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Essential Vinyl Purchases?


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Essential vinyl purchases? I made them between 1964 and 1987 and they are all in boxes in my garage.

 

That's the spirit!

 

Just give me 20 minutes with your 1964-70 box(es) and I'll relieve you of that burden? B)

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The expensive turntables are usually direct drive...the stuff you see DJ's using. It allows for instantaneous stop/stars, the ability to adjust speed, and to scratch/play records backwards, etc. Theres no reason an average consumer needs a Technics 1200. Lets face it, turntables are an ancient format. By this point in the game, even the low end belt driven models have been perfected to do an adequate job. In fact, the vintage stuff being sold in garage sales or sitting in your grandmothers attic is the best possible gear you could pick up.

 

Vinyl can be fun in and of itself, but if one is interested in high fidelity sound, the post above is very misinformed.

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I can't believe nobody said "Blonde On Blonde" in the original discussion. "You don't have it? That is perverse. Don't tell anybody you don't own f%*king Blonde on Blonde!"

 

Jack-Black-High-Fidelity.4.jpg

 

Speaking of which.... the Sundazed reissues of the early Dylan albums in MONO are all very worthwhile, and not expensive either. An original Mono will set you back a lot of money.

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Vinyl can be fun in and of itself, but if one is interested in high fidelity sound, the post above is very misinformed.

Not really....

 

I own the Pioneer PL-570 DD Turntable. My parents purchased this in 1977. It's still in mint condition. It's been a hell of a turntable! They don't make TT's like they used to....

 

This does appear to be true...

 

To put a spin on this, I truly believe that after the current vinyl mania dies down (and it will) alot of folks are going to have boxes of LPs in their garage. I totally agree that LPs are fun to play, but they do have significant disadvanages over digital. I have yet to play an LP in my car, where I spend alot of time listening to shit. I am happy that so much is now available again on LP, but not everything is and if a few companies stop making LPs, the market is going to collapse.

 

LouieB

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To put a spin on this, I truly believe that after the current vinyl mania dies down (and it will) alot of folks are going to have boxes of LPs in their garage. I totally agree that LPs are fun to play, but they do have significant disadvanages over digital. I have yet to play an LP in my car, where I spend alot of time listening to shit. I am happy that so much is now available again on LP, but not everything is and if a few companies stop making LPs, the market is going to collapse.

 

LouieB

 

As a frequent patron of Slipt Disk, a local indie music store that specialized in vinyl, my name was given to a reporter writing a story on the resurgence of vinyl, this was back in 94 or 95. Which is to say, I think the “current vinyl mania” is not so much a trend, and maybe more of fairly consistent business sustained by a small (in relative music buying terms) group of devotees. And I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.

 

With that said, my entire collection is still in storage, and has been since we moved into our home 8 years ago. Not a month goes by in which I don’t threaten to bust out the vinyl, but then I gaze upon all our daughter’s toys, and how they’ve taken over just about every spare inch of space, and I put it off for another month…

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And I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.

 

We shall see....

 

We discuss these things among a fairly small group of folks who still do buy vinyl records, but the vast majority of people don't even know they are for sale. Needless to say the market for vinyl records has grown substantially in the last 5 or so years with younger people having the time, funds, and interest in buying and listening to them, but as that age group also ages and gets married and has kids (as you have) not to mention, deals with hi fi issues such as turntables that need maintenance, etc, this trend, like every other trend we experience these days will fall off.

 

Some day analog film will make a small resurgence too, as will gasoline powered cars (oh yea, they never went away) and other technological has beens. And there will always be nostalgia for old stuff, but I just don't believe that the current enthusiasm for non-digital music is permanent. I guess I will have to wait a few years to be proved either right or wrong.

 

LouieB

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the problem i see w/ digital formats is that it seems transient, not lasting...you can pick up an LP made six decades ago and still play it. the cd will not be around in ~10 or so years. mp3s are not a good alternative. sure, you can use FLAC but to me it's not the same thing. maybe it's because i don't feel any sense of ownership when i have a file on my PC.

