Vinyl Records

[george graves]

I have a pretty damn good phono stage I am building right now by Nelson Pass - https://www.passdiy.com/project/preamplifiers/pearl-2

Holly op-amps/transistors batman!

I'm working on something like that.

[Jean]

Oh, I do get 24bit/96 and 24/192 records but there is just something about Vinyl that I've always loved. I still remember playing Delicate Sound of Thunder 15+ years ago and that's how I fell in love with it. So I started looking on eBay and CL and found a few so far that I like.

I have a pretty damn good phono stage I am building right now by Nelson Pass - https://www.passdiy.com/project/preamplifiers/pearl-2

For amplification I currently have a clean 60watt per channel rms dual mono class a/b. But once I find correct size heatsinks I'll finish my Nelson Pass Aleph-2 100 watt class A monoblocks that idle at 300 watts of heat haha.

Pre-amp, is 24 step attenuator, but I do have a couple different active pre-amps but I like the simpilicity of a stepper with quality resistors.

I still need to pick out a good turntable though, will probably go used, not sure yet what I'll get though.

Speaker wise it took me a few years, but it's a ScanSpeak 3 way towers, same drivers used in 20k+ commercial hifi systems. There are lots of really good quality kits out there , for different budgets. I do want to build a new set with some ribbon top end and smaller open back mid-range. Otherwise I just use my mdr-7506s.

[keefy6]

vinyljunkies.com i believe.

oh, and far from a 'bad' idea IMO. "compressed" isn't always a positive attribute in regards to quality reproduction of sound. The same reason why DD/DTS is inferior to DTS-HD Dolby HD for film soundtracks but that's off topic.

Wherever i've lived, i made an effort to go to swap meets or find local still-around hi-fi or music stores that deal vinyl. And I agree that it really comes down to what you like to hear, and how...

[george graves]

I prefer the sound of 8-tracks. *Much* better then vinyl.

[z31maniac]

And analog has all the sonic information in the frequency range you can actually hear. What's missing is the extreme highs and lows, but since we can't hear that stuff...who cares?

All digital sources have the sound chopped up and then recombined. You can chop it up finer and finer, but it's still being cut/pasted. Your ear detects that, especially in the all-important mids. Something isn't "right." What suffers is imaging, space, depth, and realism.

I used to play vinyl through a pair of S.E.T. monoblocks. No feedback, so the signal isn't split and recombined like most amp designs. You wouldn't believe how lifelike it was. Listen to vocals and you honestly feel like the singer is in the room. There were lots of problems with that system, which is why I got rid of it. But it's something to experience.

If I could get that same sense of realism and live soundstage with digital sources, I'd live to do it. Vinyl is a huge PITA.

What? The highs and lows are only chopped in COMPRESSED audio. CDA, the format on a CD you buy, is not compressed and has been OBJECTIVELY shown time and time again to be superior to vinyl.

I think you are confused about how digital sampling works.

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

Hell this shows I was wrong about the higher bit audio. Your ears can't hear past what is on a CD. Reference the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem.


I suspect this is like arguing religion (facts won't change beliefs). So I'll bow out while you guys continue to delude yourself with more expensive and lower fidelity versions of the music you enjoy.

[beta14ok]

I love the old vinyl records. It's what I grew up with and I still think that the format sounds right, when the recording is good and the playback system can resolve the information correctly. I used to crawl through used record stores (east coast), but now do most of my limited hands-on shopping on-line. The prices are higher, but searching is so much easier! I still have a few stores I like I like...but if I told you i'd have to kill you.

A little off topic, but ............Playback is a personal thing. Some folks can hear things that I can't and some folks can't hear @!#$ to begin with. A high resolution playback rig is a waste for those that can't. I like mostly orchestral music and jazz with acoustic instruments. I like it clean and as close to the real thing as possible. I go to lots of concerts, so I think I know what real instruments and real singers sound like. I'm trying to reproduce that at home as close as I can within my financial means. My more technology oriented kids are struck dumb when they hear what comes off an old piece of plastic in the music room. It's a fun hobby.....and "music is the best"!

[Emre]

in here for hipster arguments about antiquated analog music being better.

Guys who rave about how "warm" vinyl is or how they "love the imperfections" are the hipsters. Listening to a scratched-up copy of Seven and the Ragged Tiger on a Technics SL1200 (with Stanton DJ cartridge) through your MacBook sounds like crap. That's not what we're talking about.

[Emre]

...it has twice the bit depth of your favorite CD and up to 9612Kbps of sonic information!

