Vinyl LPs: Anyone else collect and listen to them?

[joeychitwood]

For the past ten years, I've been collecting vinyl LP record albums. I'll listen to any LP once, so my collection is quite eclectic. I play them on a Rega P25 turntable with a Rega RB300 tonearm and a Denon DL-103R cartridge with a Soundsmith cantilever/stylus modification.

It's become more difficult in the past years to score that amazing classic thrift store find, given that so many young people are now collecting vinyl. Occasionally, I'll find a couple of Blue Notes in a bin, but more often now, I wind up paying the market price for the LP I want.

I don't want to get into the argument over whether analog or digital formats sound better (LPs are better, of course.) I've spent a little time over at audioasylum.com, but frankly, the members there are so crabby, dogmatic and off the wall that I don't like the forums there much. Do any of you collect LPs? What are some of your treasures?

[Cru Jones]

No....I have one LP, which I won from a radio station.....Sting's "Nothing Like The Sun". To date, that and a crappy FM radio are the only things I've won from radio stationns.

I recently stopped buying MP3s in favor of going back to CDs, but that's mostly because I'm lazy, and can't be bothered to download and burn music. Plus, I like the inserts, lyrics, pictures, etc.

[mrh1797]

Im a huge fan of classic rock LP's! I have about 300 in my collection...nothing like that vinyl sound. I just purchased a set of vintage Advent speakers that absolutely blow the doors off!!!

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by mrh1797

Im a huge fan of classic rock LP's! I have about 300 in my collection...nothing like that vinyl sound. I just purchased a set of vintage Advent speakers that absolutely blow the doors off!!!

The old Advents are amazing. Do you have any photos?

[mrh1797]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

The old Advents are amazing. Do you have any photos?

I can snap some tonight Mark when I get home....they are the best speakers I have ever heard...hands down.

[DerekS]

Love vinyls. I have quite a few, I hate paying more than 10 bucks for em though...I cheap...I used to buy em all day for 99 cents a t a local music store.

My favorite is either Aja or Gaucho by Steely Dan. Well worn, and sounds fantastic. ;)

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by DerekS

Love vinyls. I have quite a few, I hate paying more than 10 bucks for em though...I cheap...I used to buy em all day for 99 cents a t a local music store.

My favorite is either Aja or Gaucho by Steely Dan. Well worn, and sounds fantastic. ;)

Aja is one of my all-time favorite LPs. I found a pristine copy which sounds great.

The best sounding LP I have is a 50 year-old copy of Ella Fitzgerald's Let No Man Write My Epitaph. The engineers from that era were incredibly talented. The sound is clearer and fuller than any other LP I own.

[DerekS]

engineers back then were truly talented. You just cant beat a quality analog recording.

[sunburst]

I love vinyl !!
Listen to Classic Rock, Progrssive and Fusion.
I see Jean Luc Ponty in your collection.

[Kapture1]

Vinyl what???

[Safetrends]

These poor kids do not know what a vinal record is. I remember them well, I also had records that would shatter if dropped, chiped also and then 8 tracks, cassettes. My first car had a AM radio.

[OrchidDR]

Originally Posted by Safetrends

My first car had a AM radio.

How can that be? Radio hadn't been invented yet????

[Dr. Robert]

No vinyl.....gone with the wind...wish I had kept the jackets...great artwork on some.

[AWS]

I sold my collection (a little at a time) on eBay last year. I was purging things that I no longer used. Also, sold 2 turntables including a Phillips GA 212 and A/R manual. I couldn't believe the interest in the old stuff. I also had the old Advent speakers. My sister still has my old EPI speakers that I used in college.

Nothing compares to the sound and depth of the LP's. I would soak in the album artwork and words for hours on end.

70's rock is what I listened to for the most part. Some of my favorites: King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, Gordon Haskell, McDonald & Giles, Traffic, Blind Faith, etc. Man I'm old!

[Safetrends]

Originally Posted by OrchidDR

How can that be? Radio hadn't been invented yet????

I love you 2 Steve, at least I had a engine in mine you had a horse.

[OrchidDR]

There's some great stuff on those album covers, indeed! (smiling)

Love my vinyl! Recently picked up an Eagles, "Hotel California" WITH poster for 25 cents at the local Goodwill store - it was/is pristine!

[OrchidDR]

I didn't even have a HORSE - I was stuck with a skateboard!

Allan: YES is the BEST! Great groups you have listed there, we are old! But remember this:

Long Live Rock, Be It Dead or Alive!

[Ed Rooney]

Ah, memories. When I was a kid we had a pretty nice HiFi, my sister managed a record store and my brother wrote for Stereo Review. I had demo LP's of anything I wanted and would sit next to the stereo for hours listening with really nice headphones.

I've been thinking about getting a good component stereo again.

[joeychitwood]

I loved Stereo Review. Julian Hirsch and the rest produced a magazine that could be enjoyed by all audiophiles, not just those interested in a $35,000 CD player. Stereophile and The Absolute Sound are OK. but they're a bit (OK, a lot) aimed toward the audio-maniac looking to spend hundreds of thousands on a system, and they are completely unwilling to even consider the possibility that components can be directly compared in A/B testing.

[Watchdog]

Don't have any anymore, but man this thread is making me long for the good old days.