who listens to vinyl?

[Cldplytkmn]

I've got a very modest collection of LPs now, and an OK (crap) turntable but i want to upgrade... just wondering if anybody here has some experience with tables and could point me in the right direction on my upgrade path...

[Whalebot]

Is there a smilie raising it's hand meekly? I like records but I use my dad's old setup, he has a couple of Harman Kardon turntables, really nice ones, that I listen to through his old tube receiver. It's a nice little set-up but I haven't used it in some time.

[riffmeister]

I haven't since my turntable was smashed in a move in 1985.

I certainly do have a lot of vinyl in the basement, though.....

[theGOOCH]

My dad still has 2 old turntables, a Teac and a Technics.

He also has an old reel to reel and some speakers he bought in Japan while stationed in there during the Vietnam war.

[denvertrakker]

Originally posted by Cldplytkmn I've got a very modest collection of LPs now, and an OK (crap) turntable but i want to upgrade... just wondering if anybody here has some experience with tables and could point me in the right direction on my upgrade path...

 

 

I probably do 35% of my listening from my turntable. I love my vinyl, I have probably 1500 or so LP's (whittled down from over 2000) dating back to the '50s. I'm also down to one turntable, a Dual from the early '80s, just before they went bankrupt the FIRST time. I've also worked in the audio industry for years, and I'd be happy to make recommendations on equipment and setup. What is the rest of your system, and what's your budget? Also, someone let me know if this discussion should take place here or elsewhere...

[Freeman Keller]

About 2 years ago I had my old Pioneer turntable rebuilt (new belt, strobed the speed, new shure cartridge) and I still play a bunch of out of print stuff thru my Marantz tube amp (yeah I have a Beatles White Album and a bunch of Hendrix and early Kottke and .....)

If you look behing the old fart playing the Yamie you will see a real Edison hand crank phonograph (one sided big thick discs - not a drum type). It has a diamond stylus, mechanical volume control, and came from an old funeral palor. The day I got it my wife and I danced to some 30's jazz records that came with it.



Remember that I'm the RetoGrouch

[denvertrakker]

Originally posted by Freeman Keller About 2 years ago I had my old Pioneer turntable rebuilt (new belt, strobed the speed, new shure cartridge) and I still play a bunch of out of print stuff thru my Marantz tube amp (yeah I have a Beatles White Album and a bunch of Hendrix and early Kottke and .....) If you look behing the old fart playing the Yamie you will see a real Edison hand crank phonograph (one sided big thick discs - not a drum type). It has a diamond stylus, mechanical volume control, and came from an old funeral palor. The day I got it my wife and I danced to some 30's jazz records that came with it. Remember that I'm the RetoGrouch

:thu: :thu:

[deltadaddio]

I date myself here but yes, I do still occasionally listen to my old vinyl records. The turntable I have a Technics, manual, belt drive model that I bought in the mid 80's. It replaced an earlier one that my oldest son (then around 5) ruined when he tried to imitate some rapper he saw on TV spinning a turntable back and forth to make that god awful scratching noise that rappers make. It never would play at the right speed after that. Well, we survived the rap stage and both sons have grown into decent young men and like blues like their dad.
The turntable still works great and most of the old records still sound good. Vinyl records last longer with manual turntables where you play one record at a time and change them by hand. The type with automatics record changers where the are stacked wears them out quicker. Stacking records and worn needles is what wears the old records out. There were better turntables "back in the day" like JVC, Pioneer, Sony, etc. but Technics was one of the best value moderate priced. The stylus cartridges (needles) made by Shure are what I prefer. I hope they still make them when mine needs changing.
Yeah kiddies, I had an 8 track tape deck in my '68 Firebird too.

[T'aint]

I still have some vinyl packed away somewhere but have no way of listening to them. I know I have one unopened Woodstock Collection and a few others. My idea is to have them mounted in shadow-box frames to hang in my music room.

