There is a lot of care involved to keep them playing at a high standard but mostly we buy them to listen to and enjoy don’t forget to really enjoy them that is the best thing. I grew up in a world where there was only vinyl and cassette before CDs came along so maybe it’s just that I got used to the sound and forgot about the minor defects JUST ENJOY
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I’m quite lucky to have a couple of used emporiums with in a 5-15 minute drive which have areas set aside for records. One also has a nice tea room attached so I take the wife out we can have a coffee and after I have little rummage through a box or two in the record section.
This week two purchases Hot house flowers, People and Jethro Tull, Songs from The wood the covers were good minor ware on the Tull album but the records themselves were in NM condition one £6 one £8 they played as expected without any issue. I’m having fun and at the point where I don’t mind taking a punt on something unfamiliar for under £10 if I like the album artwork and the record itself is in visible NM condition. I don’t buy something ever week but probably do once a month.
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I’m liking the idea of visiting a record cafe or two. Don’t have anything close by.
My wife and I are both fans of loose leaf teas. Something we’ve not encountered too often here in the UK - except in Yorkshire.
I’ve been half jokingly telling her that we should open a small Vinyl cafe/tea shop here in Berkhamsted. Set up a decent HiFi system to play records for customers while they enjoy their hot drinks and browse though some vinyl.
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If you do, I’ll come and visit you 
As someone mentioned above, buying records from Amazon is quite painless owing to the excellent returns process. If you don’t mind adding to the wealth of Mr Bezos, it’s a pretty safe bet, although it seems the available range (choice of records) is reducing and prices may not always be the best.
As for clicks and pops etc. a record cleaner will help significantly, even for new records as it will help remove static too.
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I did notice Amazon has a decent selection, although I’ve been trying to avoid giving them any more of my money 
I’ve been looking at Juno, theInGrove, Norman, Horizons and a few others.
And the closest bricks and mortar shop for me would be in St.Albans.
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What made you decide to? I used to use vinyl, but once I had a good digital system switched to that, better sounding (more natural, greater clarity, no noise) and no breaks with music across multiple LP sides, and I have no regrets. I do occasionally miss the physicality of album covers and ‘magic’ of a stylus lowering into a groove then music starting, but that is just nostalgia and more than compensated for by all the benefits of my current system. To me getting into vinyl now would be a bad decision - quite apart from aforesaid benefits of having abandoned, there is also the cost of media if one doesn’t have a prior collection.
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Well IMHO there are perfect recordings and quality out there
As someone mentioned above - blue note and tone poet - bloody marvellous that’s all I can say
Sold, I be a customer!
I came back to buying vinyl about 5 years ago, bought a lot so so can understand what you’re going through.
Always worth checking on Discogs feedback for a particular pressing of an album to identify if it has a pressing fault before buying.
It does turn into an expensive hobby but you start to not think about your equipment any longer as it’s all about the medium. Overall the number I return is very low, only really if it’s a pressing fault like stitching as I don’t mind a few crackles that I try to clean on a ultra sonic.
I got into Jazz through vinyl by buying old classics and also new contemporary jazz labels like International Anthem or Gondwana. Also worth expanding horizons outside old classics records as we have such amazing new music right now.
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Why always oppose analog to digital… for me, the two are complementary, I listen to both with pleasure sometimes more digital, sometimes more analog even if I prefer the latter at the sound level…
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I was simply responding to the question DomTomLondon posed at the end of the opening post! Personally I struggle to understand what makes people want to get into vinyl these days unless they already have a collection of records - I do understand when, as has happened on occasion, people have inherited a collection but that is a rather different scenario. Of course each to their own, and I recognise that some people absolutely love vinyl, whether alongside digital, or rejecting all things digital.
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I found that I was getting easily distracted when listening to my digital source. Not that it was bad sounding, (Some albums sound better than on Vinyl) but there was just something missing. And I thought I could get that by getting into vinyl.
There does seem to be more investment (not just financial) I mean in choosing an album, putting it on to the turntable, dropping the stylus. - I end up sitting and actually listening to the whole thing.
With digital it often became background music.
It could just be that this is still very new to me and so I’m more interested in the whole experience. Time will tell I guess.
I do wonder if instead I could have gone with a top loading CD Transport, and possibly got a similar experience.
At least I wouldn’t need to re-purchase my favourite albums. (Although like I said, at the moment I’m only planning to buy albums on vinyl, I don’t yet have a physical copy of)
I guess to me it’s a little bit like comparing streaming Netflix with going the cinema. You have loads of choices on Netflix you end up spending ages trying to pick something to watch. But when you go to the cinema you have a few films to choose from, and you get the whole experience of being at the cinema.
