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I may have touched upon this before but here's my current setup and a small waffle on the joys of vinyl.
I’ve gone back to vinyl for about 8 months now and a most enjoyable experience it is.
I was taken in by the digital revolution, CD’s I-Pods, mp3’s et al but it is my sincere belief that nothing, so far, sounds better than vinyl.
With the possible exception of reel to reel tape but that’s a bit impractical and besides, recordings on that media are only as good as the source.
The vinyl market is an odd thing, time was CD’s cost more than vinyl, now it’s the other way round.
With music so easy to get for next to nothing in mp3, m4a and FLAC formats, CD’s have dropped in price but vinyl platters have to be bought, you can’t download a slab of grooved plastic.
New releases on vinyl are not only limited in number but they are relatively expensive. As an example the first Vampire Weekend album was a limited UK vinyl release and is now sold out. It typically sold for £15.00 and the UK releases fetch more than that second-hand. It is still available on US import for around £15.00 however.
Whilst new vinyl releases and reissues on vinyl are quite expensive the second hand vinyl market is very much a mixed bag. Certain artists and rarities fetch high prices but there’s a whole wealth of used vinyl that sells very cheaply indeed.
Fortunately for me lots of the cheapies are the ones I’m after. The most expensive second hand vinyl I’ve bought so far is the first Greasy Truckers double album featuring Man, Hawkwind & Brinsley Schwarz which I paid £20.00 for after bidding the retailer down from £25.00. I’ve also paid a tenner for a few albums, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Funkadelic and Roxy Music being a few examples.
There’s a shop near to me that puts second hand vinyl albums on sale and after a certain time period if they don’t sell they’re consigned to the basement (literally a basement) racks where they sell for just £1.00.
Not all are good in the shop, many are scratched to hell, but bargains can be had. Over the last few months I’ve bought, for a pound each, this lot, and oddly enough, none of them jump, though a few are a bit scratchy on playback:
Abba – Voulez Vous
Abba – The Album
Abba – Arrival
Big Country – The Crossing
Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees
Bryan Ferry – These Foolish Things
Carpenters – Yesterday Once More
Carole King – Tapestry
Dollar – The Best Of Dollar
Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary
Eagles – Hotel California
Elkie Brooks – Pearls
Gallagher & Lyle – Breakaway
Genesis – Selling England By The Pound
Genesis – Trick Of The Tail
Genesis – Wind & Wuthering
Graham Parker – The Up Escalator
Judie Tzuke – Welcome To The Cruise
Joan Armatrading – Joan Armatrading
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
Lindisfarne – Fog On The Tyne
Manhattan Transfer – Extensions
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Nilsson – A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night
Oasis (Peter Skellern & Mary Hopkin) – Oasis
Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run
Pretenders – First Album
Prince – Around The World In A Day
Roy Orbinson – All Time Greatest Hits
Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds Of Silence
Steely Dan – Aja
Steeleye Span – All Around My Hat
Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle
These Animal Men (Come On) Join The High Society
U2 – The Joshua Tree
UB40 – Signing Off
Waterboys – The Waterboys
Note most of those are seventies releases, seems they don’t sell that well which suits me cos I get ‘em cheap.
Ok, few of those are classics but a lot of them are firm favourites of mine and I’m quite chuffed to pick ‘em up on vinyl cheap.
And yes, I quite like Abba, lol
And Roy Orbison, I wouldn’t normally think of playing his stuff but when I do it makes me feel good, hearing ‘Sweet Dreams Baby’ instantly takes me back to when I was 14 or so, in my bedroom, surrounded by Airfix kits and drag racing magazines and also riding my push bike over dirt trails on bomb sites. A heady buzz.
Currently have 350 vinyl albums, want more
Here’s what I’m playing stuff on:
Home made valve amps, 2 x 10 watt monoblocks mounted in a 19” case.
Goldring GL75 turntable mounted in a home made heavy plinth.
Decca Unipivot Arm
Nagaoka MP11 Boron Moving magnet cartridge
Pro-Ject Phono RIAA/Preamp stage (with USB outlet)
Home made voltage controlled relay input switcher & volume control.
Pair Of KEF Cresta Loudspeakers on Gale stands (probably the weakest link but I’m working on it)
Cambridge Azure 640C CD Player (despite this being what I consider expensive I’m not terribly impressed with this)
Cambridge Azure 640T DAB/FM Tuner
LG 37 inch 1080P telly with 100Hz scanning.
Xbox 360 Elite 120Gb HDD with a coupla controllers.
Media computer wiv lots of FLAC Music and DivX movies.
Computer and X-Box are into two of the three TV HDMI inputs.
All audio outputs are through the stereo audio system.
Who needs to go out to play?
Here’s some pix, I’m thinking of spraying the turntable base plinth black but undecided – views?