[bigby]

Originally posted by Freeman Keller About 2 years ago I had my old Pioneer turntable rebuilt (new belt, strobed the speed, new shure cartridge) and I still play a bunch of out of print stuff thru my Marantz tube amp (yeah I have a Beatles White Album and a bunch of Hendrix and early Kottke and .....) If you look behing the old fart playing the Yamie you will see a real Edison hand crank phonograph (one sided big thick discs - not a drum type). It has a diamond stylus, mechanical volume control, and came from an old funeral palor. The day I got it my wife and I danced to some 30's jazz records that came with it. Remember that I'm the RetoGrouch

Nice!

[Terry Allan Hall]

Originally posted by denvertrakker I probably do 35% of my listening from my turntable. I love my vinyl, I have probably 1500 or so LP's (whittled down from over 2000) dating back to the '50s. I'm also down to one turntable, a Dual from the early '80s, just before they went bankrupt the FIRST time. I've also worked in the audio industry for years, and I'd be happy to make recommendations on equipment and setup. What is the rest of your system, and what's your budget? Also, someone let me know if this discussion should take place here or elsewhere...

I think this is a VERY vgood place for this discussion!

In fact, I'm giving thought to upgrading the Family Stereo (in the living room), so I'll likely be PMing you soon for advice...got a nice old Harmon-Kardon tuner/amp and a pair of Bose bookshelf spkrs, but I'm wanting to add a good dual-cassette deck, CD player and powered sub...probably about March.

[Muddslide]

I do still listen to vinyl, though I admit I sold most of my records off a few years ago when I had to move.

I transferred most of them to CD-R, so often I am listening to vinyl dubbed and digitized to disc.

But I stil love vinyl and buy quite a bit of it. And spin quite a bit of it on my turntable.

Many new releases are available on vinyl still...smaller record companies often release things on both vinyl and CD though you don't see many vinyl releases of big radio hit type music.

It's still my favorite format, though I do love the read/write ability of CDs and their convenience.

However, in some ways I would have been happy to never have had CDs come along.

I feel bad for people who didn't grow up with those big cool old vinyl albums. The artwork was bigger, they had a special smell to them and when I was a kid, the KISS and Pink Floyd and even some Beatles albums came with posters, stickers, temporary tattoos, etc.

Remember, the term "groovy" came from the grooves of old vinyl albums, spinning around on turntables and releasing their treasures into your ears and the ether.

[Cldplytkmn]

Originally posted by denvertrakker I probably do 35% of my listening from my turntable. I love my vinyl, I have probably 1500 or so LP's (whittled down from over 2000) dating back to the '50s. I'm also down to one turntable, a Dual from the early '80s, just before they went bankrupt the FIRST time. I've also worked in the audio industry for years, and I'd be happy to make recommendations on equipment and setup. What is the rest of your system, and what's your budget? Also, someone let me know if this discussion should take place here or elsewhere...

 

 

nah its fine here... (crosses fingers that it doesn't get moved)

 

I've got a good (under a year old) reciever and a couple old speakers my dad built (they sound good, but not loud... they're pretty delicate)... i'm looking at getting a decent table, phono pre (unless there is an advantage to getting a table with the pre built in), and probably eventually a couple good speakers... budget between the table and the pre, probably a couple hundred bucks... more if there is a clearcut jump in quality that is within ear shot of a couple hundred...

 

listening to vinyl is definitely not an indictment on age... alot of folks my age (early 20s) are getting into it... i'm kinda peeved with people who skip around on CDs, so sitting in front of a spinning record and listening straight through is endlessly gratifying when i'm reading... I've got a few newer releases on vinyl (although jeez they're usually pretty expensive) including Cash's latest post-mortem release, which i haven't even listened to yet. I applaud folks releasing new music on an old medium just cause they believe it sounds better.

 

(p.s. i got Donovan's greatest hits in great condition for 3 bucks the other day)

[guitarist21]

The regular use of vinyl predates me, however I love listening to records because its usually far cheaper than going out and buying the same CDs. I have a modest collection of LPs and a relatively new Stanton turntable I hooked up to some old computer speakers. Not the best sound ever, but I don't really care so much.

Listened last night to Zeppelin's "In Through The Out Door," actually. Great album.

