I never thought this day would come, but...

[Swish]

...it appears I'll be buying vinyl again. I pretty much gave up on it due to the overwhelming convenience and availability of cds, and the sound used to be very good too, but we all know that's not always the case these days. Anyway, my daughter picked up four LPs for me at a new store that just opened in Lancaster, and I forgot how much I enjoyed reading all the jacket info and pulled out the LP for the first time. I still have my old Technics table but will need a new stylus for sure before I can play anything. I still have a modest collect on vinyl, so it's not like it will be for the sake of these new records, and I'm really looking forward to getting back into it.

Swish

[jrhymeammo]

Vinyl sucks!!!

If you dont have a cartridge protractor, be sure to print a freebie from below link. It'll make a world of difference. Do you have a scale to measure your VTF? I would like to recommend some $1000 worth of analog accessories, but I hope you'll enjoy your reunion.

http://www.vacuumstate.com/white_papers/index.htm

...and most importantly. Here ya go.

http://www.recordshowsofamerica.com


JRA

[JohnMichael]

Welcome back to vinyl!

[Jim Clark]

Back in the olden days, I pretty much just played records. Never worried about tracking force, cartridge angles, or even cleaning with anything more than a velvet brush. Seems that approach just don't cut it anymore. Like jrhymeammo said, there's tons of stuff you "need".

Like you, I had a couple hundred albums left over that I just couldn't bring myself to part with when I jumped to CD. Unlike you, I never really had a decent turntable so you're ahead of the game. Yeah, it's fun and if you have the time and are willing to put forth the effort, there's some great vinyl out there waiting to be found at the thrifts but anymore it seems like there's a whole lot more famine than feast.

All in all, I'm still having fun. Even my kids have turntables set up in their rooms.

Have fun.

jc

[Swish]

Vinyl sucks!!!

If you dont have a cartridge protractor, be sure to print a freebie from below link. It'll make a world of difference. Do you have a scale to measure your VTF? I would like to recommend some $1000 worth of analog accessories, but I hope you'll enjoy your reunion.

http://www.vacuumstate.com/white_papers/index.htm

...and most importantly. Here ya go.

http://www.recordshowsofamerica.com


JRA

I do remember how expensive some tables got, especially companies like Linn. I won't be going to those lengths, but I do appreciate the advice and already printed the info you posted, so thanks.

Swish

[Swish]

Back in the olden days, I pretty much just played records. Never worried about tracking force, cartridge angles, or even cleaning with anything more than a velvet brush. Seems that approach just don't cut it anymore. Like jrhymeammo said, there's tons of stuff you "need".

Like you, I had a couple hundred albums left over that I just couldn't bring myself to part with when I jumped to CD. Unlike you, I never really had a decent turntable so you're ahead of the game. Yeah, it's fun and if you have the time and are willing to put forth the effort, there's some great vinyl out there waiting to be found at the thrifts but anymore it seems like there's a whole lot more famine than feast.

All in all, I'm still having fun. Even my kids have turntables set up in their rooms.

Have fun.

jc

...a fortune on 'stuff' either. I do have a good question though; can you recommend a good internet seller for styluses and such? I still have my Discwasher and their cleaning solution, so I don't need much to get moving on this.

Regards,
Swish

[Luvin Da Blues]

Hey Swish,

A couple of OL dealers I've had very good luck with are..

http://www.lpgear.com

and

http://www.needledoctor.com/

Welcome back to vinyl.

LDB

[Jim Clark]

I bought 3 cartridges off a dude that sells on ebay under the user name mrhifimrsound.

If he doesn't have one that I'm looking for on ebay I usually just email him and tell him what I need. It's always been a better price than any dealer I've found online.

I don't spend a lot on cartridges and have been very happy with my low priced offerings.

AT440MLa
and a Shure M97Xe

Don't know how well they'd do on your Technics table but these are very popular sub 100 carts and work great on my Dual and Kenwood tables. There's a ton of information on these on the net. I found quite a bit on the Vinyl asylum back when I was really looking.

jc

[dean_martin]

Hey Swish,

A couple of OL dealers I've had very good luck with are..

http://www.lpgear.com

and

http://www.needledoctor.com/

Welcome back to vinyl.

LDB

I 2nd www.lpgear.com

I haven't bought anything from needle doctor but I've used their website for reference many times.

Other places of interest are:
www.musicdirect.com
www.acousticsounds.com

new vinyl can be found at circuit city online and now amazon is carrying new vinyl. Circuit City can be slow and sometimes they can't get the "special order" stuff they list, but they're generally cheaper than music direct and acoustic sounds. I haven't tried amazon for vinyl yet.

