Starting a Classical Vinyl Music Collection

Minnesota Public Radio has an excellent classical music channel that you can stream from anywhere on the planet. They also have a web site with some free downloads, and an orchestra, chamber, and opera live stream schedule. You may have a local/regional classical station... There are a lot of compilations, box sets, etc.out there. Maybe try some playlists on your streaming? Browse on Discogs, and in local record stores, then stream to audition before buying. Prices for used classical music are low right now so there's not much risk in experimenting. There was a recent discussion on this forum how an individual could liquidate his collection. Deutsche Grammophon celebrated Beethoven's bi-centenial with an impressive list of box sets. Sebelius is a favorite, and Rossini, and Bizet (it took 60 yrs, but I'm coming around to opera). Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Mahler... You should identify your likes and dislikes, like you would with different styles of Rock or Jazz. It's not uncommon to own several versions of a composition, different conductors, different orchestras, even different venues. I have found classical lots on ebay that turned out ok, but there's always risk of duplication and clinkers (but I think most classical releases lead a better life...). Maybe you like Baroque, maybe Romantic, maybe 20th Century, maybe you like avant-garde... Maybe Finnish/Scandinavian, Pipe Organ (?). It might be a particular conductor, or record label.  I'm always on the look out for Deutsche Grammophon "tulip labels". Classical is a small part of my collection, but still bigger than my Polka section (I was a garage Band/ Punk Rock drummer), I enjoy the experiment and the journey, hopefully you will, too. There's no right or wrong, only that which appeals... and that which doesn't

I’d start with a few older pressings of preferred content, a few in good shape, and see how they strike you. Much different from CD/digital stream on your setup? If it seems promising, then find a new pressing / “audiophile” pressing of the same performance and see which you prefer, again, if difference is discernible to you. On a given system it might not be such a remarkable difference. Or to a given listener. Older stuff wouldn’t have been remastered, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your taste.

Record cleaner - they now have an acrylic disc for each side of the record label that both tighten together with screw knobs - it’s like a compressed dough-rolling pin you hold on either side of your record through the spindle hole. Silicone discs attached to each facing acrylic disc to keep water off the labels. Like corn-on-the-cob spike holders that waterproof the labels. Make sense? Anyway, it makes it so you can blast both sides / all grooves with high water pressure - the way they do it at pressing plants. The secret to clean grooves without paying much is permitting high water pressure. I prefer that route to a $4.50-per-record fee, but I’d also wager more than $4.50 that @ghdprentice machine gets less water on your countertop while in use.

Those Ortofon 2M cartridges are fun, and money well-spent IMO. Again, if your system lets you hear difference between models enough to justify the price hike between them.

x2 on the Half Price Books option. I bought many classical albums there for $1, many new sealed in the shrink, never opened by the person who’d bought them. That comment about family having to resell vinyl at a loss someday is potentially very real. I bought many a shrink wrapped record with a $2-5 “great deal” original promo sticker price tag, with Half Price’s little yellow $1 rectangle stuck on over it!

@larryi +1

  I had hundreds of classical lps in the mid eighties.  I was so tired of surface noise, static, dust, poorly judged side breaks , etc, that I thought CDs were a godsend.  I still prefer digital, but there are just a few lps from back in the day that aren’t available digitally and this is what I limit my lp purchases to.  My original collection was destroyed in a house flood at the dawn of the CD era

I like what I like, but hate to be stuck in a rut.  I'll buy mixed classical album sets from Ebay and try to get titles/composers I've never heard of.  Sometimes it's obvious why they are not widely known, and other times I am pleasantly surprised to find a new favorite.  For $3-$4 per album it's a worthwhile gamble.