Considering going Vinyl--Please talk me out of it


I'm standing here on the vinyl cliff,peering over the edge...I had a TT in the eighties & nineties, an AR with the Underground Sound mods by George Merrill from Memphis, TN. It got destroyed in a series of moves, and my vinyl disappeared. I have a perfectly good CD player(Denon 1650AR),EAD PM2000 amp & EAD Ovation plus prepro, & thiel 2.3's. I would need a phono preamp before I could run whatever TT I obsess over enough to buy, as the Ovation has no phono stage. Push me over, or save me! mb
michaeljbrown
Being completely serious for a minute, I would not bother going into vinyl unless your musical tastes and the music you want to buy was recorded prior to the digital age or around 1982.

I listen primarily to jazz, older rock (late 60's to late 70's) and blues so there is lots of used vinyl out there for me. My experience is that buying new records today is a waste of good money much of the time unless you are specifically seeking out all analog recordings or re-issues (and I am not a fan of reissues). With a decent analog setup, it just irritates me to buy a new record and then hear that it is obviously digital, not to mention the fact that the pressing quality on a lot of the newer vinyl leaves much to be desired. I buy very little new vinyl anymore and what I do buy new tends to be quite expensive (north of $40) so it's not cheap relative to buying CD's.

On top of that, there are cleaning issues. You can have top quality cleaning for as little as $200-$225 with a KAB EV1 and the proper fluids, but you do have to put in the time and effort to clean, so vinyl is quite a bit more labor intensive.

I listen almost exclusively to vinyl (simply cannot get into listening much to CD anymore), but it's obviously not for everyone. But I would make your decision based almost entirely on what kind of music you listen to. If it's predominantly newer music, skip it.
Do you like to go to garage sales sometimes in the summer? Do you like to poke around on ebay every once in a while? Do you like hanging out at record stores with all the hipsters and their complicated shoes? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you're a prime candidate for vinyl. Finding, collecting, and playing vinyl is not a pain in the ass--it's fun, lots of fun. Enjoy.
best of all, you have to replace/retip those crazy expensive cartridges about every 1500 hours. insanity.
I'm still peering down into the void; keep up the input, as I am looking at a beautiful AR restoration/mod.....gulp!
I agree with Elizabeth and Hdm. If my house burned down today I would not replace my turntable and all my vinyl. Well, maybe not. Certainly not all 1500 albums, maybe only half of them and 1500 more.

Seriously: It is a wonderful hobby. Definition: hobby a hole in the ether you throw your money into. I re-started (after the 60's, 70's and early 80's)with my wife's Denon DP7 and an upgraded Ortofon cartridge. I quickly acqired a VPI 16.5 which I heartily recommend with appropriate ear protection. I then graduated to a Rega P5/Exact2 combination which is my first real high-end turntable. I'm having great fun with dollar bins, garage sales, and used record stores picking up Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Petula Clarke, or whatever to clean it and play it enjoying the music with just a slight degree of noise issues.

I was an immediate adopter of CD's because I thought I couldn't live with the pops and ticks. I've since found that I can.

So, welcome to the Dark Side. Come on in. But Beware! You can spend any amount of money on this hobby, or as little as you care to and enjoy it just as much.

Just DO NOT TRY ANY TUBE AMPLIFICATION!!!!!!!!! That way lies insanity, "they're coming to take me away, ha, ha"