Vinyl Records

[scotty]

After having a lot of work done around the house,today i was decorating the Hall when my wife said to me "What are you doing with these singles?"A box in the hall cupboard is full of 45`s.Now my attic has boxes full of LPs & 45`s that i cannot bear to get rid of I just cant and wont.All my music after the change got changed to CD format but i must say now all my music is stored on the P.C.I used to have a Turntable to play Vinyl but im afraid i didnt use it very much after the CD revolution.So heres the question,What are you doing with your Vinyl? Is it rotting away in the Attic/Garage or do you still play Vinyl?
All answers welcome.....
Scott









P.S i found the double gatefold version of The faith brothers Country of the blind!!!!! Im over the moon what a find i love this single.

[jingle_jangle]

Scotty, vinyl is very strong among audiophiles, and unopened LPs of all sorts are selling for premium prices.

I'm "into" vinyl, and I own a classic Brit turntable (a Transcriptors Skeleton) and a tube rig that I use to play my unmarked vinyl, and a classic '60s rig (Thorens turntable, Scott amplifier and Klipsch Heresy speakers) that I use for the scratchy stuff...

So, hang on to what you have, keep it in a cool dry place, store vertically and gently...it'll hold its value for somebody.

Back in '04, a lady friend gave me Brian Wilson's "Smile", newly-released, on CD, for a birthday present. Last year, I purchased the audiophile pressing of same on 180-gram vinyl. Although I have a really nice audiophile CD transport (Rega Planet), there was no comparison when I A-Bd the two types of source material--the LP wins hands down for fidelity, presence, separation, and depth of soundstage.

[JakeK]

I have every Beatles US release on LP, and I'm happy to say that I have a turntable to play them on. It's a Sony, and I've only replaced the needle once, and from that point, I haven't played my LPs very much.

This brings up a good question: What's a good cleaner to clean vinyls?

[woodyng]

years ago,i worked in a record store for 3-4 years and accumulated about 1000 lps during that time. once cd's came out,i was hooked on the greater fidelity of the format. these days my 54 year old ears don't really appreciate the differences in digital/cd/lp, and about 7 years ago,decided i was tired of moving my collection, as i tend to move every 2-3 years. i sold all my lps,including my technics linear tracking turntable to a record business in memphis and never looked back.- i buy most everything now as a download-got chris squire's christmas lp that way-it's kind of weird not having even the little cd jacket to look at,except on the computer. i hardly ever listen to music at home,mostly in the car,so having an ipod running through the car sound system is the way i ride. i do have about 10 lps that i framed and put on my wall as art,including parlophone copies of rubber soul and beatles for sale,which have unplayed vinyl in them. i am probably the opposite of a "pack rat",i like to keep my possessions to a minimum.

[jps]

Make your own vinyl records!

http://www.vestax.com/v/products/recorders/vrx2000.html

[jingle_jangle]

Current wisdom is that there will soon be two formats, vinyl and high-sample-rate digital downloads, handled by home servers into high-def speakers. Class "A" SS amps seem to be coming on strong, too; they are compact and powerful.

And you've touched upon the one thing that vinyl has (in addition to superior sound quality, generally), and that's real estate--space for some graphic creativity and lots of information.

Jake, how do you know your vinyl needs cleaning? If it's sounding bad, it's already too late to preserve the original fidelity.

Do you know that the contact area of a stylus in a record groove is so tiny that even with a couple of grams' tracking force, the pressure on the stylus in the groove amounts to no less than one and one-half tons? of force on that tiny area? Additionally, even with a new stylus, the record's surface is actually meltedby the friction of the stylus, on a microscopic level, and immediately hardens again.

It becomes easy to see that a chipped, scratched, or dirty stylus can, with one playing, completely trash the grooves of a vinyl record so there is no hope of recovery of fidelity.

That having been said, there are lots of ways to clean vinyl. Record stations that play it often use expensive automatic machines. You can use warm water, a bit of Neutrogena soap, and a microfiber cloth, rinsing well once you've soaped the surface with the microfiber cloth, and drying with a clean Turkish towel. The Discwasher system is fine for pre-play cleaning, but it won't get out the tough dirt.

[lennon211]

When I was a sophomore in high school (about 10 years ago), I started collecting records. My collection has grown to 1000+ albums, most in good shape. I have always found myself first looking at the record sleeve before listening, marveling at the art. There is something special about having the tangible copy with the big art to see. I've got a number of 45's as well that are a lot of fun to have around.

[sloop_john_b]

Make your own vinyl records!

http://www.vestax.com/v/products/recorders/vrx2000.html

That got me excited until I saw the nearly $10,000 price tag.

[jimk]

I have a Garrard turntable that I bought in 1976, which still works. Unfortunately, I can't say that about my Pioneer 535SX amp and receiver. I can't bear the thought of sending it to the landfill, and I'm afraid to ask how much it's going to cost me to have if fixed and running up to spec.

Otherwise, I'd still be listening to my vinyl collection.


JimK

[jps]

A very good friend of mine does repairs for reasonable prices. Let me know if you want it fixed.

[ken_j]

This brings up a good question: What's a good cleaner to clean vinyls?

The VPI 16.5 works great: http://www.musicdirect.com/product/74521

Note even if you don't play alot of records you still need to replace your stylus with regular frequency. The (rubber or rubber-like) suspension for the cantilever will degrade over time whether in use or not.

[jingle_jangle]

I am a long time Music Direct customer. The VPI in its variations is a good "consumer priced" machine for those who can afford the ticket and have the space for it.

Jake, however, is having a bit of difficulty raising the $$$ for his next Rickenbacker , so I deduced that a $540.00 record cleaning machine would probably be over his budget...

[jimk]

A very good friend of mine does repairs for reasonable prices. Let me know if you want it fixed.

PM sent, Jeffrey.

JimK

[shamustwin]

I recently read 48% of teenagers did not even buy CDs last year, they downloaded.
I miss holding an album, the "real estate", part of the joy of the total fan/listening experience.

[jimk]

Sort of like the old days when teen agers bought 45 rpm records one at a time, only the 21st century version, eh?

Yeah, I'm rather old fashioned that way, too. I like holding the CD in my hand. Quite a bit of what I know about folk music I learned from reading liner notes on LP jackets or CD inserts.

JimK