To vinyl or not to vinyl, that is the question...

[Salt Peanuts]

So ever since I've gotten into headphones couple of years back, I've been intrigued by vinyl. Everytime I think about pursuing vinyl, I tell myself it's too much of a pain and I stop thinking about it. It helps in that I know very little about vinyl. Of late, I've been pondering if I should just sell one of my rigs (most likely the Stax rig) and get a vinyl setup. What do you all think of that, and vinyl in general?

[bhd812]

I started out last year around the same time now. I was planning or should I say putting it off until the end of last summer. One day on the phone with Ray I was told that Reyman was getting into it I figured "might as well do it now". I looked around for a few players and what not for a good beginner setup and found the Rega to be the best and cheapest used way to go (if you already have a g08 in your rig you must caution other sources quality before you buy). I phoned Ray to ask him how he likes his Rega and he told me he is selling his (he just got the VPI HRX in) and gave me a great price so I took it.

btw: I have a VPI scout coming in soon and will be selling Rays old Rega..lol


anyway I have learned a lot about Vinyl and the whole Idea of it with my time using the Rega. At one point I felt the Rega was not sounding like it did and fell out of the vinyl world. I bought and changed the belts and WOW it was amazing...such a stupid little thing could make so much of a change? with Vinyl it happens. another thing to think about is the relationship of the Cartridge to the arm/table. I have a Grado Sonata brand new sitting here cause it does not go well on the Rega/Grace combo I have..$500.oo cart just sitting and doing nothing (its going on my scout soon). the Turntable makes a change every time you move it, pick it up to clean underneath and you have to check all the settings on it cause there's a chance something moved or changed.

another thing about vinyl is keeping up the clean side of the records and turntable/cartridge.
at first I didn't want to spend the money for a Record cleaner..yeah after the first 20 lps I bought I knew I had to. The price of the record cleaner,new sleeves,jackets,brush's,cartridge cleaners,fluid to clean the records ads up at first but pays off huge in the end. look to spend $1000 or under on this stuff after you get a few records (does not have to be bought all at once..don't worry).

now the good part and the real part of Vinyl....

you ever hear how the Meridian g08 is as close as one may come to having a cdp sound like Vinyl? its a $4,400 cdp also...
the Rega I have kills the g08..and I mean slaughters it in every fucking little thought one can think of sonically. its not the Rega as much as its the actual vinyl way of sound. its soooo deep and lovely dude you'll float on a cloud of pure beauty. Vinyl kicks the shit out of CD's any day any time any setup..(that's comparing a $500 table to a $4,400 cdp btw).
Vinyl is so sonicly better its worth all the work and plus some.

the fun of buying the vinyl!
in Chicago I have about 5-6 used record shops within a 15min drive from me and more shops little down the road. of course Chicago is known for it so it would depend on what's avail in your town. Buying vinyl is actually easier then buying cd's in my neighborhood. so for me its a walk in the park picking up new vinyl (or to me new..lol) anytime. when you vinyl shop its something so different then buying cd's, you buy records cause of the album cover looks this way of that way..then you go home and you could have a dud or a gold mine of music. you can buy Vinyl in bulk collections and that's month of playing and listening within itself alone.

To me is it worth it?...fuck yeah!
but Vinyl takes more time to clean and this and that then cd, so when I listen to vinyl I plan on spending a few hours with my rig to sit back and enjoy..oh..speaking of which today is sunday..speaker day.

my amps are warmed up and I got a few new records to go threw now..ttyl

[tyrion]

Haj, I probably spend 40 to 50% of the time listening to vinyl. I get more enjoyment from listening to vinyl than I do from most digital rigs. The music sounds so alive and natural. The search for vinyl is as much fun as listening to it. I went to a local cd/vinyl shop on Sunday and for $32 walked away with 4 great sounding albums. I grew up with a vinyl rig so for me I get a kick out of finding the albums I owned as a kid. If you don't mind the extra trouble of having to clean your records every so often and flip sides, I would find it hard to believe that you wouldn't enjoy it.

[tkam]

I've thought about getting into vinyl a few times of the past year or so but everytime I think about I realize the monetary and time costs for me are just not worth it. I don't want to spend hours and hours searching for cheap vinyl and would probably end up getting fed up with that and just buying everything new which would in most cases cost 2-3 times the price of the CD. That and all the hassles of keeping the records clean and making sure the table is setup right outweigh any positives that could come from better sound quality.

