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How did you get into vinyl?

I’ll start with my story:
The roots probably go back to the mid to late 90's when I got into the retro cocktail thing. I started throwing old fashioned cocktail parties with Martinis and Hi Balls and Manhattans and spinning those Retro Lounge cocktail mix CDs with Luis Prima and Martin Denny and Si Zetner, etc.

I've always been a classic jazz fan (Coltrane, Davis, Rollins, etc.) and been into the music of the Rat Pack, so this just became an extension of that. I then started collecting CDs of the artists that were featured in the Retro Lounge collections, along with classic jazz, blues and vocalists. It was very rare for me to purchase, or listen to anything recorded since the 1970s, though I do have a pretty good collection of 80s and 90s rock, it’s just I haven’t been adding to it.
A few years ago my live-in girlfriend and I split up and I gave her the furniture and took the opportunity to completely redecorate the place the way I wanted to- mid century modern or, as I called it, space age bachelor pad. I bought a bubble chair, Naguchi tables, ball clocks, Eames era stuff, etc., etc.- I even got an old pinball machine and bar. I was truly living in the 50’s-60’s.

Last June, I was poking around a flea market in Hell’s Kitchen looking for retro stuff, and I saw a Voice of Music HiFi console from 1957 for $45. I bought it, not sure if it was working, but knew it would look cool in my place. When I got it home it worked perfectly. I had picked up some 50’s/60’s lounge type albums from a tag sale for a buck apiece, just for decorations, and when I got the record player home, I found that it worked and the records sounded very cool. Now the VOM was definitely not audiophile, but it was all tube and these records sounded very appropriately retro on it. That was it- I was hooked on vinyl!

I started collecting vinyl in thrift shops and on Ebay. I noticed the VOM lacked bass, mainly due to the small single speaker that it had. I then saw a bigger VOM console on Ebay that had a 12”, two 8” and two 4” speakers. I got it for $250, and it sounded much better. I have an audiophile digital system that includes an Audio Aero Prima SE CD and top of the line Paradigm speakers, so I knew the limitations of the VOM unit, but I found it was all I was listening to because of the things that many of us love vinyl for- the covers, the ritual of playing the albums, the warmth and musicality of vinyl and tubes. I then got to thinking how great it would be if I built a truly audiophile vinyl system with a good quality TT and tube phono stage and amp. I also want to dig into the VOM and upgrade some components, like the caps, and check the resisters (I already done tube rolling with Mullards and Telefunkens).

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I got a VPI Aries 3, a BAT PK-5P phono stage, a Hagerman SUT, and a NOS Dynavector Karat 23R MC cart. I also got a VPI 16.5 RCM. In the meantime, I have accumulated several hundred LPs and remembered that I had a few hundred more albums that I had stashed away over 25 years ago! I plan to get a second tonearm wand for the 10.5i so I can put a mono cartridge on it.

I have now fully entered the insane world of vinyl, and could not be happier! Obviously, my taste in music (and all things retro) is perfect for vinyl. Besides the “Lounge” (sounds better than Easy Listening) LPs, I have purchased some essential 180-200 gram reissues- Kind of Blue, Time Out, Steely Dan’s Aja, etc., and have just subscribed to the Music Matters Blue Note 45 reissues. What I love about vinyl (in no particular order):
The ritual that goes with the playing (cleaning, turntable setup, constant tweaking)
-The covers
-The nostalgia factor
-The fact that I can play albums that I owned when I was in high school
-Shopping for LPs at used record stores, thrift shops, tag sales, and Ebay
-And most important- the sound!

Long live vinyl!
raylinds
raylinds OP
24 posts
 
I'm really enjoying reading everyone's story here. I have to agree that the sound of vinyl, with a well mastered LP is far superior than anything I have heard digital, but it is the whole experience that makes it so enjoyable- looking for good cheap used vinyl, collecting the audiphile recordings, enjoying the cover art and liner notes, tweaking gear and cleaning the LPs.

