So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

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Grey
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So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by Grey »

I was just listening to the double LP of Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and thought I would start up this thread to see if other people here enjoy having music on Vinyl.

I bought Radioheads' In Rainbows from a place in Indianapolis the other day and i've been playing that constantly as well. :)
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jingle_jangle
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by jingle_jangle »

Yep. There was a thread on vinyl a coupla years or so ago.

I've heard that more vinyl albums were sold last year than any year since '82, when CDs came out.

The CD is the shortest-lived preferred music storage system ever invented...and some folks thought it would last "forever"...
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by kennyhowes »

Vinyl collector here.
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Grey
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by Grey »

jingle_jangle wrote:I've heard that more vinyl albums were sold last year than any year since '82, when CDs came out.
Would not suprise me. Lots of bands I like are putting out quality releases on vinyl these days. I recently picked up Gimme Fiction by Spoon which also came with a card for a free MP3 download of the album, a trend that seems to be catching on.
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by jps »

Great, now Goldmund can sell more of these. 8)
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by jingle_jangle »

The folks who buy those either have ears like dogs, or wallets like Rupert Murdoch, or both.

I'm fortunate to have a handmade Transcriptors Skeleton from 1977, which is fully restored and has the strangest tone arm in history, the Vestigal (which is commonly misspelled as "Vestigial". The company remains in business as a parts depot, and I can still get the special bearing fluid and belts.

Here's the setup in our living room: The Transcriptors on the right, Yaqin tube preamp in the center, and an Onix power amp on the left. Underneath is an older SONY 300 CD jukebox and a Rega Saturn CD player. Speakers are Gallo Reference 2.3. Cheap Monoprice 12" sub. Interconnects are all Maplesound. Medical stabilized power supply not seen. This is not earth-shaking stuff, but it's beautifully matched and sounds live up to its limits (35W/channel + 80 sub).

Image

Here's a closeup of the Transcriptors Skeleton. There were only a few hundred of these made, in Northern Ireland. Each has a hand-engraved serial number on the tempered glass enclosure. Every part is hand-lathe-turned or hand-machined and the black base is hand-cast low-resonance composite material.

Image

The specs are still excellent, 35 years after it was made.
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by jps »

Paul, you do realize the solidity and coherence of imaging is all screwed up in your layout? :shock:
livingroom-a.jpg
You can't have a guitar on only one side, that messes with everything (not to mention the lamp, too)! :mrgreen:
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Grey
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by Grey »

Paul, that's an interesting picture hanging above your equipment. :lol: The room and view looks very calming. I have not tried any of those Chinese-made Yaqin Tube Amps, though I see them constantly on eBay. How do you like it?

I use a late 80's SS Harman/Kardon Integrated Amp that I got non-working and repaired.
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by ken_j »

jingle_jangle wrote: The CD is the shortest-lived preferred music storage system ever invented...and some folks thought it would last "forever"...
Unfortunately new CDs are now compressed will even less fidelity than before.

I have sold off all of my esoteric HIFI gear over the last year with exception to my speakers. Hopefully they too will soon depart as soon as I find an iterested audiophile.

Nice looking system Paul. I would love to hear it.
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Badanovski
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by Badanovski »

I could understand the change to CD's. The average turntable back in the day chewed up your vinyl in no time. I was a Beatles freak & went through 3 sets of Parlophone albums in 3 years. It's the drastic loss of sound quality from the MP3's that took over I don't understand. Have people gone deaf. Too much bass from RAP in their cars?
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by jimk »

I do, and have, just not recently, however. And I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything by the Byrds or the Beatles on vinyl. Only problem is that my old vintage 1976 Pioneer SX535 shot craps a long time ago. I still have it, and would like to get it repaired. I also still have my Garard 82 turntable. But if I ever released a recording, I think I would choose to put it out as a digital download only. It would, I suspect be more than I could afford to put out an old fashioned LP.
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by jingle_jangle »

jps wrote:Paul, you do realize the solidity and coherence of imaging is all screwed up in your layout? :shock:
livingroom-a.jpg
You can't have a guitar on only one side, that messes with everything (not to mention the lamp, too)! :mrgreen:
The layout is far from optimal, but I gave up on optimal, because when I began (according to Smith's book) I had an unlivable room, with the speakers virtually in the center and chairs pushed back to the far wall, where the piano lives. Smith's rule#1 is to never put the components between the speakers. Rule broken.

Sit in either of the Wassily chairs, though, and the music is right there, in your head, palpably live-sounding. You can hear violins and cellos being bowed, guitars being plucked, Glenn Gould grunts through the Goldberg Variations. You can hear Chris Squire's stomach rumbling. Or perhaps that's a lorry on the street outside the studio...I dunno. It's a nice room, acoustically, with a balance of hard and soft and a bent ceiling.

And---then we turn on the laser light projector and the fog machine. (I'm not kidding...) :lol:

Erik--the Yaquin preamp and Onix amp are both made in China. The Onix is made in a dedicated, state of the art factory owned by Onix Pty., Ltd. of Australia, so it's not contract-assembled. The YaQuin is made in a dedicated factory, too, as far as I can determine, and is class A with 4 12AX7s, point to point wiring, stepped attenuator, and very good specs for $245.00. The power amp has only a gain control (stepped, too), and no tone controls. It's theoretically straight wire with no sweetening. It sits on a 2" thick black granite slab, which helps focus.
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Grey
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by Grey »

Every thread is better with pictures so here is my setup. Mint Technics 1210MK2 turntable. JA Michell record clamp.
turntable2012-2.PNG
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by ken_j »

I had used a late '60s Thorens TD125 table with a Oracle Groove Isolator dampening mat and clamp (not pictured), SME arm, and an AKG cartidge. The isolator mat would dampen the record and improve the bass. The only thing I found better for dampening was the Sota vaccum table (out of my price range). Here it sits on a marble foundation.
Thorens.jpg
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Grey
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Re: So Who Here Collects Music on Vinyl?

Post by Grey »

The Thorens tables are held in high regard. I use the stock rubber mat from the Technics, it's heavy and quite thick so it works well.
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