Audiophile Albums....Yes indeed

The main entry for me were the albums themselves which sell for $300 -$3k. Only an audiophile board is appropriate for such things IMO

Record collectors are NOT audiophiles, only some of them, collecting records and audiophilia are two different things. There’re millions of vintage records that cost now hundreds or thousands dollars (for 1xLP or 1x45) on the used market. The prices only goes up in time. It must be a rare record if the price is so high. Collectors does’t care about re-issues, they do care about original pressings. On the used market we have what we have, rare records are extremely expensive.

popsike.com is the site to check auction finals with prices for records.

Record collectors, those guys who sitting on many thousand rare LPs and 45s, will pay more for one record than for any piece of audio equipment.

It is crazy that a piece of plastic goes up in price from $2 to $2000 in 40 years, but it must be something very rare and unique for knowledgeable people like record collectors. The quality of pressing is the last thing to care for them. It is true. Many private pressings from the 60s, 70s are bad quality or an average, sometimes very good ... But it’s a piece of history, it can be one and only release made by some band, it is very important for someone who cares.

Recreating vinyl pressing process for the best possible quality on the new re-issue is very good idea, but this is definitely for audiophiles, not for record collectors. Anything made for audiophiles is expensive by default. Even those average 180g re-issues from the digital copy pretending to be "better than original" are expensive.

There is no record worth that kind of money.

I used to think so too myself. Then I discovered Hot Stampers
https://www.better-records.com/search_adv.aspx?sp=white+hot&option=s_name&min_price=1&ma...


I know you're familiar with my system. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367#&gid=1&pid=8
Now imagine: I went to all this trouble, paid all this money, to ... what? To play crap? To at the last second cheap out on crap records? No thanks.

I don't know about this stuff the Times writer is talking about. Fremer I would, but the Times guy is such a moron he doesn't give us Fremer's take. Anyway I'm clear on the Times being a joke. Hot Stampers though, whole other story. Totally worth that kind of money.

Michael Fremer's comment about this article and about negative comments HERE

I do believe there is an element of jealousy and resentment in some responses to expensive program sources and equipment as Fremer suggests. My own response has nothing to do with this. It is purely a lack of interest. I am not a record collector. I am a music collector. I would rather buy 10 albums or 15 digital files than one of these records. I have a bunch of albums that rise to that level of quality that cost me much less.
Would I buy them if I had unlimited resources? Maybe, but it would be purely for bragging rights. 

The question to be asked is this: can a $350 reissue be considered a good deal for the serious record collector? I think not, not even for bragging. They’re more like expensive stop gaps, because they’re just fancy reproductions and serious collectors will continue to long for the original. That’s how collectors are wired.

The other question is: can it be a good deal for the serious audiophile? That will depend on the quality of the original recordings and the condition of the original tapes. But most of the classical records released by ERC were not chosen for their sonics. They were chosen because the originals are trophies for the rich, like the Martzy Bach or Kogan Violin Concertos. These are undoubtedly great performances, but sonically they’re average late 50’s EMI recordings.

ERC has all the characteristics of a labour of love, for me it’s also an exercise in futility. But apparently their products sell out quickly, so they do serve a purpose.