Ellen

[0rbitz9]

I've compiled a collection of over 800 LP records over the
years. For playback, I'm using a mid 1980's Dual turntable
that I bought in Germany while I was stationed there in
the army, a vintage McIntosh preamplifier and power
amp, and a pair of Altec 604 studio monitors.

There's a few problems when purchasing a new phono
playback system. First off, there's hardly integrated amps
or recievers made recently that even have a phono input
stage. There's not a lot of cartriges available, and if you do
buy one, there's no guarantee that you will be able to get
a replacement stylus a few years down the road. New
turntables are also more expensive these days, because
they're no being mass produced.

You might want to check this place out to get an idea
of what is available now.
http://www.needledoctor.com/Welcome

[theManfromAlabam]

Originally posted by guitarist21 Listened last night to Zeppelin's "In Through The Out Door," actually. Great album. Ellen

That album came out my junior year of high school...I was what you call a stoner back then...and yes my brain was damaged.

Anyway me and my buddies had a kegger party at "the pit" in woods the week that album came out...about 80 people showed up...it's weird how music can bring back memories so vividly.


Here is a pic of my turntable with the white album.



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[Siwash]

Love my records. I use a Technic turntable. They just came out with a turntable that has a direct USB plug, so you can stick it in your computer. Handy feature.

Maybe I'm gullible, but I swear my albums have a deeper, fuller sound than the CDs I play on the same system. There's occasional hiss and pop, but overall, for me those sounds aren't the bother. . . where the records fall short is in their duration: you have to flip them more frequently than CDs.

Also, the cheep, cheep price of old vinyl lets you experiment a bit more with your listening, and I've found myself running into albums I bought cheap that I forgot I'd bought. It's all fun.

[Freeman Keller]

Back in the golden days of my vinyl listening I would record the first playing of each record on reel to reel, and put the record away. Somewhere in boxes in the basement is a huge library of reel to reel tapes (and two players).

Any you know, I still listen to speakers that I built in about 1969 - solid walnut enclosures, components from SpeakerLab, and home made cross overs. Now old Retro is just building guitars.

[denvertrakker]

Originally posted by Cldplytkmn I've got a good (under a year old) reciever and a couple old speakers my dad built (they sound good, but not loud... they're pretty delicate)... i'm looking at getting a decent table, phono pre (unless there is an advantage to getting a table with the pre built in), and probably eventually a couple good speakers... budget between the table and the pre, probably a couple hundred bucks... more if there is a clearcut jump in quality that is within ear shot of a couple hundred...

 

 

The lowest-priced really decent turntable currently available is the Music Hall 2.1, which lists for $349. You may be able to find it discounted on the web, but probably not much. There is also quite a bit of benefit, if possible, in buying from a local dealer who UNDERSTANDS - not just sells turntables. Setup on a good turntable can be as beneficial as setup on a guitar.

 

The Music Hall comes with a decent cartridge pre-installed, but not a preamp. Under no circumstances should you buy a turntable with a built-in preamp, those things are the TT equivalent of an Esteban! Are you sure your receiver doesn't have a phono input? Most surround receivers do not, but most two-channel receivers do. If you do need a preamp, there are sources for adequate ones less than $50.

 

There are other choices available, this is just the bottom end. For others who may be looking, the Music Hall 5 and 7 are worthwhile stepups. Another fine brand is Rega. I have sold both at retail, and both are good but I think the Music Halls are a better value. Somewhere in this thread someone posted Needle Doctor's URL. They are a very good resource for TTs, cartridges and stylii.

 

And, despite what someone else has posted, there are dozens of very good cartridges available, starting as low as $40 for a Grado Black, and lots of stylii available.

 

Up at the silly end of things, there's the vpi turntable line, which STARTS at $1600, and Dynavector cartridges which start at $350. I have neither, and I don't feel deprived.

[denvertrakker]

Originally posted by 0rbitz9 There's a few problems when purchasing a new phono playback system. First off, there's hardly integrated amps or recievers made recently that even have a phono input stage. There's not a lot of cartriges available, and if you do buy one, there's no guarantee that you will be able to get a replacement stylus a few years down the road. New turntables are also more expensive these days, because they're no being mass produced.

