Topic: New Purchase...

[bkirby]

Thanks Carl, and +T for your effort. I think I have finally decided to build my own cleaning machine. I found a local record store yesterday that mostly sells records online (www.recordfinders.com) that has just about everything you can think of, all for $2 each. I got The Who Quadrophenia album with full covers, very good condition for $2. I couldn't believe what I was finding. Led Zeppelin Physical Graffitti (both LPs), $2. Van Halen discs, $2. I met the owner and he showed me the wharehouse of backstock he has. He has estimated well over 4 million records and trust me, I've seen it and I fully believe him. Some are in fair all the way to mint condition. Online, he sells everything for various prices. For the lucky who can get here, everything is $2. I walked away with 15 LPs yesterday, I don't think I'll get off as easily today!

I also talked to the owner about cleaning machines and he agrees it's cheaper and easier to build your own. He has quite a few busted up turntables that I can put together something easily. This will apparentally be my project for the weekend, but I think I will try and find a cleaning arm like Carl has from VPI for my cleaner.

Thanks again everyone. Seems like I am well on my way, but still waiting for my damn TT to get here as I have all these new LPs, and nothing to play them on...

[carlbeck]

I love finding mint records for cheap, it is almost as much fun as listening! Have fun Brad, it is the best thing I have ever done with audio, hopefully you'll feel the same way.

[bkirby]

Finally got everything all set up and all s running well. I went ahead and got a Cambridge 640P phono pre since the one in the Outlaw 990 was pretty noisy. Still breking everything in, but sounds great so far.
Hope eveyone has a great weekend...
Brad K.

[nickgregory]

congrats!  it really is a fantastic new world...

[som]

congrats!  it really is a fantastic new world...

"New"....I love it!   

[carlbeck]

The 640p is a great pre-amp, I just replaced mine with a phonomeca but honestly the difference was subtle at best. I think you'll find you have to spend a LOT more money to improve upon what you have. Analog is what it's all about for sure 

[stevetoney]

congrats!  it really is a fantastic new world...

Funny statement considering how lots of the vinyl that people buy are 30 or more years old.

An interesting thing about records that are selling in the relic stores for...say $2 to $4 apiece...is that this isn't probably all that far off what the cost of these things were when they were new.  I suppose $2 was a bit low on average, but I remember that most of my record collection (probably 500 or more) was bought from around '68 to probably '77 or so, and I'm thinking that I paid something in the $4.29 to $4.99 range in oh maybe 1973 or so.

Ha...it reminds me of my first job, actually, which was at a grocery store bagging groceries for I think around $2.50 an hour.  I remember thinking in terms of...if I work X number of hours, I can buy Y new albums.  I still think that way!!!

BTW, this comment isn't to say that finding records for $2 isn't sweet, it's just an interesting observation that I think it's probable that my first Beatles record (and my first record ever) only cost that much new in 1965 when I was 7...but I remember that it took me a month to save that much because my Mom only gave me 50 cents a week for my allowance. 

Wouldn't mind having that same record in pristine condition now!!!

[boojum]

Records were 4.98 and 5.98 "back in the day" and went up in price over the years.  I listened to vinyl for 30 years and do not miss it.  No clicks, pops, rumble, wow, flutter, degrading sound quality, deteriorating highs toward the center and so on.  No, CD's are a huge jump forward.  You may like the analog sound, but it is not as accurate even if it is more sweet sounding.  Early CD's were not all that good as they were processed the way LP's were and it did not work well.  They had a good run until the labels got into serious compression.  I believe this is more a pop thing than classical and jazz.  YMMV     

[carlbeck]

Records were 4.98 and 5.98 "back in the day" and went up in price over the years.  I listened to vinyl for 30 years and do not miss it.  No clicks, pops, rumble, wow, flutter, degrading sound quality, deteriorating highs toward the center and so on.  No, CD's are a huge jump forward.  You may like the analog sound, but it is not as accurate even if it is more sweet sounding.  Early CD's were not all that good as they were processed the way LP's were and it did not work well.  They had a good run until the labels got into serious compression.  I believe this is more a pop thing than classical and jazz.  YMMV     

The pops & clicks are easliy fixed by proper cleaning techniques. Quite frankly I have NEVER heard a CD, DVD or SACD that can hold a candle to a 30 year old record. I put my money where my mouth is & have invested most of my system money into analog reproduction & software. I have no regrets but to each his own 

[Nick's Picks]

analog has a definite quality to it, but "better" is subjective.
you may like it better, but that doesn't mean it is.  I like it better too.

[nickgregory]

Records were 4.98 and 5.98 "back in the day" and went up in price over the years.  I listened to vinyl for 30 years and do not miss it.  No clicks, pops, rumble, wow, flutter, degrading sound quality, deteriorating highs toward the center and so on.  No, CD's are a huge jump forward.  You may like the analog sound, but it is not as accurate even if it is more sweet sounding.  Early CD's were not all that good as they were processed the way LP's were and it did not work well.  They had a good run until the labels got into serious compression.  I believe this is more a pop thing than classical and jazz.  YMMV     

The pops & clicks are easliy fixed by proper cleaning techniques. Quite frankly I have NEVER heard a CD, DVD or SACD that can hold a candle to a 30 year old record. I put my money where my mouth is & have invested most of my system money into analog reproduction & software. I have no regrets but to each his own 

the other thing I have noticed is vinyl tends to image better than its CD counterpart.  The album that really blew me away (when compared to the CD) was the unforgettable fire...CD was a little flat and lifeless, but the vinyl is very deep sounding, much bigger soundstage. 

I am guessing the biggest thing is CD can sound as good as vinyl, but it takes alot more $$$$ to build up a digi front end to do so, vs, significantly lesser dollars for analog...

[carlbeck]

I still don't agree with CD sounding as good. My last digital front end was worth about 4k, a very good digital front end IMO, it sounded very good. My $1000 analog rig blew it away. The reality of it is that analog just sounds "right", it is music reproduction in it's most natural form, it works because it is real.

[nickgregory]

I still don't agree with CD sounding as good. My last digital front end was worth about 4k, a very good digital front end IMO, it sounded very good. My $1000 analog rig blew it away. The reality of it is that analog just sounds "right", it is music reproduction in it's most natural form, it works because it is real.

good info.  I havent delved to nearly that expense in a digi front end, so it is goog to hear experiences in trying

the other thing that Chris Sheppard has brought up a bunch is the availability of titles...especially when you get into Jazz, just isnt available on CD...sure the popular stuff made its way to be cut on CD, but there is quality stuff out there that just never has...

[som]

To me, vinyl just flat out sounds more musical. I don't even know what that "means", I just know it when I hear it. I don't need to analyze it to know that my ears prefer it. And the minor imperfections do not detract from that.

It    just    sounds    like    music.

[cshepherd]

We outfitted an old Pioneer turntable ($25 at a garage sale) with a spare cart last night and took it over to a friend's house.  We didn't do any direct comparisons to his $2500 cd player, but nobody was inspired to.  We all thought it was the best our friend's system had sounded. 

Chris