Any Vinyl fans out there?

[allusmorgans]

Many people I know who reload, also like vinyl albums and have a pretty good home setup. I think it's something about the idea of being in control of details and doing things with one's hands. Anyone else out there fit the bill? Do you see a connection?

 

[deemus]

I have quite a few albums, but my turntable needs a needle. Several unopened Elvis LPs.

 

[jrbfishn]

I have a turntable and records that go back to the '40s. Rarely listen to them anymore but can't bring myself to get rid of them.

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[Southpaw]

Just moved and came upon a few milk crates of albums. Also have the turntable out as well. I was thinking about setting it all once we are all settled in.

 

[benenglish]

I have about 25,000 LPs in the house. I also have about 10,000 in the garage but they're junk that I need to sort and sell.

For me there's no connection between having LPs and being in control. "Control" in an LP-based playback system means fiddling with stuff and I hate fiddling with stuff. I just want something that works for minimum effort.

With that in mind, I tried to become an audiophile in the early 1980s when Philips promised us that CDs were "Perfect Sound Forever." I had always eschewed LPs because they were fussy and had to be kept clean. But CDs would bring nirvana - perfect sound with no setup or maintenance hassles. All the magazines said so! It had to be true, right?!?

I bought the Telarc recording of The Four Seasons, a very standard test CD of the day and music I knew well. I then headed out to every place in town to test-listen to players, electronics, and speakers.

It all sounded like crap.

Then I wandered into Audio ProPhiles, a very high-end store where the owner parked his Ferrari in front all the time as a sort of warning about what sort of customers were welcome. However, it was on a Tuesday when the store was empty. The nice saleslady took pity on the poor kid and let me listen. There was a Phase Linear CD player, Krell electronics, the original Apogee speakers, and cabling that looked like lawn hoses.

She hit play. Before the first bar finished, I had shoved my fingers in my ears and was screaming at her to turn off that horrible, screeching noise!

Yeah, in the beginning digital sucked in every way possible.

She then flipped a switch on the pre-amp and let me play a number of familiar records on the same system with a different source - the original Goldmund Reference turntable (the very first one imported into the U.S.), the Goldmund linear-tracking arm, and a cartridge I don't remember. Now, THAT was music.

LPs sounded so much better than CDs that I never looked back. As everyone dumped their LP collections, I bought like crazy. My system was no big deal - HK/NAD/Wharfedale (later Fried) but it sounded better than the best CD playback in the world. In those days, that wasn't a difficult bar to get over.

So that's how I wound up with 25,000 LPs in my house.

Personally, as a playback medium I hate LPs. They're a pain to clean and equipment setup sucks. Back when I had cats, cat dander in the grooves was the bane of my existence. However, even today for equal money up to moderate levels, the quality of sound available from LPs exceeds what can be gotten from digital. Since I've never been rolling in money, they represented the best sound-for-the-dollar compromise.

If I could turn back time, I would have invested in reel-to-reel starting when I was about 10, skipped LPs and CDs entirely, and would today have a couple of good tape decks, lots of tapes, and a streaming computer. As it is, I have less than 200 pre-recorded tapes but they aren't fussy to play and generally sound even better than LPs.

Bazillionaires can spend idiotic amounts of money to get the best from any source. Students just starting out can get convenient, portable, passable music on the cheap from digital. Heck, if I was starting over these days I'd probably get a good streaming setup using Roon and Tidal plus an FM tuner and a CD player. (CD players have actually gotten good over the last 35 years.)

I don't really care what medium is in use. I just like my music.

Afterword - This is a timely topic for me. I'm getting old and there's no way I want my family to have to deal with knowing what my records are worth. I am seriously considering selling off my collection of LPs. Given how little time I spend in serious listening (essentially, I don't do it anymore due to my tinnitus), the money I could get out of them would probably improve my life more than just the satisfaction of owning them.

 

[Army 1911]

Back when I was in the Continental Army (1960s) stationed on the old continent (Germany), we had a guy who would buy a LP, then listen once, tape record it, then sell it to me for $1.50. In about 13 months I had 400 or so LPs.

 

[Kar98]

My neighbor is pretty fond of vinyl:

Besides that, I listen to Pandora, commercial free.

 

[pronstar]

I can't imagine have 25,000 of anything in my house LOL

If you listen to pandora, make sure you check the settings periodically, and set them to high quality...for some reason they seem to migrate back to standard quality periodically, methinks when the app updates.

It's still not great but it is an improvement


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[Southpaw]

I can't imagine have 25,000 of anything in my house LOL

Not even ammo?

 

[45tex]

I buy old albums for their cover art. Frame them and hang them in my study. What's nice is I always leave the records and paperwork in. The album is displayed and if anyone ever wants to they can remove the frame and still play the record. As for music, I am very happy with the quality of CD's.