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How many LPs is enough?

Right-- the answer is "Just a few more..." However, here is where I am and what I'm thinking: The last three times I was in my local used/thrift shops, I came across a few that I was not quite sure if I already had, or whether I had that pressing. I wondered if I need to carry a Blackberry (anathema to my analog way of life) with my collection downloaded so that I could avoid this kind of dilemma.
I only own about 700 or so titles, spanning classical box sets to recent limited-release albums. I realize that this is nothing compared to most of you, but I donate what I upgrade and I sell what I do not enjoy listening to. I maintain an Excel database of what I have, and enter each upon cleaning and test-listening; I don't just buy 'em and throw 'em in a bin. While it is rather engaging to compare, say, six versions of Bolero or Beethoven's symphonies 1-9 to determine which sounds best, am I really going to listen to the other five once this is determined? Likewise, while I own a stereo and mono version, and often an audiophile reissue, of most of my favorite late '50's through '60's jazz, surf, folk, and psych, it usually turns out that one or the other sounds significantly better. My overriding rationale is that I don't really need more than a one-year supply of one title per day. While building my collection, I have enjoyed making the comparisons or searching out the missing performance when it comes to classical, but nobody who I expose to this stuff is interested in making these comparisons-- they want to hear the vinyl magic, so I always pull the superior recording.
Maybe I only need about 300-400 titles of what I consider best of the best. Even when and if I retire and have more free time, I'm not sure that I would listen to more than one LP per day, and this gives me a year of no-repeats. Of course, my husk can still haunt the local thrifts and resale shops for that fifty-cent, mint six-eye Kind of Blue, so long as I immediately sell my two-eye... Has anyone else come to this conclusion? Am I to be immediately and henceforth banished from the Brotherhood of Crusty Vinyl Seekers after having my stylus bent?
morgenholz

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emailists
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I think it's different for every person. You mentioned you only listen to about 1 lp per day. I consider myself a moderate listener and easily listen to 3-4 a day. I bet there are plenty of people here that listen for 5-6 hours or more.

Also I think it depends what genre's of music one is interested in, and how and if thier tastes are developing. I had amassed probably 2500 or more rock LP's and then became more interested in Jazz. It was as if I had to start collecting all over again. I have a small collection of classical, but who knows, I may someday feel the need to fill that out as well.

At this point I probably have 4000 LP's. I am out of room to store them though, or I would be buying considerably more. Looking at the catalogs of new pressings and releases, my mouth simply waters. We are clearly living through the LP's renaissance. The pressings (new releases and some rereleases), cartridges, tuntables and phono stages are the best they have ever been, even when the LP was a mainstream format.

LP playback is simply so good, I hardly ever listen to digital anymore, and can often get new releases on LP rather than CD. I probably should follow your lead and pair down my collection from duplicates, and LP's I won't listen to anymore. That would give me the space for new acquisitions.
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