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How many of us listen to VINYL as primary source?


Allan Songer

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I run about 40% vinyl to 60% CD's on the average. I tend to collect audio stuff and turntables just seem to find their way to me via friends, horse-trades, etc. I'm up to over 10 decks now (starting to lose track) but they are fun to mess with when time allows. Vinyl definitely is preferable to CD's for sound as long as you're willing to put up with the inconvenience and an occaisional snap-crackle-pop. Most people have not heard vinyl with a good deck/arm/cartridge combo and quite literally don't know what they're missing (your mom's BSR stacker with the spring-loaded plastic tonearm just doesn't cut it). If I intend to pay attention to the music I'll spin vinyl, but its still hard to beat CD's when working or reading for non-stop tunes in the background. Here's most of the relics I own (all clean & functioning):

1974 Linn LP12, Valhalla w/Basik Plus arm (main deck)

1979 Linn LP12, Basik w/Infinity Black Widow arm

Yamaha PF-800

Kyocera PL-701

B&O RX2

Denon DP45F

Pioneer PL-50 w/Infinity Black Widow arm

Sansui FR-3080

Sansui SR-5090

Garrard Zero 100SB

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Rooms $4.00 a week & up, mostly up - Free showers when it rains!

Amalgamated Association of Morons, Local 6 7/8

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Finally!! Someone else with a PF800! Hot damn...s>

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Tom

KLF-20 Mahogany (Cornell Hotwired)

McIntosh C33 Preamp

McIntosh MVP-841 CD/DVD

Rotel RB-1080 Amp

Yamaha PF-800 Turntable/ Sure V15 Type V Cartridge

Ortofon VMS-30 mkII Cartridge

Stanton 999SS Cartridge

Yamaha K-1020 Cassette

dbx 1231 EQ

H.H. Scott 830z Analyzer

Monster Interlink 400mk II

Monster Interlink 300mk II

Monster Video 2 (DVD to TV)

Monster Power HTS-5000

MIT Terminator 2 Bi-Wire Speaker cables

Studio Tech U-48RW Cabinet

Vibrapods

Enough empty boxes for a fire hazard!

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When at home trying to enjoy music I listen to about 80% vinyl, 15% cd and 5% radio. In the car about 50% cd and 50% radio. At work about 80% radio and 20% cd. I really like going to swap shops and walking out with an arm full of lp for only a few dollars. I several duplicates, so that when I wear out one i'll have another to wear out. Alot of my friends cannot belive that I like old records and have the gaul to play them.

Paul

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Paul Ward

my home theater www.brookesbakersurveyors.com/klipschht.htm

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When it comes to the total package...the music first...something to really convey the soul and essence of the music, there is nothing like a good album. Vinyl is still the most involving and life-like of the sources. I have over 5000 albums total and, to be honest, there is nothing like the feeling and result of vinyl, tubes, and horns such as ye olde Cornwalls.

I truly think that vinyl - tubes - and horns are meant for one another as CD's just dont have the atmosphere, life, and immediacy, to compete... I remember when I first hooked up my Linn, Cary, 2A3 Monoblocks, and Cornwalls...it was after driving over 12 hours round trip to purchase said Cornwalls; the speakers were in the middle of the room...I could barely see straight. I put on Sonny Rollins' "Blue 7" from SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS...and as soon as the groove hit with Max Roach on the drums after that famous walking bass introduction...well, I knew this was going to be a ride. And damn if I am still going.

50s and 60 acoustic jazz is all time best on vinyl with CD taking a distant back seat. The great thing is that vinyl is still being made and there are many great pressings still to be had. The indie music scene is very dedicated to vinyl as well. In addition, they dont use much processing in the recording which results in great, uncompressed sound.

