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Anyone rediscovering their old LP's?

I collected hundreds of LP's in the 70's and 80's. I bought a huge jazz collection from a professor who was converting to CD's in the late 80's, also frequented used record stores and bought, bought, bought back then. Also, had some friends who gave me their entire LP collections. Anyway, I never did much LP cleaning in those years other than sometimes a discwasher job. Plus, the Linn dogma then was to let the stylus clean your LP's.

Anyway, after a decade or more funk caused by the sorry sound of CD's, I just upgraded my 80's vintage LP-12, bought an ARC amp, Maggie Speakers and the biggest surprise of all: a VPI 16.5 and jug of RRL juice.

These records are coming alive. After reading many of the rcm posts here on Audiogon, I was dubious about saving my LP's and assumed most of my collection was unlistenable due to poor care. Wrong. I'm listening to stuff I acquired 20 years ago from who knows where and in some cases never ever played. And they sound fantastic. Some are admittedly bad, but for every bad one there are 2 or 3 good ones and a gem or two.

Phoebe Snow just finished, gonna go and clean my half speed master of Marvin Gaye, Midnight Love. Haven't listened to it since the elder Bush was president.

Anyone else with similar thoughts?

Terry

Linn LP12 Valhalla Circus Basik Adikt
VPI 16.5
Linn Ikemi CDP
Linn LK1 preamp
ARC 100.2
Magnepan MC-1's
Vandersteen 2wq sub
tasml
ballywho
134 posts
 
Just figured I'd interrupt for a second with some of my actual "rediscoveries."

Steely Dan's "Can't Buy a Thrill"
Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Tarkus," and...
Talking Heads' "More Songs About Buildings And Food"

How could I have ever forgotten?
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
About a month ago I had the exact opposite revelation. We moved into an apartment temporarily and after lugging in the 300+ unused lps I started thinking. I decided they will never get listned to here so out they go. My wife, of all people, disagrees with my decision. I will say though that as I audition these albums in preparation for auction I have rediscovered some great sounding stuff. Enjoy your rediscovered bliss.
bdgregory
1,715 posts
 
ok double ditto . . .
I did exactly the same thing a year ago. It was like getting 150 new albums (my old vinyl collection) all at once since I hadn't played them since the early 90's. I also have a used record store nearby and am amazed how well vinyl cleans up after a good washing on the RCM. Most of the albums are $4 or less, and there's the last chance bin where they're $1. I pick up 5 or 6 new (old) records a week.
dolifant
16 posts
 
I just dusted off the old record boxes that had laid dormant for 20 years. Got me a Scotmaster/Sumiko Blackbirdeig, and jst last night my VPI 17 arrived and I cleaned about 7 lps and OMG, what a huge difference that made. Admittedly, some still have some noise, but it is minimal. A few have some disturbing sounds, but some are real gems. I will continue to rediscover the 300 or so lps I have, while buying more at the local resale shop.
tasml OP
21 posts
 
A non-audiophile friend stopped by Saturday night. I had previously told him about my new record cleaner, and suggested he bring some of his old LP's over and we would clean them and give them a listen. They sounded good and we had a fun evening. He decided to leave his albums with me for save keeping :-)

Non-audiophile friends with boxes of LP's in the closet and who will unlikely ever own a turntable again can be great sources of old vinyl. Make a deal.
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