I'm not out to convert anyone, though. If you're happy listening to digital and can't be bothered with the effort it takes to get into vinyl- that's great!
jamerican413
2 posts
 
I bought my first record when I was 8 yrs old. Ever since I can remember I've been collecting vinyl. As other formats came (and most went) I continued to collect vinyl. I think we were in 3rd generation cd technology before I succumbed and bought my first CD player, a Harmon Kardon something or other. Can't even remember what it was, though I can remember that my first turntable was a Garrard 301. I decided in the 90's to sell my vinyl rig (I was becoming an "AUDIOFILE"!! LOL - and I know how to spell it...) Unfortunately I sold a Sota Star Sapphire for very cheap - and have regretted it since. However, for whatever reason, I kept my vinyl - even the first album and 12" that I bought (That's The Way Of The World was the first LP.) I wouldn't be surprised to one day learn that my music collection is worth more than my home.
jc2000
92 posts
 
Like others here, I'm old enough to remember when vinyl was dominant, although there were alternatives (8 Track, later cassette). But vinyl was about the only prerecorded format my family used when I was young--the only tape deck we had was a small portable that my mother bought because she needed it for a class she took.

Like some others, I never really left vinyl. Actually, I never left it at all. Before I had a good system, CD was so new that it was still pretty expensive. My one experience with CD (using a CD player included in my last mass market audio system) was awful. I heard rumbles that critical listeners weren't happy with CD, too. Then, I heard my first good system. That set me off on the path to getting a good system. Along that path, I made two discoveries. 1)Even audiophile grade CD players were pretty limited. 2)There was a huge price advantage buying recordings via cheap, used records.

After I got that first system (vinyl support only!) I was happy for years. I eventually did get a CD player--but that was only because I wanted to check CDs out from my local library.
davidsss
43 posts
 
I got into vinyl as cassettes always sounded inferior to me. But, as with most people there is always more to the story.

From an early age (I'm now in my early 40s) I have loved to listen to music. I started to put together my first stereo at about age 15 and slowly built up a decent system with purchases of second hand gear. In those days (early 80s) there was only vinyl so there was always a turntable in the system. I was also accumulating records at a reasonable rate.

In the early 80s I went out to buy a CD player to see what all the fuss was about and get the "new format". I came home with a better turntable (Micro MR611 which I still have and is my only TT - it's part of the family and has been part of the family longer than my daughter!). A few years later I again went out to buy a CD player and came home with a better amp! Finally in 1991 I went overseas and bought a decent Rotel CD player which I still have and use (it's next to go, I want one with tube outputs and basically a better CD player - it has served me well for 17 years so I think it's time for an upgrade).

Over the years I listened to music less and less (familiar story when going digital isn't it). I still listened to music occasionally but not really all that often.

A couple of years ago my amp died. I bought a cheap replacement on EBay but the bug had struck me again. I started to get more into HiFi again. I replaced the Supex 900 Super cart I had on the TT (despite mainly buying CDs for years I never stopped using the TT and the CD collection never caught up to the record collection). I replaced the Supex as it had been on the TT for 15 years and I though I should have replaced it years ago (I will be trying to find out if it can be rebuilt when funds permit). Well, with a new cart I was listening to more music and realised that I really do find vinyl a much better medium for music.

So, since getting back into HiFi I have done a few things - I am most of the way through a HiFi upgrade: the ancient Supex has been replaced with an Ortofon MC15II cart, the Rectilinear speakers have been replaced with Osborn Epitomes, last week I replaced my Rotel amp with a Melody valve amp running EL34 valves.

But the biggest changes have been the fact I am listening to a lot more music and I mainly buy records and only occasional CDs. Records just sound better, and although I will always own my CDs, I am committed to sourcing music on vinyl where I can. My record collection keeps growing and must be about 700 now and I am buying a fair bit of classical to go with the rock and roll I mainly own. The CD collection only expands slowly but is probably about 400 and while it got close to the record collection a few years ago it's lost out recently and is falling far behind now.

Records are what got me into music in the first place and what got me back into music more recently. Records just sound more like music.

DS
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
That's an easy question. It was 1963, my 6th birthday and I got a little box style record player with 4 inch speaker, on/off volume knob, along with a 45 copy of Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Been playing and listening to vinyl ever since.
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