If you havent listened to a good album with a quality analog front end, then it's very simple:

You just dont know what youre missing.

kh

s y s t e m

Linn LP-12/Linn Basic Plus/Sumiko Blue Point

Rega Planet

Cary Audio SLP-70 w/Phono Modified

Creek OBH-12 Passive Preamp

Welborne Labs 2A3 Moondog Monoblocks

DIYCable Wire - Various

1977 Klipsch Cornwall I w/Alnico

Alternate Components:

EICO HF-81 - btw, perfect Cornwall match

ASUSA A-4 EL-34 UL

ProAc Mini-Towers

EICO HFT-90 Tube FM Tuner

Sumo Aurora Tuner

Nakamichi CR-7af>s>

This message has been edited by mobile homeless on 12-20-2001 at 11:34 PM

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I listen to vinyl about 98% of the time. About 2 years ago bought a new turntable/cartridge and wet vac cleaner and I only listen to CDs on planes.

I was totally amazed when I heard vinyl on a good turntable. Next I started cleaning my records on the wet vac system and found it removed most of the background noise and really "opened up" the recordings.

I now search the local Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Half Price book stores for old vinyl and pick up some at estate/garage sells and on e-bay...you'd be surprised how much good cheap vinyl you can find and how well they clean up.

I started with about 800 records and now I probably have about 2500. I clean and listen to one or two most evenings.

Rega Planar 25

Benz Micro wood body

Nitty Gritty wet vac system

Cornwalls

Tubed MacIntosh components

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Thank God I'm not alone!

I own approx 2500 LPs--90% jazz recorded between 1950 and 1980. Here's what when on the table last night:

Gigi Gryce and the Jazzlab Quartet (Riverside)

Coleman Hawkins- Today and Now (Impulse)

Sonny Stitt- Tune Up (Cobbelstone)

Hampton Hawes- All Night Session Vol. 1 (Contemporary)

I think Cornwalls are the perfect speaker for this music.

System:

McIntosh MC-30 Monoblocks (w. KT-66 output tubes)

McIntosh C-22 preamp

Thorens TD-124/SME 3012/Ortofon SPU-GT/E

McIntosh MR-71 tuner

McIntosh MI-3 scope

Klipsh Corwalls (1964, vertical horn)

and a BAT VK-D5 CD player (the only one I've ever owned that didn't make my ears hurt).

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When I mounted my SME arm I really rediscovered the treasures of vinyl sound. I never thought that a tonearm would influence the sound THAT much. Now I feel that even with the 'smallest' SPU I am in vinyl heaven. So why do I still listen to CDs? Well, they are certainly convenient, some recordings (mainly classical) are only available on CD and what is still missing for real vinyl pleasure is a good record cleaning machine. The VPI I was about to buy some month ago was unfortunately sold before I found time to collect it (luckily I hadn't sent any $$ yet!).

Wolfram

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Without music colour becomes pallor, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb - Edgar Allan Poe

system:

1973 Khorns with ALK crossovers

REL Stadium II sub

Cayin 743 D integrated tube amp

McIntosh Mc 2105

McIntosh C 29

McIntosh MR 77

McIntosh MCD 7007

Thorens 520S

SME 3012-R

Ortofon SPU Classic GM E

Cyrus aEQ 7 phono stage with PSX-R power supply

Alternative speakers:

Quad ESL 63

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I think the last few posters have brought up some good points, namely, it makes a BIG...no HUGE.... difference when you have a good turntable, arm, cartridge. I am also a firm proponent of a quality wet vacuum record cleaning machine. I have had a VPI 16.5 since the late 80s and it has made an amazing difference, especially with all the quality used vinyl out there! There is nothing more rewarding than happening on some great vinyl that looks a bit dirty and running through ye olde record cleaning machine, watching it come out looking almost new! I actually buy new sleeves for the vinyl after I clean it, discarding the old dirty ones. Charles is right; you would be amazed what a quality cleaning machine can do (and it's important to get the right cleaning fluid - or mix your own - it makes a difference).