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I find playing my own ripped CDs much more engaging than playing a streamed album I don’t own via Qobuz. It’s nothing to do with sound quality as there’s nothing to choose between ripped & streamed on my system. If you don’t watch out it’s all too easy to drift into playing stuff which makes the system sound great (like HiFi shows) rather than stuff which is great. Ownership adds something for me. I still love buying a CD, popping it in the Core and playing it the first time. On a purely practical point, searching my own ripped albums is far easier than searching the Qobuz database. Unlike many I see on here I’m no fan of Qobuz pushing new releases at me either. Endless music I’d never buy and don’t get much beyond the first track if I give it a go. So, although I own a streamer which does sound great and allows me to make and play playlists (I do this mostly for the car) I’m still a vinyl and CD man who enjoys shopping for and then listening to records and CDs. Mrs two fifty just streams though on the Musos. Hears a track she likes, adds it to her play lists and off she goes. She makes great playlists. Stuff you can sing along to or even have a jive to in the kitchen. She’s an ex northern soul girl. We both think a great soul or reggae single is the pinnacle of popular music. Music’s great. No idea how people live without it.
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Interesting, as I have never had that problem with streaming, but then my streaming is only from my own stored files, and browsing/choosing is not really any different from when I had physical media apart from it being on a screen rather than standing or kneeling beside shelving. I get your Netflix/cinema comparison, so perhaps the difference is online vs own, one effectively limitless and mostly unknown the other very finite and all known. Engagement with some albums at least is distinctly better with streaming my files, not having interruptions having to get up and change sides every 20 minutes or so with works lasting one or two hours, otherwise for me it is the music that engages.
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I think this is a question of attitude toward what vinyl is supposed to be. Because it’s a physical format, it may not be as quiet and perfect as streaming or CD. So maybe you have to accept that it isn’t perfect.
In my system, the sound quality from vinyl is much better than from streaming. I don’t have a CD player. It may also have something to do with the fact that my vinyl setup and RIAA stage cost about 20 times as much as my streamer.
I probably buy about 70% new records and the rest used from a vinyl dealer. I have a Pro-Ject cleaning machine, but I rarely use it because playback works very well as it is. On my turntable there is very little crackling and noise. Unfortunately, that probably has something to do with the quality of the playback equipment.
As for the types of records I buy, there are a few audiophile releases, but most are completely standard pressings.
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Well, some of my vinyl is 55 years old, and until the last few months I maintained that my TT was the most authentic, best listen even surpassing my previous CDS3. But the installation of the UnitiCore as the feed to my NDX2, and indeed Qb2, has changed the outlook completely, rich, absorbing, wonderful textures, dynamics, a quite gorgeous sound, and considerably enhanced over the NAS beforehand, and way better than Qobuz.
In comparison with vinyl? I would now say on a par, equally organic and whereas before during a listening session, even with the CDS3 and NDX2 with the NAS, after a little while I was pulling a record from the rack, not now.
Am I about to pull the plug on vinyl, definitely not, too much awesome music on those shelves, and may even consider a different TT(! ), but whereas vinyl was once essential for the ultimate listening pleasure, not anymore.
All in my opinion of course.
Regards,
Lindsay
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Looks amazing! Quite envious.
Old/used records are a mixed bag, but you’re correct that many new pressings can have a lot of surface noise/clicks and pops.
It’s bizarre but how do some new LPs sound pristine and silent whereas other just have a lot of noise? Vinyl quality? Poor mastering/pressing techniques at the factory or something else?
You mention you purchased this from your friend who is an experienced enthusiast by the sounds of it.
Is there any chance he might be able to try it with a different cartridge for you? I’ve not heard that Denon high output MC but they can have quite unique characteristics. My Linn currently has a cartridge with an aluminium cantilever, and I’m pretty sure surface noise is much higher than when using older cartridges with boron cantilevers. I’m probably barking up the wrong tree as there are so many factors involved (including what the TT is on) but some of these things are hard to address if they entail physical changes rather than just swapping in/out electronics for comparison.
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Fair enough, it is an investment for sure. There are much cheaper alternatives to spays and cloths for cleaning that are relatively cheap compared to ultrasound and vacuum machines. These although manual offer good wet cleaning of records that are effective and much better than use of cloths such as the products from Spin Clean (others available) for around £70.
I know it may seem an outlay against a modest collection of records but in many ways it is a good time to start an effective cleaning regime as it is not a huge undertaking to clean all of your records and clean entries into the collection as you progress.
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Thanks Robinho, I will take a look at that Spin Clean product you mentioned.
I just ordered another 5 new albums last night. So it may be a good investment
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Hey Alley Cat, I’ve been wondering about using a different cartridge myself, I do also have a MM one that was on the ProJect originally, a Goldring 1006.
Is it possible that the Denon is a little too sensitive to some albums, but completely silent on others?
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Effective mass of your arm look a little light.
The 110 needs something a bit heavier.