holds up nicely to my 70s Polydor vinyl.
 
With regards to my age I'm in my 30's - that's all the info I'm giving on that front! ;-) For this reason my music tastes really start in the 90's when there wasn't too much vinyl floating around.

I saw HMV Oxford Street (London) mentioned. It is still going and has quite a lot of vinyl in it. This was one of the reasons I was thinking about getting a player. I do accept not tonnes but there is a reasonable section.

So next question - how do you know a good press from bad? I enjoy a good bargain hunt and do that a lot with cd's so I'm not unhappy going for a rummage round charity shops but as there seems to be so much difference in quality how do you know what's good?
 
Flibbles,

Most of the audiophile-branded vinyl is very good to excellent. Expensive, though.

Joe
 
And another question - is there any good modern vinyl or is it all fairly average?

There is a whole lot of good modern vinyl and I can give you some guidance on how to find and identify the older stuff. Some of it is expensive, some not; what you want is generally a first press in the country of origin.
 
still a lot of vinyl about charity shops/markets .spend 300£ on a cleaning machine IS A MUST. a lot of new vinyl come from digital source. treat yourself to a 45rpm vinyl and you realise it is black magic jenifer warnes famous blue rain coat elvis gold hits and if you like jazz the stunning lyn Stanley OR peter Gabriel SO
 
Vinyl for music you really love. For when you have the time to sit and really listen. For when you enjoy an album so much you cannot play anything else immediately afterwards.
Internet radio for variety, new music, background music.
 
Vinyl for music you really love. For when you have the time to sit and really listen. For when you enjoy an album so much you cannot play anything else immediately afterwards.

This most definitely. I also love the look of my turntable - a lovely piece of modern art. it is expensive to get into , but it's a hobby, and most hobbys cost money . Buy equipment here secondhand and sell on if you change your mind and that way you will lose little money

I don't agree that you need loads of albums to justify getting into it. If you only had 5 but played them all the time, and loved doing so, then that's good enough for me
 
I do hope the OP announces what he does do (if he does anything with the funds he has).

My LP12 after I spent £X on PSU, Stylus, Amazing Arkless Phono Stage, Record Cleaning thing numerous anti static items sounded awful and succeeded in turning me into a quite happy digital user.

Plus software to rip my much loved albums that were not available digitally. Each scratch, tick and unmusical noise saved for posterity.

I woke up from my dream and saved the money and time.
 
Most of the audiophile-branded vinyl is very good to excellent. Expensive, though.

Joe

What do you categorise as 'audiophile branded', Joe? I've not had many reissues, and have a 'Grey Men with Beards' records which is virtually unplayable and a Nick Drake which is okay, if a bit dull. Other HMV purchases have been poor, but maybe these are not 'audiophile'.

Even a recent Goldfrapp 'Head First' distorted, though the CD is fine (unusually).

I do remember that records were also hit and miss back in the 60s and 70s, but when I consider that most audiophiles were playing with low VTF m/magnets (Shures, mainly) and RCMs hadn't really been invented, I (we) must have had a high acceptance level then.
 
Mike,

I'm thinking of record labels like Classic Records, Mobile Fidelity, Analog Productions, Speakers Corner,...

Expensive stuff, usually 40 to 50 clams a record.

Joe
 
Right. And for pretty much anything recorded after 1990 or so, that is a digital file.

Who is talking about post 1990? The only music I mentioned was 60s. If a lot of your musical interests are 60s and 70s, then digital only is not a good choice. Not that there aren't good cd reissues, but seaching out a half decent lp pressing will nearly always pay dividends.
 
Who is talking about post 1990? The only music I mentioned was 60s. If a lot of your musical interests are 60s and 70s, then digital only is not a good choice. Not that there aren't good cd reissues, but seaching out a half decent lp pressing will nearly always pay dividends.

Sure, if you stick to vinyl pressed in period (and avoid any reissues). I would find that a bit too restricted for my taste, but if it works for you...
 


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