All that being said, having a great TT with an excellent cartridge really brings that vinyl to life. So many people have worthless turntables with worn styli.... no wonder they prefer CDs! Indeed, if you pick up a good, used, well taken care of, belt drive turntable, and intall a quality cartridge, you would be amazed at the sound. Remember, BELT DRIVE is preferable to "direct drive" as the motor is decoupled from the platter with a belt! Also, be sure to avoid the servo speed corrected tables as the constant correcting of speed actually messes up the timing. So many of those 70s direct drive tables were bunk. Try to avoid the P-Mount cartridges as well...they are not attached in a rigid fashion.

If anyone has a preamp or receiver even (NAD has some good receiver phono preamps), give vinyl a try! Especially with tubes and horns. You really dont know what your are missing!

kh

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I also consider a wet-vac essential to the enjoyment of LPs. I have a Nitty Gritty I bought new MANY years ago and use in in combonation with Disc Doctor pads and fluid and lots of distilled water for rinsing.

And you don't have to spend mega-bucks for a decent vinyl front end--easily done for 5 or 6 hundred bucks.

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I'm just getting back into vinyl after a several year absence. I have about 600 or so classical LP's that I have accumulated since highschool. Most of these are still in very good condition. I recently upgraded my Yamaha P-300 to a Rega P-3. I'm beginning to appreciate vinyl again. However, last week I got a new SACD changer so now I have something to compare CDs with.

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Bill J.

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Denon AVR 3300

Denon DVM 3800 DVD

Pioneer LD Elite CLD-53

Sony C222ES SACD/CD

Nakamichi Dragon Cassette

Scientific Atlantic Explorer 2100

RCA Home Theater Hi-Fi VCR

RCA 25" Colortrack 2000 (1974)

Rega Planar 3 Turntable -Elys cartridge

Panamax 1000+ Surge Protector/Line Conditioner

Heresy Mains

RC-3 Center Channel

KSP-6 Rears

M&K VX-7 Sub

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As WJ stated, just got back to vinyl myself also. I gave my lp's away in 92, started "garaging" this summer and picked up a Marantz 6200 turntable(76,in mint condition with o\box, schematics, and manual), to accompany my Marantz system. Then started to collect albums from the above mentioned vendors, great scores out there to be had on people parting with their collections for cd\dvd's.

to add, out of 100, 45% vinyl, 25% cd, 20% dvd, 5% S-VHS audio, 5% casette tape, 0% hdcd.

This message has been edited by boomer9911 on 12-22-2001 at 03:19 AM

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Mobile-- Well I know what I'm missing, nothing. I have some records and a good record player and haven't used them in years, most of my records have been junked. That stuff is a pain; set the arm on the record, hear the thing through once and then getup and remove the arm so the thing doesn't sit there going bump-bump. Throw on a CD, skip songs I don't like, repeat those I do like, great. Besides, music today comes on CDs, I let the music I like decide what format I use, the music I like is on CDs. I still hear vinyl on other guy's rigs and it's no big deal.

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Hey, Brennan, You are a man of contradictions.... philosophies and opinions conflicting right and left, hilly nilly. You're an interesting case, Brennan.

A man that marches to his own beat, whether it be goat skin, plastic, formica, wood, jelly donut, two headed elk, shag carpeting, vanilla waffers, southern ice tea, a bag of corn chips, or the proverbial Reagan jelly beans.

Long live history and its love of repeating itself. Bits is bits, eh?

kh

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To hell with the audiophile convention... I am talking about the actual musical qualities of a good turntable vs a good CD player. IF you listen to any music made before 1993, especially any classic rock or underground independant...or jazz...or classical... then the average red book CD (or better) does not offer the same illusion that you are actually LISTENING to real music. EVen now, with the top CD sources, digital does not equal the musical qualities of vinyl, audiophile gobbledegook or not.

I am talking about your complete and utter inconsistancy in your statements regarding letting the marketplace dictate your music choice, ie "...music today comes on CDs, I let the music I like decide what format I use, the music I like is on CDs." Most of the classics are reissued in vinyl as even the musicians realize that vinyl conveys the music much better than digital. See comments by the countless musicians that agree. IF you look at your above quote and slide it over to the notion of SPEAKERS, then there is nothing harder to explain then your lack of going with a direct radiator speaker design, a design that is available at about 99.9% of ALL places to buy or trade or sell new or used audio speakers.

