Who listens only to vinyl?



WHY, and what turntable set-up are you choosing to live with?
(This is NOT a vinyl versus digital thread, it's a lifestyle thread!)

Recently, I'm heading in this direction, mostly I think because I have never invested enough attention and money to bring up digital listening into the pleasure zone. I also like messing around with record cleaning and arms and cartridges, and worrying whether my TT belt needs replacing. And the sound of course!

If you are one of these vinyl-only people, how did you get there, and how do you feel about living with restricted access to a lot of newer recordings, both classical and other genres? Is it an issue for you?

[Pro-ject 2 Xperience with Shure v15 type IV-JICO SAS stylus]
sumaato
I have about 60gb of music on my hard drive--but listen to vinyl virtually exclusively. I like the rituals surrounding vinyl even though they can be seen as nuisances. I don't miss out on the new music because I don't follow it. There's so much music to explore and sticking with vinyl 'forces' one to explore it. A good percentage of the vinyl I have were just whimsical purchases that I probably would never have bought on cd. I am richer musically as a result. A case in point is Ry Cooder's 'Jazz'. Someone had mentioned it as a sounding good on vinyl so I bought it. Now I'm as Cooder obsessed as they come. Of course, the same might have happened if I had bought the cd but knowing myself I probably would not have done so.
It's a really good point.....that chasing vinyl can open one up to previously unknown musical riches and encourages whimsical exploration.

My discoveries: original Fifties mono vocal jazz recordings on the Bethlehem label, and most of Bruno Walter's Bruckner (60 cent thrift store purchases with Senior discount).
I have also come across some oddball records of wonderful interest such as Louis Prima's "The Wildest Show at Tahoe", which I never would have found in any other way.

If I read Gramophone magazine, I sometimes feel like the music world is passing me by, that is until I cruise my local vinyl store and (always) find great music.
I am almost 100% vinyl. I do have a CD player which I keep around for the occasional new CD and to play music that I like but don't have on LP. Of course, I also listen to CDs in the car, but for my main system CDs probably get less than 1% of my listening time.

The "lifestyle" reasons for my nearly all-vinyl listening are pretty straightforward.

* I have over 3000 LPs which I have been collecting for over 45 years. My CD collection is probably less than 200.

* My musical tastes are mostly rooted in the 1950s through 1970s, and since early issue LPs are nearly always better sounding than later issues and LPs always better than CDs, then LPs are the preferred way to enjoy my music.

* My phono playback gear is very good. My CD player is nothing special.

* My linestage no longer has a selector switch. It has a dedicated single-input so I have to move interconnect wires to hook up the CD player. Not a big deal, but it's easier just to spin the record player.

* And the obvious reason that playing records is just more fun.
It's a really good point.....that chasing vinyl can open one up to previously unknown musical riches and encourages whimsical exploration.

My discoveries: original Fifties mono vocal jazz recordings on the Bethlehem label, and most of Bruno Walter's Bruckner (60 cent thrift store purchases with Senior discount).
I have also come across some oddball records of wonderful interest such as Louis Prima's "The Wildest Show at Tahoe", which I never would have found in any other way.

If I read Gramophone magazine, I sometimes feel like the music world is passing me by, that is until I cruise my local vinyl store and (always) find great music.
I would say my listening is about 75% to vinyl, 25% to digital. There is now a ton of music that is only available digitally, and I also usually have to listen to digital when I am listening to my own orchestra, as that is how we are recorded.