[tyrion]

It's all personal choice. I enjoy the search for cheap albums. At the National Meet wmcmanus, jp11801 were going through boxes of vinyl at this shop in Queens that was getting rid of their vinyl at $2 a record. I think between the 3 of us we walked out with 50 or more albums. I can understand why some wouldn't enjoy that but for me it was the perfect lead in to a day of bar hopping in NYC. You are right about the expense. I have a modest setup and at retail it's about $3200 including tt, cart and phono stage.

[Salt Peanuts]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm still in a limbo as to whether I'm going to go ahead with this. Of course another option is to sell my Stax rig and DV-50 and upgrade my digital source altogether - I doubt I can get anything that would make it worthwhile (on the digital front), though.

[tkam]

Can I have your O2s?

I think your selling digital a little short, the DV-50 is a fine player but I think in terms of audio performance you can do better (maybe even substantially so) for less money and certainly for more money.

[Salt Peanuts]

Can I have your O2s?

You can buy them from me if I do decide to sell them.

I think your selling digital a little short, the DV-50 is a fine player but I think in terms of audio performance you can do better (maybe even substantially so) for less money and certainly for more money.

Maybe so. As much as I'm intrigued by vinyl, I'm also tempted to go all out and upgrade the digital front. The difficulty is that I'd like for it to be able to play SACD (universal would be nice, but I can deal with not having DVD/DVD-A) and that narrows the choice down some. Any opinions on high-end SACD or universal players? I did briefly look at Opus 21, but it doesn't do SACD and right now, I believe there's a fairly long wait for a new unit.

EDIT - Another thing in favor of digital upgrade is that hassles of vinyl scares me more than anything, especially since I may be moving around couple of times in the next year or so.

[tkam]

Ok so it sounds like SACD is a must, any problems buying modded or used players? Any idea of a budget?

[Salt Peanuts]

If I do go digital upgrade route, I'd probably have about $4K to 4.5K.

Still, the lure of the vinyl is still strong, especially after talking to few vinyl folks.

I hate this hobby.

[Salt Peanuts]

No problem on modded or used player, though I think I'd rather get it new.

[Salt Peanuts]

Okay, so I did the math wrong, the price range probably would be around $3K. My head wasn't working too well from working too hard.

[Grand Enigma]

I vote Modwright Sony 9000ES SACD with the Signature Truch Tube Mod. Gives you the formats you want and should sound darn nice.

But that is just me as I don't really feel like putting up with the hassle of vinyl and the fact that I have 1,000+ CDs

[Yikes]

Haj, don?t make any decisions until you have a chance to hear my player. It is an example of what a great mod can do. I should have it and my amp (The OTL/32) within a couple of weeks. I still need to get you your SACD back. We can have a mini-meet. Your GSX/DV-50 my Exemplar 3910 and OTL/32

E

[Salt Peanuts]

So here's what I ended up with, along with ARC PH3 phono stage.
I have Grado Gold cartridge on it right now while I save up for something better down the road.
I plan on heading to a local used vinyl store soon.

[ojnihs]

Looks nice. I just can't see myself getting into vinyl anytime soon, especially considering I'm fucking broke as is.

[bhd812]

congrats mine should be here at the end of next week.

did you buy it from audiogon?

who makes the cover? ginko?

[Salt Peanuts]

congrats mine should be here at the end of next week.

did you buy it from audiogon?

who makes the cover? ginko?

I actually got the table and phono stage (along with some IC's and few accessories) through a trade for my KGSS. Gingko does make a nice looking dust cover, but mine's not made by Gingko. I found an eBay auction for it by chance and won the auction - the original owner of the dust cover had it made by a local plastic shop. Few folks in the Audio Asylum has had success in having a local shops make one for them. Defintiely not as nice as Gingko ones, but a lot cheaper (Gingko dust cover for Scout starts at $240 new, IIRC).

[909]

Vinyl is good stuff, but it's like where does it end...

Turntable
groundwire
another pair of RCA cables
phono stage or preamp
cartridge
isolation of some sort
wall mount or rack
brush
tracking device/guage/force
set-up record
clamp
mat
old turntable to clean LPs
LP storage
Cleaning fluid
cleaning bottles
cleaning brushes
Recording Cleaning machine
new rice paper shelves
new plastic wrap of the LPs
arm upgrades
etc..?


Did I miss anything?

Oh yeah, buying the high-fidelity 180 gram stuff is pricey.
Set-up challenging and requires a bit of patience.

Is all this stuff necessary some say yes other say no.

[aerius]

A friend of mine who's into the BDSM thing says that vinyl catsuits really suck...