Considering analog...but nervous

Thanks to all for their brutal honesty. I may shelve the idea again until the "urge" returns (which it inevitably will). At least I have more opinion to move forward with.

But I cannot leave without just saying to Lindisfarne...how little minded your statement was. Clearly, someone has p!ssed you off one too many times (perhaps me?) and it shows. Just becuase I enjoy soundstage and imaging and generally enjoy music from audiophile labels does not mean I don't enjoy music as a whole. As a matter of fact, I have found copious amounts of amazing MUSIC through audiophile and independent labels, that I would have otherwise never found by sticking to mainstream labels.

I listen to plenty of other music under non-critical listening situations (and will also play mainstream labels on my main rig if they are recorded well). I am a music fan at heart, but am hindered by the sheer fact that most modern, mainstream music is not cared for properly at the engineering/mastering stage and thus sounds mediocre (at best, sometimes unbareable) on a highly-resolving system. These types of recording tend to sound MUCH better on a standard playback system that wasn't specifically tailored around resolving EVERY little detail.

At the end of the day, if I could block out the imperfections in the recordings and suppress the desire to enjoy soundstage and imaging, I wouldn't even be here on this site. I'd be happy with a $300 hose wave radio (sorry, had to throw a jab at Bose) and a stack of CDs. Unfortunately, neither of the above are possible for my ears and listening. Still yet, it means nothing toward my joy of music and the art.

So please, keep your condescending comments to yourself and if you have nothing of value to contribute, just pass the thread by.

To everyone else who contributed with genuine substance, thanks again!

-gh0st

Hi,

I'm not going to blow you any smoke rings...

Shopping for, storing, care taking and playing vinyl is not a casual, so what sort of thing if you consider yourself a fan of quality audio playback. It requires developing a desire to make the effort learn some skills in setup and handling and the ritual of playing vinyl.

If you are one who has grown up with only the experience of plopping in a shiny disc into a player or even newer turn on an MP3 player etc. to listen to stored music, well unless you are willing to make the effort, vinyl may not be for you. BUT! if you care to get into it, learn the ritual and take the time and effort vinyl playback can be a rewarding experience and on a decent system with proper setup and care give you fantastic audio quality.

One does not have to take out a second mortgage to buy into quality vinyl payback. Today there are good choices of new and used turntables that can get you maybe 8.5-9/10ths the sound of the best vinyl setups and can do so for easily $1000-$2000. This would include:

A new or quality used even vintage turtable.
A good quality cartridge
A good quality phono preamp
A daily cleaning section from a brush to sylus cleaner
A good setup to get you into either vacuuming, steaming, or quality non-vacuuming cleaning setup.

I myself since returning back to vinyl in 2003 have a gone through entry level new table, to a mid range new table to building a couple of DIY tables and to now a fine working vintage turntable, which is a then TOL JVC QL-Y5F which IMO can go toe to toe with most any <$1500 table sold new today. I have a modest but respected Denon DL-110 cartridge on it and it works great. I'm running a decent Cambridge Audio 640P phono preamp and have invested now after trying things from DIY vacuuming to steam cleaning etc. I have a Spin Clean system and for $80 is a steal IMO.

My phono setup is not the best nor even close to being expensive but since I take on the ritual of vinyl payback highly and do the best I can to care and maintain my albums and phono setup I get great audio performnace.

99% of my vinyl bought after 2003 (I had about 50 LP's in storage bough brand new in early to mid 80's) is used and mostly from thrift shops. I have bought over 600 used LP's since 2003. You can often land very good condition vinyl from used shops. But it will be hit and miss. That said not all new vinyl is perfect either. Many vinyl buyers flame on at how bad some new pressings can be.

So pros:

It can be fun.
You can do a lot of swapping out, experimenting and upgrading as time passes.
You have lots of low priced used vinyl out there.
You can get nice quality new vinyl too.
You have beautiful album covers and inner sleeves.
You can if you take the time to setup get a fine sounding setup that will match or even better most anything in the digital world.

Finaly NO! if you want absolute quiet, no noticeable background noise, you will not get it quite as good with vinyl. Yes, good and well cared for vinyl can sound almost as quiet. Vinyl being a mechanical medium will have a bit of a higher noise floor but it's not as obtrusive as the unwashed anti-vinyl yappers try to claim. Used vinyl can be noisy, mostly due to lack of proper care from previous owners. But clean vinyl is not all "crackly and clicky" but is smooth and can be quit velvety in sound.

Good luck if you choose to play down this audio path. It can be fun, rewarding and a pleasure in listening but it will be more work and have higher rituals required to get that analogue sound out of your system.

100% free of all noise?I doubt this very much and I'm a vinyl buff.

lps are fun but take work
cds are fun and easy
downloads are dangerous because you can spend money 24/7
being an audio enthusiast is fun
go for it