CD and/or LP collections. Is it about the music?


The question has been asked many times and in different ways about how much your system cost, or what componants you have but I have another question.
How many CDs, LPs, SACDs, 8-tracks, or cassettes do you own? It's only fair to ask since this is really about the music isn't it?
128x128nrchy
Nrchy; another way of approaching this question-- especially if money is an issue-- is to ask: Would you rather listen to 200 CDs/LPs on a $20,000. system or 2000 Cds/LPs on a $1000. system? Personally, I only have about 1200-1300 CDs (about $18,000.+ at $15. ea.) and a $40K system, but at about 3-4 hours listening per day it would take a long time to listen to each of them once!!!

However, that's not the way I listen to music. Typically I become focused on a particular artist/group, or a type of music and mostly listen to that music for days or weeks at a time, and then move on when I've finally had my fill of my current listening obsession.

Two other points: 1. The Cd-R has fundamentally changed the way I listen to music, ie I've probably made over a 100 CD-Rs, and have come up w/ some interesting combinations of music that are unique to me, and I listen to them a LOT. 2. Also, I'm constantly on the lookout for good new music, but I don't keep music I don't like so to accumulate 1200 CDs, I've probably gone through 2000+. If I don't like it, it gets traded in, sold, given away etc. Just some personal thoughts. Cheers. Craig
Somewhere around 600 cds, 100 LPs in a box-- I buy every CD I can find that I want (a function of being a DINK and having poor impulse control)-- BUT-- I just don't find that much that I want to buy.

How the heck do you folks with 3000+ CDs/LPs find that many you want to listen to? I always thought I had pretty varied musical tastes-- I just find that even in genres I love, I find a lot of CDs I don't like for whatever reason.

Do you buy a lot that look good, listen to them once and shelve them or do you really like and listen to them all? Just curious.
Pmkalby,

Yours is a good question. I've been an avid vinyl collector since about 1965. For nearly a couple of decades I listened to music that was one to two years old at the time and ignored much of the older stuff in my library. Then the mid 70's through the 80's hit. Between the demise of vinyl in stores and the lackluster music offerings I rediscovered a lot of my older stuff. That developed a habit which I still have. This is also the period where I picked up the audiophile offerings....the need to buy vinyl was there but IMHO the selection wasn't. Along the way I discovered jazz and began looking for older stuff and continue to do that to this day. Another habit I have is storing my albums face forward so I can easily flip through them. If you want to forget about a great recording store them edge out. Live long enough and you'll have more music than I have unless you decide to have kids. I hope this answers your question.
Pmkalby, Most of my collection comes by way of my curiousity about classical music I have never heard - and some of it represents multiple, varied, performances of compositions which really hold my interest. Of the recordings I would listen to most often I have about 1500 classical, 500 jazz and 100 vocals. The rest constitute a library of sorts for occasion reference. If it has no reference value(to me)it goes to a charity.
Pmkalby,
My vinyls and CD-s are shelved onto "groups" and I don't listen just to one record I listen to the whole "group" of them and the session might go for 6 hours. Not neccessarily I will do a critical listening but later at night I turn-off amps and continue listening through headphones(now that's a real listening!). A group in my definition consists of alike in style records or CDs that very possible to listen one after another. For example: I have a "group" with Japan band and its members that occupies approximately 20 LP-records, 8 singles +3CDs. All that group is "consumable" one after another with great joy in three...four listening sessions.

Curious for more?

Rainy or any nasty weekend can go for 2 or even three listening sessions for a day. When kids sleep, I'm reading newspaper and listening in headphones and than back to amp/speakers since it's not recommended to listen more than an hour in headphones(well I listen sometimes for 2).

In my sence of listening to have a couple of thousands vinyls and CDs is quite OK.