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the problem i see w/ digital formats is that it seems transient, not lasting...you can pick up an LP made six decades ago and still play it. the cd will not be around in ~10 or so years. mp3s are not a good alternative. sure, you can use FLAC but to me it's not the same thing. maybe it's because i don't feel any sense of ownership when i have a file on my PC.

I half agree with this. I buy old LPs all the time that sound great (sometimes they are better sounding than the newer ones..), but I think the death of CDs is greatly exagerated. I see lots of positives that have come from CDs and I think more people will continue to buy CDs than LPs. And yes, people love LPs in a way they don't love CDs, I know I do too. (Case in point, the other night at the Califone show LPs seemed to outselling CDs, but then again you can slip a CD in your pocket or purse and you can't do this so easily with LPs...)

 

I really have no feeling about digital files because I rarely download stuff and my i-Pod died a few months back. But clearly the one thing that isn't going away is the digital download.

 

I was asked to be in a short documentary about indie record stores this week, so yea, I guess there is still lots of traction over the record store is not dead. Good thing too, because I have no idea where I will hang out when they finally do die.... But for those of us (perhaps including you) who remember the full service record store, those days do appear to be over sadly. And if some used record stores don't stop over charging for used (and new) LPs their lifespan is going to shortened too.

 

LouieB

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Two recent releases that sound incredible on vinyl are Jim O'Rourke's The Visitor, and Califone's All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. The depth of sound on the records really comes through on vinyl.

 

I believe that it is best to match components with components of similar quality. The idea that speakers are more important than turntables, or amps are more important than speakers, is not sound. Each is dependent on the other. The component of lesser quality is going to bring the other components down to its level. Speakers are only going to reproduce the sound fed to them. If it comes from thin, light power, the sound reproduced will be, well, thin and light, no matter how good the speakers.

The turntable is only going to be as good as the cartridge used to pick up the sound in the first place. If I have a $500 turntable, I am going to put a $500 or so cartridge on it. Otherwise, the initial $500 is wasted.

 

I love vinyl not only for the superior sound, but for the ability to continually play with and tweak the sound by changing up the system used. Unfortunately, it can get expensive.

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ZZ Top Elminator sounds especially excellent on record, just got some nice dollar bin discoveries, Pete Seeger live at carnagie 63, the best of the guess who, and the soundtrack to american graffitim, 2 record set 41 classic oldies rock tunes

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If I have a $500 turntable, I am going to put a $500 or so cartridge on it. Otherwise, the initial $500 is wasted.

 

So the $500.00 turntable will sound better then my $100.00 coming out of the same equipment? That is my question.

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I totally agree that LPs are fun to play, but they do have significant disadvanages over digital. I have yet to play an LP in my car, where I spend alot of time listening to shit.

 

Most new LP's these days come with a free digital download of the album.

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So the $500.00 turntable will sound better then my $100.00 coming out of the same equipment? That is my question.

 

Yes it will, unless you're deaf....or unless, as Leo suggested, the rest of your gear is SO limiting that it can't reproduce the improvements.

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kind of off topic but for those of you who live in the Raleigh/ Durham area, there's a guy at Cary Towne Center mall who's got an impressive collection of used vinyl. tomorrow is his last day there and he won't be back again until Jan. 10. i picked up;

 

1. John Lennon and Yoko Ono- Double Fantasy

2. Johnny Cash- At San Quentin

3. Pink Floyd- A Saucerful Of Secrets (is actually the album Nice Pair which included both Piper At The Gates... and SOS but Piper was missing so i got a deal on it.)

4. Rolling Stones- Some Girls

5. Johnny Cash- Hymns From The Heart

6. King Crimson- In The Wake Of Poseidon (never listened to these guys before but the guy at the shop recommended them. even played some songs for me and i was totally won over.)