And analog has all the sonic information in the frequency range you can actually hear. What's missing is the extreme highs and lows, but since we can't hear that stuff...who cares?

All digital sources have the sound chopped up and then recombined. You can chop it up finer and finer, but it's still being cut/pasted. Your ear detects that, especially in the all-important mids. Something isn't "right." What suffers is imaging, space, depth, and realism.

I used to play vinyl through a pair of S.E.T. monoblocks. No feedback, so the signal isn't split and recombined like most amp designs. You wouldn't believe how lifelike it was. Listen to vocals and you honestly feel like the singer is in the room. There were lots of problems with that system, which is why I got rid of it. But it's something to experience.

If I could get that same sense of realism and live soundstage with digital sources, I'd live to do it. Vinyl is a huge PITA.

[e30 gangsta]

discogs.com I cant believe no one has mentioned that.

[kickinindian]

in here for hipster arguments about antiquated analog music being better.

i was appeased

[Optimator]

A ton of HDtracks are A to D on "reference" equipment. Whose reference? Someone who's listening to the voicing on Sony MDR-7506s? HAHAHAHAHA.

HAHAHAHA

HA.

Besides, for "audiophile" quality sound reproduction, most people are deficient at least in one department. Worse than E30s and VWs, hipster audiophiles listen to garbage amplification and loudspeakers yet proclaim them to be the E30 of audio reproduction.

"Hey I picked up these Dynaudios from a yard sale for $120, please suck my dong."

Child please.

[z31maniac]

Vinyl really does sound better in many ways, especially the critical midrange frequencies. Most horns, vocals, guitars, etc. live or die in the midrange. Listen to a good vinyl pressing on a good turntable through a single-ended triode amp and a pair of electrostatic speakers. It's the most honest, live, and 3-dimensional music experience you'll ever have.

But that's the problem with vinyl: any weak link in the chain will ruin it.

You need a good pressing, a great tuntable/tonearm/cartridge combination, and an amp/speaker combo that's optimized for vinyl. You need to keep your records clean. You need to store/handle them properly. You have to know how to set-up the tonearm/cartridge and how to keep the needle healthy. Cut corners anywhere and things fall apart.

I've got a pretty basic set-up:
- ProJect RPM-4 turntable
- ProJect 9 tonearm
- Nagaoka MP200 cartridge
- Passive linestage
- McIntosh MC250 amp
- ADS/Braun L710 speakers

This is about the level where I can say it's really a noticable step-up from CD audio. Listen to anything from Mingus to Radiohead on my system, then tell me whether you can go back to CD.

As I posted earlier, you can buy much, MUCH higher quality versions of audio then CD.

CD is a poor benchmark with modern technology.

A CD is 1411 Kbps which is why your CDs sound so much better than your MP3s
An HDtracks Master Quality file is typically either 96kHz/24-bit or 192kHz/24-bit, meaning that it has twice the bit depth of your favorite CD and up to 9612Kbps of sonic information!

[Andy.B]

- McIntosh MC250 amp
- ADS/Braun L710 speakers

Just add a CD player to that and your going to blow away most people's system: some cheap all in one surround sound system from Walmart.


Your dead on though... A system is only as good as it's weakest link. The problem with the one box systems is that everything is the week link.

To answer the original question: thrift stores, eBay, garage sales, and I hate to admit, Urban outfitters.

[Emre]

Vinyl really does sound better in many ways, especially the critical midrange frequencies. Most horns, vocals, guitars, etc. live or die in the midrange. Listen to a good vinyl pressing on a good turntable through a single-ended triode amp and a pair of electrostatic speakers. It's the most honest, live, and 3-dimensional music experience you'll ever have.

But that's the problem with vinyl: any weak link in the chain will ruin it.

You need a good pressing, a great tuntable/tonearm/cartridge combination, and an amp/speaker combo that's optimized for vinyl. You need to keep your records clean. You need to store/handle them properly. You have to know how to set-up the tonearm/cartridge and how to keep the needle healthy. Cut corners anywhere and things fall apart.

I've got a pretty basic set-up:
- ProJect RPM-4 turntable
- ProJect 9 tonearm
- Nagaoka MP200 cartridge
- Passive linestage
- McIntosh MC250 amp
- ADS/Braun L710 speakers

This is about the level where I can say it's really a noticable step-up from CD audio. Listen to anything from Mingus to Radiohead on my system, then tell me whether you can go back to CD.

[Thizzelle]

I get them from yard sales and salvation army. we use to have a bunch of record shops but everything is going digital mannnnnnn