You seem to be constantly on the defensive about audiophile this and audiophile that. Have you not learned to drop the labels and listen to the music? Frankly, if you have not heard the distance between a really good vinyl source vs a good CD source, then I wonder what you DO hear? I have many selections in both vinyl and CD. When I throw on the CD version, about 90% of the time, my wife makes a negative comment pertaining to the sound vs the same selection on the Linn with record (many times a MUCH older record as well). I have to agree. And this with a DAMN good CD player that is very smooth sounding such as the Rega Planet, a gimmick-free player that puts music first and gimcrack nick-nacks second. And rest assured, I still listen to a lot of digital recordings as well. But I dont pretend to rate it a better and more musical sounding as even WORN records from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and even current production.

So to hell with the audiophile comparison. I am talking about MUSIC here. Take something like mainstream Led Zeppelin on a record vs the CD...even that... and the record sounds about 100% more alive and musical... I dont know how many CD only people, young and old, have listened to records at my house and made the same incredulous comments pertaining to how GREAT the old records sound vs the CDs.

If you chose to summarize a record as "getting up and picking up an arm when it goes bump, bump, bump" then this shows how much a priority everything INBETWEEN the bump bump and the click of placing the stylus down is. It appears that you almost use ease of use and practicality as your music guide yet go to 100% more trouble to assemble and locate your HORN speakers when you can plop a piece of plastic down the street at your local Circuit City and walk out with a easy-carry box of minimonitors.... Ahhh....the ease.

I have over 300 reel to reel recordings of great stuff from the 60s - 80s. I also have over 1100 TKD SA90-SA100 tapes made on my Nakamichi decks from the 70s to the 80s, music I still do enjoy but dont for a minute actually pretend to say they equal the direct fidelity of records or the original. And hell, Nakamich makes just about the best copies of a source via cassette I can think of. The medium, on the other hand, just does not totally get you there...

Drop the chip on the shoulder against the "audiophile" label, a label I happen to have a disdain for as well if it means the gear comes before the music. I also hate the HOBBY aspect of audio land... most people into this mess have such sorry record/CD collections while spending hours and $$$ and effort into their GEAR. Music should always come first. And this and ONLY this, is why I still prefer the sound of vinyl, even though it happens to be a bigger pain. And when CD really does make the jump to a more believable medium, I will be right there with it.

kh

This message has been edited by mobile homeless on 12-24-2001 at 03:53 AM

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Just got a new cartridge for phono and a CD deck. I have tons of LPs. Can't wait to dub these gems to CD so I can listen to them and keep them in their pristine condition.

As far as the CD vs. LP debate IMHO I like the warmth of LPs but hate the noise. It's a tradeoff and I think CD wins. After all playing a record is dragging a rock through mud.

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I think that the old black 12" discs do have great sound qualities. For one thing, they have that all -important wider dynamic range. There are some very nice sonic benefits from LPs, but I must play them only once a month. Jumping up to change the disc every 20 minutes seems like so much more work than clicking "shuffle" and "repeat" by remote control. But I am with Tom on this one, for I can not abide the pop and click, wow and flutter that most records subject me to.

When I hear the latest tune from a new artist, I want that music. Take Dido, for example, when her "Thank You" song hit the airwaves, I was pleased to find her used CD for $8. Or Enya, if you like her newly popular hit, then you can buy her CD, but I doubt she has it out on vinyl.

I am watching the format debate and mentally planning an upgrade to six channel sound. When CD Warehouse begins to stock one new format over the other and the rows and rows of used CDs (including improved two-channel formats) begin to give way to the new style, then I too, will convert. But until then, it is easier to deal with a well established horn and tube combination then it is to deal with vinyl and turntables. Horns are not so constantly demanding, neither are tubes.

cwm39.gif

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Colin's Music System Cornwall 1s & Klipsch subs; lights out & tubes glowing!

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