I’ve gone back to vinyl for about 8 months now and a most enjoyable experience it is.
I was taken in by the digital revolution, CD’s I-Pods, mp3’s et al but it is my sincere belief that nothing, so far, sounds better than vinyl.
With the possible exception of reel to reel tape but that’s a bit impractical and besides, recordings on that media are only as good as the source.
The vinyl market is an odd thing, time was CD’s cost more than vinyl, now it’s the other way round.
With music so easy to get for next to nothing in mp3, m4a and FLAC formats, CD’s have dropped in price but vinyl platters have to be bought, you can’t download a slab of grooved plastic.
New releases on vinyl are not only limited in number but they are relatively expensive. As an example the first Vampire Weekend album was a limited UK vinyl release and is now sold out. It typically sold for £15.00 and the UK releases fetch more than that second-hand. It is still available on US import for around £15.00 however.
Whilst new vinyl releases and reissues on vinyl are quite expensive the second hand vinyl market is very much a mixed bag. Certain artists and rarities fetch high prices but there’s a whole wealth of used vinyl that sells very cheaply indeed.
Fortunately for me lots of the cheapies are the ones I’m after. The most expensive second hand vinyl I’ve bought so far is the first Greasy Truckers double album featuring Man, Hawkwind & Brinsley Schwarz which I paid £20.00 for after bidding the retailer down from £25.00. I’ve also paid a tenner for a few albums, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Funkadelic and Roxy Music being a few examples.
There’s a shop near to me that puts second hand vinyl albums on sale and after a certain time period if they don’t sell they’re consigned to the basement (literally a basement) racks where they sell for just £1.00.
Not all are good in the shop, many are scratched to hell, but bargains can be had. Over the last few months I’ve bought, for a pound each, this lot, and oddly enough, none of them jump, though a few are a bit scratchy on playback:
Abba – Voulez Vous
Abba – The Album
Abba – Arrival
Big Country – The Crossing
Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees
Bryan Ferry – These Foolish Things
Carpenters – Yesterday Once More
Carole King – Tapestry
Dollar – The Best Of Dollar
Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary
Eagles – Hotel California
Elkie Brooks – Pearls
Gallagher & Lyle – Breakaway
Genesis – Selling England By The Pound
Genesis – Trick Of The Tail
Genesis – Wind & Wuthering
Graham Parker – The Up Escalator
Judie Tzuke – Welcome To The Cruise
Joan Armatrading – Joan Armatrading
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
Lindisfarne – Fog On The Tyne
Manhattan Transfer – Extensions
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Nilsson – A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night
Oasis (Peter Skellern & Mary Hopkin) – Oasis
Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run
Pretenders – First Album
Prince – Around The World In A Day
Roy Orbinson – All Time Greatest Hits
Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds Of Silence
Steely Dan – Aja
Steeleye Span – All Around My Hat
Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle
These Animal Men (Come On) Join The High Society
U2 – The Joshua Tree
UB40 – Signing Off
Waterboys – The Waterboys
Note most of those are seventies releases, seems they don’t sell that well which suits me cos I get ‘em cheap.
Ok, few of those are classics but a lot of them are firm favourites of mine and I’m quite chuffed to pick ‘em up on vinyl cheap.
And yes, I quite like Abba, lol
And Roy Orbison, I wouldn’t normally think of playing his stuff but when I do it makes me feel good, hearing ‘Sweet Dreams Baby’ instantly takes me back to when I was 14 or so, in my bedroom, surrounded by Airfix kits and drag racing magazines and also riding my push bike over dirt trails on bomb sites. A heady buzz.
Currently have 350 vinyl albums, want more
Here’s what I’m playing stuff on:
Home made valve amps, 2 x 10 watt monoblocks mounted in a 19” case.
Goldring GL75 turntable mounted in a home made heavy plinth.
Decca Unipivot Arm
Nagaoka MP11 Boron Moving magnet cartridge
Pro-Ject Phono RIAA/Preamp stage (with USB outlet)
Home made voltage controlled relay input switcher & volume control.
Pair Of KEF Cresta Loudspeakers on Gale stands (probably the weakest link but I’m working on it)
Cambridge Azure 640C CD Player (despite this being what I consider expensive I’m not terribly impressed with this)
Cambridge Azure 640T DAB/FM Tuner
LG 37 inch 1080P telly with 100Hz scanning.
Xbox 360 Elite 120Gb HDD with a coupla controllers.
Media computer wiv lots of FLAC Music and DivX movies.
Computer and X-Box are into two of the three TV HDMI inputs.
All audio outputs are through the stereo audio system.
Who needs to go out to play?
Here’s some pix, I’m thinking of spraying the turntable base plinth black but undecided – views?
Nice setup you had there.
