How did you get into vinyl?


I’ll start with my story:
The roots probably go back to the mid to late 90's when I got into the retro cocktail thing. I started throwing old fashioned cocktail parties with Martinis and Hi Balls and Manhattans and spinning those Retro Lounge cocktail mix CDs with Luis Prima and Martin Denny and Si Zetner, etc.

I've always been a classic jazz fan (Coltrane, Davis, Rollins, etc.) and been into the music of the Rat Pack, so this just became an extension of that. I then started collecting CDs of the artists that were featured in the Retro Lounge collections, along with classic jazz, blues and vocalists. It was very rare for me to purchase, or listen to anything recorded since the 1970s, though I do have a pretty good collection of 80s and 90s rock, it’s just I haven’t been adding to it.
A few years ago my live-in girlfriend and I split up and I gave her the furniture and took the opportunity to completely redecorate the place the way I wanted to- mid century modern or, as I called it, space age bachelor pad. I bought a bubble chair, Naguchi tables, ball clocks, Eames era stuff, etc., etc.- I even got an old pinball machine and bar. I was truly living in the 50’s-60’s.

Last June, I was poking around a flea market in Hell’s Kitchen looking for retro stuff, and I saw a Voice of Music HiFi console from 1957 for $45. I bought it, not sure if it was working, but knew it would look cool in my place. When I got it home it worked perfectly. I had picked up some 50’s/60’s lounge type albums from a tag sale for a buck apiece, just for decorations, and when I got the record player home, I found that it worked and the records sounded very cool. Now the VOM was definitely not audiophile, but it was all tube and these records sounded very appropriately retro on it. That was it- I was hooked on vinyl!

I started collecting vinyl in thrift shops and on Ebay. I noticed the VOM lacked bass, mainly due to the small single speaker that it had. I then saw a bigger VOM console on Ebay that had a 12”, two 8” and two 4” speakers. I got it for $250, and it sounded much better. I have an audiophile digital system that includes an Audio Aero Prima SE CD and top of the line Paradigm speakers, so I knew the limitations of the VOM unit, but I found it was all I was listening to because of the things that many of us love vinyl for- the covers, the ritual of playing the albums, the warmth and musicality of vinyl and tubes. I then got to thinking how great it would be if I built a truly audiophile vinyl system with a good quality TT and tube phono stage and amp. I also want to dig into the VOM and upgrade some components, like the caps, and check the resisters (I already done tube rolling with Mullards and Telefunkens).

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I got a VPI Aries 3, a BAT PK-5P phono stage, a Hagerman SUT, and a NOS Dynavector Karat 23R MC cart. I also got a VPI 16.5 RCM. In the meantime, I have accumulated several hundred LPs and remembered that I had a few hundred more albums that I had stashed away over 25 years ago! I plan to get a second tonearm wand for the 10.5i so I can put a mono cartridge on it.

I have now fully entered the insane world of vinyl, and could not be happier! Obviously, my taste in music (and all things retro) is perfect for vinyl. Besides the “Lounge” (sounds better than Easy Listening) LPs, I have purchased some essential 180-200 gram reissues- Kind of Blue, Time Out, Steely Dan’s Aja, etc., and have just subscribed to the Music Matters Blue Note 45 reissues. What I love about vinyl (in no particular order):
The ritual that goes with the playing (cleaning, turntable setup, constant tweaking)
-The covers
-The nostalgia factor
-The fact that I can play albums that I owned when I was in high school
-Shopping for LPs at used record stores, thrift shops, tag sales, and Ebay
-And most important- the sound!

Long live vinyl!
raylinds
Vinyl got into me when I started pressing records at the world's first audiophile pressing plant way back in 1973, while in high school (btw they are STILL in business). I got so into my job I became the Quality Manager and was very fortunate to deal with the likes of Stan Ricker, Doug Sax, Dave Wilson, Tam Henderson, American Grammaphone, Sheffield Lab, Windham Hill, etc. My TT is a vintage Philips GA312, as was the one I used at work to approve test pressings of many of what are considered to be audiophile classics. I simply cannot stand to listen to CD's, let alone mp3's or anything digital. Once you have heard the truth, is apparent how sadly lacking the compromised digital format is. Really.
Maybe I should have titled this thred "How did you get back into vinyl", instead. I am 50, myself, so I started on vinyl, but got out of it around 1990, and just got back into it. Now I feel like I've been missing so much the past 18 years. It sounds like a lot of you have been with it through the digital age. Good for you- you're smarter than I was.
The CD sampling rate chosen at the inception of the digital age was merely a compromise: some big name composer was asked how much music should a CD be able to carry and his answer was Beethoven's entire 5th symphony (or something to that effect). So based upon that statement a rate of 44.1khz was chosen. In other words they opted for convenience of packaging the product, not for optimum quality of the product itself. How's THAT for putting the music first! Really though, ANY sampling rate would be a compromise compared to pure analog. How could you digitize a flowing river, for instance; or a warm summer breeze? Some things in nature are not to be messed with. Good thread, Raylinds
Good for you- you're smarter than I was.
Raylinds

No I wasn't. I fell for the "Perfect Sound Forever" crap too. I actually was a pretty early adapter, I guess around 1986. I knew the sound was crisper/leaner than through LP's, but I was happy with the longer play times and no maintenance, not that I took great care of my LP's in the 70's and 80's. That's probably why I didn't miss the crack/snap/popping either with cd's. I was hooked on cd's for around 15 years, and didn't really know any better.

As my audio cravings and finances grew, I went to seperates, in amps & preamps and in transport and DAC's. Kept thinking the sound was getting better. Then around 2001, I bought a top Classe preamp with a built in phono stage, and thought " hey let's find out what all this vinyl buzz is about". So I bought a cheap VPI HW-19 Jr w/ Rega RB-300 arm and Dynavector 10X4 mk II cartridge. I was stunned at the difference. Here this low budget vinyl rig was running rigs around my mega-kilobuck digital seperates. I have a local audio friend who heard it and was blown away. He went back to vinyl too.

Now I have a much more expensive analog set up, and have simplified my digital gear, no more seperates for me, thank you. A decent cd player will do for playing music while working around the house. When I'm really ready to listen to music though, I bring out that Licorice Pizza..........ahhhhhhhhhhh..........

Cheers,
John