Starting a Classical Vinyl Music Collection


Don't have much so I'm wondering where to begin.

TIA

128x128jjbeason14

+1 for the Deutsche Grammophon LPs.  They did a Beethoven Bicentennial Collection around 1970.  I think it's 17 boxed sets.  You can find the whole set or various pieces for sale used on the internet.  They also show up used at half-price book stores.  I have the two sets of the string quartets.  High level performance and possibly the best sound available.  Unbelievable value.  You can find lots of fine artists on this label.

It is an unreasonable expectation that lps of several decades vintage are going to sound pristinely quiet, regardless of cleaning machine.  Many of these were manufactured with inferior vinyl in the first place, as the energy crisis and other factors led to vinyl recycling.  And when lp was out of favor people stored them in attics, basement, garages, with no climate control.  Auditioning for noise before hand usually isn’t feasible, so it’s a crap shoot.

  New lps?  Ridiculously expensive, imho, and many of them use a digital mastering stage.  They might sound good but if any digital stage is used, then whatever theoretical advantage that vinyl has by maintaining an analog wave form is lost.  Like your virginity, once lost, it can’t be regained.  And if you are going to listen to a digital file, why embed it in a slab of petroleum, and then extract  with a needle slashing its way through the groove which it degrades with each playing?  With even careful maintenance, eventually your new expensive lps will start acquiring surface noise due to groove damage and other factors.  If you are going to play a digital file, use digital equipment.

   If you have a low tolerance for surface noise, analog isn’t for you.  I think you would be happier, OP, with a good digital setup. I reserve vinyl for recordings that can’t be obtained digitally, or that were poorly transferred from analog to digital.It is possible to achieve excellent sound either way.  The music is what counts most; the technology is a means to an end, and not an end it itself.

   

Mahler123, FWIW (probably not much), I've followed your posts on this thread and must tell you that my reasons for getting out of vinyl pretty much mirror yours, and your advise on LP acquisitions is spot on! Good advice yet you keep your posts positive.  

Thanks guys!

You've all been very helpful.

I'd like some new vinyl recommendations if possible.

👍

OP,

 

If you got virtually no improvement with the electrostatic cleaning. Then those disks were trashed. But this does not mean you should give up on used.

I recommend going to a used record store. Each time you find an interesting disk. Carefully pull it out of the sleeve (you know how to handle disks? Right?) and carefully examine it. When the light hits at the right angle you will be able to tell if the grooves are shiny and clean or dull. Buy a couple of the best you find. They are likely to sound great. With a little practice you can pick out only perfect disks. The cleaning can remove surface dust and debris, but not embedded or worn grooves. You will learn to separate the two.