higher end jazz vinyl: where to turn?

Paanders,

There's a world of difference between manual cleaning and a vacuum system. The problem about a manual clean is that you loosen up all the crud in the grooves, wipe it round and then just leave it to dry out again into the grooves! If you're serious about vinyl, a RCM is THE best investment AND upgrade you can ever make.

Charlie

I began buying the expensive re-issues but found that several stores in my area are almost giving away original jazz pressings. I've bought several unopened jazz records including blue note for $3.99 and hundreds of NM LP's for $1.00. Search craigslist too. At these prices getting an occasional bad copy isn't a big deal.

I wonder though about the record cleaning machines and quality-price ratio amidst an entry-level hifi setup like mine (rega p3-24, elys 2 cart, linn amp, vienna speakers, audioquest cables, cambridge audio 640p preamp).

I worry about overkill (having a RCM that outruns my other gear), but I wonder about potential quantum leaps for a reasonable price.

One would think that moving up the food and price chain of gear gets to higher level of sonic desirability (certainly the on-the-take audio press would have us think that, along with the manufacturers of course). And that at some point one reaches the point of diminishing returns (in terms of quality-price ratio).

One of my favorite ideas here is to carefully buy cheap copies of popular blue note, OJC, ECM, Columbia reissues (or whatever I can find and afford) and look and listen for the best ones. At this point I'm more interesting in listening and learning than in finding pristine covers and originals. Though the piano on the Blue Notes I have is usually thin, and as a pianist I lament that. Perhaps Rudy didn't make the piano so "hot" as a rule? I suppose this is part of the long-lost sonic magic recovered by the "music matters" 45 versions.

I'm happy to hear some distrust of the 180g reissues, since I'd rather not overpay for flimsy warped records. I will approach those tentatively.

I'm desirous of the $50 deluxe classics, but not there yet (my wife would freak at those prices, and rightly so, in a household of teachers). One doesn't find them on used market much. And hot stampers I'll leave for the tycoons.

Above all, I've been enjoying the sonic power of Miles Davis reissues from mid-1960s, like NEFERTITI and MILES SMILES. These are stunning works of art, beautifully recorded. I feel that I am doing right by these great artists to play them on a decent rig at last. After upgrading to a Rega Apollo cd player a while back, I thought I could hold off on the return to vinyl--but I got hooked anyway. And of course ECM in the 1970s and 1980s is a garden of delight for audiophiles with a taste for that singular mix of AACM frothiness (think Lester Bowie) and frosty Northern delight (think Steve Tibbets), as long as one can countenance the cathedral-style reverb that add considerable wetness (perhaps counteracted by extremely close miking).

Paanders,

Forget about the comparison between the cost of the RCM and your system. It's more to do with the ratio of the cost between the RCM and your entire record collection. I agree that many original 50s and 60s pressings are fabulous SQ wise and will not be significantly bettered by expensive modern remasters. Economically you don't have to save yourself buying many $50 deluxe reissues to pay for a RCM which will benefit your entire record collection both now and in the future.

Charlie

Paanders,

If you read some other threads on Audiogon and AudioAsylum, you will see that there are different views about the necessity and value of record cleaning. A certain minority (including myself) believe that record cleaning is not nearly as important as others claim. And I have a Loricraft with a lot of different cleaning fluids to choose from, so it's not as if I haven't given RCMs a fair shot.

In my opinion, if you are buying new and good condition used records, a RCM is useful but not essential to your enjoyment of records. Just think about this. Virtually no one cleaned records back before 1980 or so. Did people back then enjoy playing their LPs? Absolutely. Now, if you get heavily into the used record scene, you will quickly find that a lot of people did not take proper care of their records, and for those records a RCM can be very useful. But for new or good condition used records, having a RCM at your disposal is more a luxury than a necessity. Just my opinion.