 

the guy that runs the place is amazing. he's selling tons of stuff; comics, action figures, cards, movie posters, etc. but really knows his music. we discussed The Beatles, Them, Led Zeppelin, John Coltrane and so on for an hour or so. it was like i died and had gone to heaven. :stunned

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Most new LP's these days come with a free digital download of the album.

I know this, but then I have to do the actual download, replace my iPod, etc. For some albums it is simply easier to just buy the CD (since I wait to find alot of stuff used anyway).

 

LouieB

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kind of off topic but for those of you who live in the Raleigh/ Durham area, there's a guy at Cary Towne Center mall who's got an impressive collection of used vinyl. tomorrow is his last day there and he won't be back again until Jan. 10. i picked up;

 

1. John Lennon and Yoko Ono- Double Fantasy

2. Johnny Cash- At San Quentin

3. Pink Floyd- A Saucerful Of Secrets (is actually the album Nice Pair which included both Piper At The Gates... and SOS but Piper was missing so i got a deal on it.)

4. Rolling Stones- Some Girls

5. Johnny Cash- Hymns From The Heart

6. King Crimson- In The Wake Of Poseidon (never listened to these guys before but the guy at the shop recommended them. even played some songs for me and i was totally won over.)

 

the guy that runs the place is amazing. he's selling tons of stuff; comics, action figures, cards, movie posters, etc. but really knows his music. we discussed The Beatles, Them, Led Zeppelin, John Coltrane and so on for an hour or so. it was like i died and had gone to heaven. :stunned

 

I miss that sort of deal. There is use to a flea market here where I live down by the river (near a van) that had a whole room full of records. They were not $$$$$ either, but rather, a dollar or two. That is the last place I bought used records - several years ago now. I sometimes wonder how many copies of Tapestry were pressed, as there seemed to be stacks of that particular album there.

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I sometimes wonder how many copies of Tapestry were pressed, as there seemed to be stacks of that particular album there.

Millions....and millions. It was the largest selling album of the day and was only moved off that by Thriller, which was at the beginning of the CD era. Tapestry was owned by everyone I knew in the early 70s.

 

LouieB

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Millions....and millions. It was the largest selling album of the day and was only moved off that by Thriller, which was at the beginning of the CD era. Tapestry was owned by everyone I knew in the early 70s.

 

LouieB

 

And, a lot of people wrote their names on the album cover.

 

Which makes me think of the original pressing I have of Magical Mystery Tour. The price is written on the front of the cover in black marker.

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Limited edition lp from Shelley Short - Each copy is unique and one-of-a-kind. I bought one when they came through town. Her voice is beautiful and her husband/producer adds some unique chord changes on guitar. I find also that she is able to take me to a place St Vincent cannot, if that makes sence. :unsure

 

Not expecting anyone to be able to find a copy, but the spirit of it's existence should warm any lp collector's heart.

 

edit: blindgonzo, you'd like this stuff :ninja

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kind of off topic but for those of you who live in the Raleigh/ Durham area, there's a guy at Cary Towne Center mall who's got an impressive collection of used vinyl. tomorrow is his last day there and he won't be back again until Jan. 10. i picked up;

 

1. John Lennon and Yoko Ono- Double Fantasy

2. Johnny Cash- At San Quentin

3. Pink Floyd- A Saucerful Of Secrets (is actually the album Nice Pair which included both Piper At The Gates... and SOS but Piper was missing so i got a deal on it.)

4. Rolling Stones- Some Girls

5. Johnny Cash- Hymns From The Heart

6. King Crimson- In The Wake Of Poseidon (never listened to these guys before but the guy at the shop recommended them. even played some songs for me and i was totally won over.)

 

the guy that runs the place is amazing. he's selling tons of stuff; comics, action figures, cards, movie posters, etc. but really knows his music. we discussed The Beatles, Them, Led Zeppelin, John Coltrane and so on for an hour or so. it was like i died and had gone to heaven. :stunned

 

HH, now that you're totally won over, proceed directly to "Lark's Tongues In Aspic"...and "Red"...and "Starless & Bible Black"...and, well, you get the idea. :lol

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