Looking to start a vintage jazz collection,

i just want newbees to know what they're in for. the music is the thing anyway, not the format....this coming from a man who just spent $700 for 3 sealed jazz originals....yowza

04-14-07: Jaybo
i just want newbees to know what they're in for. the music is the thing anyway, not the format....this coming from a man who just spent $700 for 3 sealed jazz originals....yowza

Well, for me the issue has become the format to some extent. Call it a digital backlash, but I'd been listening to CDs (and some SACDs) exclusively for the last 20 years, but at long last, I have to cave in and say that the CD reissues of albums recorded, mixed, and mastered in the analog domain nearly always irritate and disappoint me.

So I finally got a turntable (my first working TT in 25 years) and started hitting the used record stores. Mostly I pay between $1 and $8 per LP. It is a little more problematic with jazz. Just as used Beatles LPs cost more than other rock LPs, Modern Jazz Quartet almost always costs above the average and availability of some of my favorite artists (Don Ellis, Gary Burton) is spotty. Still, it's worth it to me and I enjoy the hunt. I just got a barely used copy of Quincy Jones' "Gula Matari" for about $2. Ironically, the CD reissue is long out of print and sells for as much as $65. I have both LPs and CDs of some A&M-era Quincy Jones and the LPs sound 'way better to me.

I just got an Atlantic MJQ "Best of" collection for $5 and another MJQ album for 99 cents. Both play great. Currently I'm listening to Milt Jackson and Hubert Laws on CTI.

When I got back into LPs, I was pleasantly surprised that most used records from reputable stores can clean up and play well, and that by and large, run of the mill, commercial pressings don't sound half bad. Maybe for me it's a good thing that I have a decent rig, but it's not ultra high rez. Good enough that I can enjoy the music, not so microscopic that I can't. :)

The Rega signature is clean and tight as opposed to fleshy and rich. In the right system it can be balanced to your taste. The pitch can be fixed with an outboard power supply from Heed or if you wait for the new P3 due out in about a month it has the option of adding a Rega outboard PS. The P5 has the option already.

Ebay is a great source for used jazz LPs. One needn't invest huge sums into original pressings and mint covers to enjoy the music. After all, this is about the music, not stamp collecting, right? Fantasy, up in Berkeley has done a fantasic joy of reissuing great 50's jazz. Last I checked, their reissues were ten-bucks each and sound fantastic.

Try going to Thrift shops,Music stores that carry used and new vinyl,garage and estate sales and Mosiac records on line. They put out some 180 gram box sets that basicaly sound awesome and gives you a slice of certain musicians discography.