Vinyl again!!

  • Many years ago I used to own a Technics music system with turntable and had a reasonably large collection of records. It was a large system which was encased in it's own cabinet and had two massive speakers. A dream for a younger man. Then I got married - because of living in a small flat, space was of the essence and I had to sell my music system and bought a midi system (Technics again) to replace it. I did not buy a turntable so sold my entire record collection.


    Yesterday was our 26th wedding anniversary. To my utter surprise my eldest son bought me a turntable and my wife, knowing what he was getting me bought some Genesis vinyl records for me to get started. I have not played vinyl for about 25 years - it was so great last night reminding myself what it was like to take a record out of it's sleeve, place it on the turntable and put the needle down to play the record. Sound was amazing. It was a great feeling. Don't know if it was just me but the record seemed so much thicker than I remember.


    I am so made up, it is like being a kid again. So looking forward to spending many hours sitting on the settee listening to vinyl instead of putting on a cd or playing music from my itunes. Now all I have to do is start building up a collection.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake”

  • Following on from my comment above, over time I need to build up a record collection again. Because I have not bought vinyl for 25 years, I was amazed how much a record costs.;(


    As I am UK based can anyone recommend any websites that you use to buy vinyl at good prices whether new or used? I will also look forward to going into second hand record shops and picking up some records from many years ago.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake”

  • The records are thicker than you remember! You'll see 180gm mentioned a lot, back in the pre-CD days, it would more likely to be 120 to 140gm. I think the record companies think it implies better sound, but while thicker, heavier vinyl will likely be less liable to warp, and improve the sound of cheap turntables by increasing the flywheel effect to reduce wow and flutter, and dampen the vibrations within the platter, it really ends there. Digital, of course, has no wow and flutter. Some younger members here probably wonder what that even means! :)


    Try here: https://www.cdandlp.com/en/ - it's a site where shops can advertise their stuff, though I've only used it for CD's.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

  • Firstly happy anniversary.

    Secondly I was only looking at this a few hours ago and telling Mrs Farmer I have buy one of these.

    https://www.hifix.co.uk/sspin-clean-record-washer-mkii.

    Thirdly . I use WHAT RECORDS a fair bit. Rivals Amazon in price but specialise in the latest special releases . Easy to use. Good customer service . I bought all the Genesis box sets from them.

    DISCOGS is good for the the second market but you can't beat the second hand shops shops and stalls and record fairs. That's the real real fun.

    Fourthly I hope Mrs genesis 1964 knows how lucky she is. If I was in your position I would have sold as my wife to make room for the record collection. You have to get priorities right

    And finally it looks like you you're a lucky man after all. Can't think of a better present to get after all these years especially after keeping Mrs Genesis 1964 instead of the records.