For the most part, I buy vintage analog records, and stay clear of new pressings. I look for very good plus - near mint. New albums are almost always produced digitally, and you miss that pure analog sonic experience. If you do purchase new, remember to always clean the new record as well. Regardless as to some "audiophile" opinions, new records, as well as old records, need cleaning. Sometimes more than a 50 year old album. The plants where records are pressed can leave oils, factory dust and vinyl debris in the grooves.
Turntable noobie...what advice do you have?
As this forum has corrupted me and I have decided to dive down the rabbit hole of LP's. Usually I stream but I find the tactile experience of records appealing. I have ordered a Pro-ject RPM-3 Carbon with Sumiko Amethyst cartridge and a Mobile Fidelity StudioPhono preamp. Oh, and a record brush. I will be plugging them into my Voyager GAN amp and from there powering my LSA 20 Statement speakers.
I know there is always better equipment to get but I feel this gives a good starting point. I picked up some new records but a half dozen does not a record collection make. So I do plan on making my focus for the near future getting more and expanding my collection. I listen to all kind of music so they will be many different genres. I will be getting new ones but I will undoubtedly get some used ones too.
Okay, so what all would you recommend for someone just getting into this hobby? Especially if I am getting any used records, I should probably look at a record cleaner. What else for equipment or doodads? What about tricks or tips for increasing my collection? In my city there is a record store called Music Millennium that I will be checking out and there of course if Barnes and Noble (where I purchased my other ones). Do you know of places online I should check out? Thanks in advance for your advice.
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It is amazing how LPs sound after a cycle through the Klaudio US machine. |
I have chose not to continue with a DIY USM I have produced. I use a modern approach for a manual cleaning method, the practice is quite satisfying, even with the elbow grease required, I have yet to replay a cleaned LP where I though a more clean item could be produced. I am sure on my long term owned LP's I have now been quite successful with purifying the LP's from all the IPA and Detergent residuals from the earlier in life adopted cleaning methods. I am not against using a USM, but a Single 40Khz Transducer positioned in the base, or one of the side walls of the Machine does not leave me at ease about the effectiveness of the produced cavitation and the quality of the cleaning cycle, hence my own one is buried in a cupboard. KLAUDIO is not a cheap machine, the design appears to have incorporated Two Transducers on Two Side Walls, so each side of the LP is exposed to a very consistent cavitation produced from Two Transducers, this method seems in my mind optimised, hence my thinking that the OP may benefit wholesomely if informed of this as a option to purchase.
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@tomic601 , Records always maintain a slight static charge which attracts dust. New records will always have some dust on them. Just pull them out of the sleeve and within seconds some dust will collect. This incidental dust is easy to sweep away as it lies on the surface. What is important from a sonic perspective is contamination in the groove that can not be swept away, it has to be dissolved. You will not see this on your filter. What you see on your filter is undissolvable dust. Sources of contamination in the groove are things like cigarette smoke (tar) and cooking fumes (oil). A record that is contamination will leave a residue on the stylus. I have played thousands of new records and have never seen one leave a residue on the stylus. Because I use a sweep arm dust is kept away from the stylus. In Short, I disagree in the extreme that new records are contaminated and need to be cleaned. Just sweeping the incidental dust out of the way will do. I just ordered a Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro to clean a bunch of old 78s I was given. I will do a study on new records. I can record records on the computer and can compare before and after cleaning files to see if there is any improvement in background noise after cleaning new records. I will report on the results probably later in the Summer. |
@mijostyn Stay in the dark ages. Ultrasonic + Enzyme on my Nitty + Sweep arm + Zerostat is just better….
For those moving out of pre renaissance age cleaning practices, see Bill Hart excellent blog The Vinyl Press which published @antin superb guide to US cleaning…
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