Oh, and this place is good too - www.garage-a-records.com

and for a wealth of info on Technics tables: www.kabusa.com

[Swish]

Hey Swish,

A couple of OL dealers I've had very good luck with are..

http://www.lpgear.com

and

http://www.needledoctor.com/

Welcome back to vinyl.

LDB

I just bookmarked both sites and will check them out when I have some time. Heading on the road for a few days so I'll probably deal with it this weekend.

Regards,
Swish

[Swish]

I 2nd www.lpgear.com

I haven't bought anything from needle doctor but I've used their website for reference many times.

Other places of interest are:
www.musicdirect.com
www.acousticsounds.com

new vinyl can be found at circuit city online and now amazon is carrying new vinyl. Circuit City can be slow and sometimes they can't get the "special order" stuff they list, but they're generally cheaper than music direct and acoustic sounds. I haven't tried amazon for vinyl yet.

Oh, and this place is good too - www.garage-a-records.com

and for a wealth of info on Technics tables: www.kabusa.com

Swish

[Swish]

I bought 3 cartridges off a dude that sells on ebay under the user name mrhifimrsound.

If he doesn't have one that I'm looking for on ebay I usually just email him and tell him what I need. It's always been a better price than any dealer I've found online.

I don't spend a lot on cartridges and have been very happy with my low priced offerings.

AT440MLa
and a Shure M97Xe

Don't know how well they'd do on your Technics table but these are very popular sub 100 carts and work great on my Dual and Kenwood tables. There's a ton of information on these on the net. I found quite a bit on the Vinyl asylum back when I was really looking.

jc

I love e-bay, so I'll check out this seller.

Swish

[Ex Lion Tamer]

In the immortal words of Michael Corleone...

Just when I thought I was Out....they pull me back in!

Lots of mentions of used vinyl and stuf, but most of our indie faves are available and often preferable on vinyl. Case in point Wilco's YHF is an outstanding vinyl pressing which I think is better than the CD. Also a lot of labels are offering free MP3 downloads, if you buy vinyl; two recent buys...Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog and The Raveonettes - Lust, Lust Lust both offered free downloads. Often if you buy vinyl too you get bonus tracks that are not available on the CD.
No matter which direction your re-entry into vinyl takes you, It quite likely will breathe new life into your music listening.

[bobsticks]

From the man that brought you the Information SuperHighway...VINYL!!!!...

....and for his next startling innovation...WIND-UP CLOCKS!!!!



I would imagine that the liner notes on the LPs are easier on the eyes though.

[basite]

welcome back the the dark side

any tt's in specific you're looking at?

btw, sticks, weren't you looking for a tt too?

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Swish]

welcome back the the dark side

any tt's in specific you're looking at?

btw, sticks, weren't you looking for a tt too?

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

...but need a new cartridge for sure. I did mention that above so you obviously missed it. The only way I'll invest in a new tt is if the old one causes me some problems, so we shall see. I don't need another 'hobby' so to speak, as I already spend more than I should on guitars/amps, golf, racquetball, cds, and beer....scratch that last entry...you can never spend too much on beer. Or can you?

Swish

[bobsticks]

welcome back the the dark side

any tt's in specific you're looking at?

btw, sticks, weren't you looking for a tt too?

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

Clearly the purpose of this is to have fun at the expense of one Swish-Daddy...neither my archaic listening proclivities nor my blatant hypocrisy are at issue here lad.

The day is mine.

[SlumpBuster]

Many new releases on vinyl will give you the best of both worlds. For example, the Polyphonic Spree last year issued a vinyl release with a free download of the album. Rilo Kiley just got all up in it with their vinyl release and packaged a CD right in with the record. That was nice. But price is reflected. Rilo Kiley was $15, Spree was $20 and Rush clocked in at $30, without any CD or download. No $7.99 Bestbuy deals here. But that Rush record is an absofrickenunbelievalbe release in terms of vinyl quality and mastering. If you get into jazz reissues like JRA, then you can end up blowing some serious coin. Either way, the days of the thin crappy Dynaflex releases are long gone.

Best of all you can start using the vaguely dirty sounding phrase "virgin vinyl" again with impunity.

[nobody]

Welcome back.

Deals on used vinyl alone, especially stuff that was popular enough to be plentiful, makes having a turntable set up worth while. Given the choice, I'd sooner ditch my CD player.