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Vinyl Reason

I am setting my first stereo system which consists of turntable, amp and speakers. I wonder why people make a decision to go vinyl. In my case I just wanted to revoke that something I had in past....to feel myself the way I felt 20 years ago when I was a teenager...to expirience that ritual of landing LP on a turntable disk, starting the motor, pulling tonearm...whatching it spinning...
But for many people it could be quite different reason. Is it maybe because the quality of vinyl sound is "different"?..just like tube amp sounds differently from SS...
sputniks
stevecham
3,298 posts
 
do it for the sound
riffer
362 posts
 
The straw that broke the camel's back for me was the poor remastering to CD of some of my favorite LP's.

Why sit through that when you can just play the record?
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,517 posts
 
I think one of the tragedies of (other than Classical) CD playing, is the ease, and so the inclination, to skip around the album; not giving the artist a chance to have you hear the way he/she intended for you to hear the entire compilation. I knew we were in trouble when the first CDP's began showing up with the "preview" function.

Honestly, who gets a new LP and puts on side Two first!?

(Don't tell me, I don't want to know!)
the_smokester
174 posts
 
Much as I try to avoid vinyl, it's the sound.
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
As someone in his 60's, I grew up collecting LP's, and have a lot of good memories associated with the old vinyl donuts. The ritual of playing LP's still appeals to me: cleaning the LP's, cleaning the stylus, lowering the tonearm in anticipation of the music and hustling to my easy chair before the music starts, the occasional tics and pops, etc. I also enjoy reading the jacket covers while listening to the album -- hell, I even enjoy the smell of old LP jackets! Pulling down an old LP that I've heard many times is like seeing an old friend after a long absence -- and I never get that feeling from the same recording on CD.

Ultimately, however, it's about the sound quality. A really good LP recording still sounds better than all but the very finest CD/SACD. Perhaps it's the additional work of preparing an LP for play -- it's said that we have more appreciation for something that requires personal effort. Admittedly, when I'm feeling lazy, I enjoy the convenience of CD's, but I also find that I tend not to concentrate so carefully to the music -- my mind wanders more...

But, like TWL and the "Smokester" say much more succinctly, "it's the sound" of LP's that keep drawing me back. I am planning to upgrade my VPI HW-19 Mk4 sometime in the next year (probably a Scoutmaster, or maybe a Super Scoutmaster if I'm feeling flush), and then grow old with my turntable...
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