 

 

Integrated amps that DON'T have a phono stage usually have one available as an option. If not, there's plenty of outboard units, from $50 up.

 

Two-channel receivers - the few that still exist - usually DO have a phono preamp stage.

 

Don't worry about replacement stylii, it's easier and almost as inexpensive to get a whole new cartridge.

 

You can't buy a $100 turntable anymore - except for plastic junk - but $350 will buy a thoroughly adequate MASS PRODUCED turntable - made in the Czech Republic!

You can't buy a $3000 car anymore, either...

 

The vinyl part of audio may be more alive than is apparent!

[guitarist21]

Originally posted by Freeman Keller Back in the golden days of my vinyl listening I would record the first playing of each record on reel to reel, and put the record away. Somewhere in boxes in the basement is a huge library of reel to reel tapes (and two players).

 

 

Reel to reels pre date me even for than the records do, but for some reason I have one in my house. My grandpa recorded the original "War of The Worlds" broadcast and I listened to it once. There's some other random shows he listened to on those reels. I wish I had time to go through all of them!

 

Ellen

[AndrewGG]

The higher you go in high-end hi-fi, the more turntables you see and the fewer CD players. Even a moderately priced vinyl based system will totally out-perform a similarly priced CD system.
Some turntables have stratospheric prices attached-Blue Pearl audio comes to mind at around five figures just for the turntable. Listen to a system based on this and you'll understand just how crappy CD's really are.
Vinyl still can't be beaten; discs are cut direct from the source with no sampling involved as with CD's, and no loss of information.

[Cldplytkmn]

Originally posted by denvertrakker The lowest-priced really decent turntable currently available is the Music Hall 2.1, which lists for $349. You may be able to find it discounted on the web, but probably not much. There is also quite a bit of benefit, if possible, in buying from a local dealer who UNDERSTANDS - not just sells turntables. Setup on a good turntable can be as beneficial as setup on a guitar. The Music Hall comes with a decent cartridge pre-installed, but not a preamp. Under no circumstances should you buy a turntable with a built-in preamp, those things are the TT equivalent of an Esteban! Are you sure your receiver doesn't have a phono input? Most surround receivers do not, but most two-channel receivers do. If you do need a preamp, there are sources for adequate ones less than $50. There are other choices available, this is just the bottom end. For others who may be looking, the Music Hall 5 and 7 are worthwhile stepups. Another fine brand is Rega. I have sold both at retail, and both are good but I think the Music Halls are a better value. Somewhere in this thread someone posted Needle Doctor's URL. They are a very good resource for TTs, cartridges and stylii. And, despite what someone else has posted, there are dozens of very good cartridges available, starting as low as $40 for a Grado Black, and lots of stylii available. Up at the silly end of things, there's the vpi turntable line, which STARTS at $1600, and Dynavector cartridges which start at $350. I have neither, and I don't feel deprived.

 

 

i had a hunch about the built in pre-amp thing... within about an hour of looking around on the web i was noticing the trend that no high-end stuff had it... thanks for the reinforcement of that...

 

I will be looking hard at that MMf 2.1... my next step though is to go see a couple record store dudes and find out who sells TTs locally to try to locate something better, used... thanks for all the input, treker...

[Cldplytkmn]

any opinion on goldring GR-1.2? needledoctor has it on sale for 3 bills... looks like it may be a good deal

[0rbitz9]

Hey DenverTracker:

How about instead of taking such a harsh objection to what
I have sincerely posted, how about enlightening us on
what audio gear we should be buying. Most of the modern
consumer priced "HIFI" gear that I've seen on the market
is just a bunch of cheap crap that is only suitable for
people that content themselves with listening to MP3 files.
There's also a lot of "esoteric" stereo gear that people can
buy that will accomodate a phono input if one is willing to
pay through the nose for this stuff. If there's other gear
on the market that it reasonably priced for people that
want enjoy quality playback for LP records, why don't you
just fill us in, instead of suggesting that you take the
conversation elsewhere. In the mean time, I won't be
suffering too bad with my vintage Hafler and McIntosh
stereos, and enjoying my old LP records on the same studio
monitors that the engineers that recorded them were using.