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Vinyl Lovers

After a marathon session of ultrasonically cleaning some of my vinyl treasures, I discovered that a few of them had what I'll call "skip-scratches" on various cuts. I have many more to clean (i.e.  somewhere around 5 to 6 hundred, mostly original 60s & 70s LPs) and fully expect to encounter more bruised babies along the way, not all of which I'll probably replace with vinyl re-issues or re-pressings. Some of my all-time favorites, however, I definitely will want to replace, providing I can find good quality re-issues/re-pressings. I know there is much to learn about this, and I am just beginning to scratch the surface (no pun intended). For example, there are issues of so called "virgin vinyl", quality of the vinyl mix, thickness of vinyl, recording from original master tapes, if still in existence and in good condition, quality of the actual pressing process, etc., etc., etc.

So, I guess my question for you all who know much more about this than I, is where the best places are to buy the best quality vinyl re-issues or re-pressings. Local record shops are few and far between and most of them don't have much in the way of variety or stock in anything other than used records. I'm familiar with Discogs but, frankly, am reluctant to buy used records on-line because I don't entirely trust the purveyors' ratings and the endemic hassles of possible returns. Most of the re-issues/re-pressings I've purchased, thus far, have been from or through Music Direct. I've noticed that some of their offerings actually come from companies like:  Island Records; Impex; RHINO and other sources.

So, what are some of your go-to, solid, reputable standbys?

Thanks Much!

oldaudiophile
ketchup
688 posts
 

@lewm Zerostats actually work by flooding the record with both positive and negative charges, negating whatever charge was on the record originally.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,451 posts
 

@bigtwin: The Amazon packing you are seeing in Canada (a thin cardboard mailing sleeve inside a 4" thick carton filled with bubble wrap) is the same I have been seeing for quite some time here in the US.

That's certainly preferable to the mailing envelope they were using a few years back, but I'm still seeing damage in another way: While the double-boxing guards against shipping damage, what I'm regularly receiving are LP covers which have been bent/creased, a result of pulling them from the storage racks in the Amazon LP warehouse by the corner of the cover, rather the center. Duh.

I return, like others, maybe about 25% of my LP's for new copies. Most of the second copies arrive undamaged, but I've had two titles where the second copy is damaged in exactly the same manner as the first. Double duh.

Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds, on the other hand, packs with extreme care. Elusive Disc is real good too. Almost all Discogs and ebay sellers ship LP's in those pathetic thin cardboard mailing sleeves, which do little to protect the corners of the LP covers.

ghdprentice
6,394 posts
 

Just a different perspective on Zerostat. I have owned several over the decades… especially when I used to live in Tucson and static was a really big problem. They have never done a bit of good. I desperately wanted them to, I bought the newest… patiently took my time squeezing the stupid lever… and they never did a thing… zippo. I asked my dealer friend who has been a dealer for over 20 years… he has had the same experience. 

orthomead
113 posts
 

I prefer discogs to eBay for the simple reason that you can select the exact pressing you desire.  Santa Monica pressings apparently bypassed the inferior vinyl issue of the 70's.  I did use eBay for several years, but no longer.  Another caveat is to select a seller with a stellar track record and only choose NM or higher. On the rare occasion where the vinyl isn't to standard, most sellers are eager to please and are incentivized to make the transaction a positive one. 

Regarding static on records, as per Neil Antin, I've been using a Ronxs lighter held above the rotating vinyl and tiger cloth instead of a brush-a huge improvement.

 

 

r27y8u92
40 posts
 

To vinyl record lovers:

I think most of the vinyl lovers tend to like original music sound WITH a little distorted sound by record playing and some noise also by record playing. CD playing is much better in terms of high fidelity of original music sound.

Both theoretically and practically, any vinyl playing can not be better than that of CD playing unless mediocre CD system is used.

I do play many vinyl records but, only because I do not have CD versions of the vinyl records. I just like to listen music itself from best formats (CD is much better format than vinyl). If you like to enjoy turntable's turning look while listening, then I don't have any argument. But, I would like to say you are not genuine music lover!

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