| How much are your records worth? [message #12095] |
Fri, 22 April 2005 05:31  |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18789
Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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They aren't making them anymore for the most part, so they're pretty precious to me. I have lots of 25+ year old records in great shape and I want to keep them that way. So I am pretty careful about what I play them on and how I store them and clean them before use. I definitely don't want to play them on a cheap turntable or cartridge. It doesn't have to be a several thousand dollar turntable, but it does have to have a tone arm with precision bearings, a cartridge with a good stylus, and it has to be setup properly with regards to geometry, tracking weight and anti-skating force. A few years ago, I was looking to buy a good turntable under a grand. I went to one of the local dealers here in Tulsa, and they looked at me like I was crazy wanting a turntable. So I asked the manager to check his sources and find something good. I paid him a deposit so he would understand I was serious, and expected him to do a little rudimentary research and bring in something good like an API or Rega. But after waiting two months, what arrived was a little $200.00 table that was so flimsy and cheap looking, I was embarrassed to even look at this thing. I told him to keep it, and I've never done business with him again. I'm not saying that I think turntables have to be exotica to be good, but I am saying that if it isn't a precision device, it probably isn't worth having. You can't replace the records in your collection very easily these days, so it makes some sense to have a decent turntable to play them on.
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| Re: How much are your records worth? [message #12098 is a reply to message #12097] |
Fri, 22 April 2005 07:29  |
Russellc
Messages: 397
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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sort of depends on where you are located. In Kansas city, I find TONS of good quality used vinyle. My friends in seattle find way more than I do, and cheap. I have to listen to them and there great finds every time I talk to them. as near as I can tell, seattle is the most plentiful place to obtain Lps cheap. I wouldn't trade my vinyle rig (or any good one) for digital crap that passes for music these days. as far as downloaded music, the most part it is mp3, which is not allowed in my house. why record companies complain about people downloading this stuff is beyound me, unless they fear people will think the reason their mp3s sound so bad is something the record company did. I have had a lot of fun downloading "Bit torrents" which are usually DVD shows, or flac and shorten files of soundboard recordings. these methods are "lossless" types of compression, far better than mp3. There are tons of concert sound board files out there as well as liberated bootlegs that for the most part the record companies don't have the rights to, or don't care so they are legal to download. I have found soundboard recordings of concerts I attended 30 years or more ago! great fun. As you can tell, I am in my late forties and grew up with vinyle. To me, there is no other component with the mechanical magic of a turntable. Not to mention, as manualblock stated, sound is the best...but there is the cost...and the set up hassle. I enjoy driving myself crazy with that as I do pushing past 450 whp on pump gas. for the ones w/o the tolerance to fiddle, stick with digital. Myself, I don't mind fooling with it. If someone can't develope that love that requires the extra hassle vinyle requires, or thinks "I'll buy all this stuff and it will work out of the box like a cd player" they will probably not care for vinyle use. To each there own, I like vinyle, and I know manualblock does too, but it requires a certain "hard head" to put up with the set up headaches. Anyone else into the bit torrents? Russellc
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| Re: How much are your records worth? [message #12099 is a reply to message #12095] |
Fri, 22 April 2005 07:44 |
Russellc
Messages: 397
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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Had a similar expeience with a salesman a Kiefs in lawrence KS. I asked about tables and was met with the They aren't out there anymore B.S.(wrong thing to say to me) so I gave him a fifteen minute diatribe on how it is still out there providing examples w/o end. to that he replied "I haven't sold a turntable in years." I only had to ask one question and made one statement: "when was the last time you kept one in stock?" & "You could have sold me an expensive one today, if you had one" with that, I went down town and found a most interesting used stereo store which happily took my money. Long live vinyle. I buy the expensive stuff also, these guys are trying to keep it around and some deserve the support. Unknown to many, there are performers out there which REQUIRE so much of there stuff to be on vinyle, which many are light weight non virgin vinyle, but some sound fairly good. Only a few stores carry them, mostly mom and pop type operations that sell cds and used vinyle. I like to support them also, but like you state, most of what I look for is older used stuff from the glory days. I predict another vinyle resurgence when all of us start to die off and
all our stuff goes to salvation army.regards, Russellc Russellc
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| Re: How much are your records worth? [message #12102 is a reply to message #12095] |
Fri, 22 April 2005 10:14 |
Mr Vinyl
Messages: 407
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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Hi, I agree with what your saying but think the most thought should go to the cartridge. Good tracking is very important. The Shure V15xMR is a very good sounding cartridge (coming close in sound to my $2500 Audioquest 7000FE5) and it tracks very well at about 1 gram. They are out of production but you can still pick one up for about $200-$250. As far as protecting your records, I think the tone arm and turntable need to be of reasonable quality but the thing that will cause the most damage is the cartridge IMO. Actually the more I think about it the more I think most record damage is probably caused by putting the record back into the sleeve and cover. All of my records are in VPI sleeves etc.
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| Re: How much are your records worth? [message #12104 is a reply to message #12102] |
Fri, 22 April 2005 17:21 |
Russellc
Messages: 397
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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Right on with the shure v15vxmr. I bought one a little while back and have been most impressed. I paid 215 but think it is well worth the 325 that some are offering it for. Not the best, but embarrases lots of carts that are way more $, and what a tracker. the stylus will be available for 5 years ( and I have a small stash of them) so it is a good recommendation despite being discontinued.Russellc
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| Re: How much are your records worth? [message #12110 is a reply to message #12108] |
Sat, 23 April 2005 19:20 |
Russellc
Messages: 397
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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They are either flac or shorten files and sometimes video files. There are all sorts of sights out there for bit torrents that are of course illegal. the ones I'm talking about are legal, or no ones objecting. those that run the site do everything in their power to conform to everyones wishes, but if a particular artist objects they will remove the offending torrent. You go to the site, search through for what you want, and download it. All sorts of stuff is available in bit torrents, but I like the soundboard recordings from whatever music you are interested in. These recordings are of live events, and are usually taken off the soundboard. another source is liberated bootlegs. The files usually have a lot of information about the particular concert as well as the "heritage" of the recording and so forth. Once downloaded, use nero to burn to dvd or cd. Try www.dimeadozen.org enjoy
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