My parents gave me their old record player. It also appears that vinyl is making a comeback these days. So I've been thinking about starting a vinyl collection because I own a grand total of zero records right now. How expensive are they? Where do you get them? Is there anything I should know before I start buying?
gofar99 Messages: 1959 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, I get a lot of records from second hand record/cd/dvd stores. ZIA record exchange in my area is tops. Many are $1 or less and often just fine. Some may have to be cleaned (another thread is on that topic). For something to play them on ...that is a really big can of worms. It is true that the el cheapo players that are on the market (usually under $100) will play them but the sound quality is IMO really poor. In this instance price does tend to equate to quality. For new inexpensive gear Pro-ject turntables are hard to beat and run in the $300 range. Often used ones are for 1/2 that. Buyer beware that some have been trashed and show up as well. You will need an amplifier that can handle the signal from the turntable that supplies the needed gain and equalization (normally RIAA) and a pair of speakers. Do not skimp on them. Some home theater amps will work and most can take an external "phono preamp" and do the job fairly well. Such preamps cost from about $25 to thousands. There are several good ones in the under $100 range. Such a system (HT amp and speakers with turntable, and if needed phono preamp) will often sound nice and give you enough of a taste of vinyl to see if you really want to get involved. If not then you can sell off the stuff and move on. I personally am a vinyl lover. I have 100's of LPs, 6 turntables and premium amps and speakers. Certainly not for everybody, but it is my passion.
There is a Barnes and Noble book store in Tempe Az. that sells them. E-Bay has tons of them too.
The less wear the vinyl itself has on it, the better it will sound. Basically, the blacker the vinyl is with little to no scratches the better it will sound.
First off, thank you both for your answers! I had no idea that Barnes and Noble sold records, but I never really venture over to the music section there. I'll have to give it a look next time. Now, I did know that second-hand music stores probably had them, but I had no idea they were so inexpensive! Hopefully, I won't have to buy a record player and the one my parents gave me will work just fine, but I haven't tested it out yet. I know I'll have to be looking into amps though, so thank you for those tips!
Vinyl records are all over the place. Garage sales, Goodwill, other second had stores and, of course, the mom and pop type stores where that's all they sell. You can find them for 50c for the old mass produced Elton John type music or $5,000 for rare releases. Depends on what you want your collection to look like.
gofar99 Messages: 1959 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
What is the turntable you have? Brand, model and if possible what cartridge (needle assembly) does it have? It is likely that the actual stylus (aka needle) will need to be replaced and some lubrication and / or cleaning will be needed.
EDIT: Even Walmart has records now. Best Buy does as well.
It's a Pioneer PL-518. Like I said, I don't know a whole lot about this so I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right thing for the cartridge, but does Shure R47XT sound right? What do I need to lubricate it with?
gofar99 Messages: 1959 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, A reasonable player. The cartridge is a Radio Shack variant of a Shure one. New needles are availble for it at reasonable cost. Join the forum on vinylengine.com and look in the reference section. It will give you pretty much all you need to know. If not then there is a second linked site Hi-Fi Engine that you can sign up for that has more info on things like this. Nice folks in both.
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