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Posted by: VinceG Sep 24 2008, 12:51 AM

So I've been buying a lot of music lately since I got sick of downloading music. One of my current hobbies at the moment are buying Vinyl's. I got my first one today. Bought Boris' Smile (limited 3000). I want to know a few tips on taking care of Vinyl's. I know we have a few old timers here who possibly owned a Vinyl. Any pointers for a noob such as I?

Posted by: Guitarman700 Sep 24 2008, 03:29 AM

here ya go:
store them vertically,
Clean them them fanatically,
make sure the sleeves,grooves,and phonograph needle are clean and free of dust
search online for vinyle cleaning supplys. i cant stress enuogh how important it is to wipe them down.
(its late, so sorry for the short reply, just ask if you need more info)

Posted by: 2mazzo Sep 24 2008, 04:24 AM

Awoid sunlight or other heat sources.

Posted by: blindwillie Sep 24 2008, 06:34 AM

Yepp, store them vertically. Avoid heat. Put a plastic cover over the paper cover.
Use a high quality player with high quality pickup.

Posted by: swingline Sep 24 2008, 06:41 AM

Just out of curiosity, why do they have to be stored upright?

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 24 2008, 08:43 AM

Good advice - to add though, when you clean a stylus be careful of the direction you brush the needle. Wrong way can damage it. Use a soft brush and brush towards you - back to front of stylus. A friend decided to clean my stylus a few years ago and did it the wrong way and snapped the stylus. It cost me 300 UK Sterling for a new cartridge (fixed stylus) - mine's an expensive turntable and cartridge.

Clean records on the turntable so they are flat and you aren't holding them. Light ware = dry clean. Heavy soiling = wet clean.

If you can use anti-static inner sleeves. Never touch the record's surface pick up by edge and the label.

Make sure the turntable is set up properly and the arm doesn't skate towards the centre with excessive force.

Try not to expose to high heat or humidity. (Have a DJ friend who left a collection of 45s in the boot of his card on a sunny day. Result = 1000s of warped 45s.)

When you finish playing put the record away in its sleeve and store as everyone has already said.

If you have the choice between audiophile grade vinyl and standard get the audiophile grade. Three main differences - a) audiophile is much heavier and will last longer; audiophile tends to be 'fresh' whereas standard vinyl is very often recycled; c) audiophile is often cut/mastered at a slower speed, very often at the same speed it's meant to played at.

General comment: a good record player properly set up will track and get more information out of a record then a cheap one. An audiophile record player can sound better than an equivalently priced cd player - IMHO.

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: VinceG Sep 24 2008, 08:57 AM

I never realized how much work it is to maintain a record. Its very intimidating, but I'm sure I get the hang of it after a while.

Currently, I don't own a record player as of yet, but could you guys recommend any in a decent price? Maybe $250 at the most or am I limiting myself to crappy record players.

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 24 2008, 09:45 AM

Personally I'd go for an audiophile type rather than a mass market one Vince. (Mass market are more often then not any of the big Japanese brands.) Also in this price range a belt drive rather than direct drive/servo locked.

Some good names to look out for around your price range/a bit above:

Rega P1
Pro-Ject Debut 1.2 or III.
Linn Axis.
NAD C555.
Music Hall MMF1.

If you hunt around a bit you may be able to get any of the above discounted to 250USD - most of them are really around 350USD. (Not much for 250 or less I'm afraid.)

You may have to pay extra for the cartridge/stylus but you could always swop over the cart you have for now to stay in budget.

If you are willing to buy second hand/used your budget may stretch to:

Rega Planar 3.
Michell Gyrodec.
Linn Sondek.
Roksan Xerxes.

A well set up and maintained used turntable like these will almost always be much better musically. Chances are that for 250 you'll only be able to get an old basic version of a Linn/Roksan. Used Rega is probably a safe bet as there is little to go wrong with it and it was well designed and built. Roksan Xerxes can produce wonderful music but the top sometimes warps causing the record platter to ground on it. There is a fix for this though. There are loads of different Linns around - and the new, top of the range ones are expensive. Older more basic ones are easily found because people upgrade a lot. Linns are generally sound if they've been maintained and serviced properly. Gyrodecs look v different but can be as good as a Xerxes or Linn - needs a proper set up though. With any 2nd hand check cartridge/stylus wear. Personally I'd buy from a HiFI shop rather than EBay as the shop should have checked it over and serviced it before selling it used.

The majority of people see a Linn/Roksan/Gyro as more than good enough and the best price/quality compromise. Quality wise to go above the Linn/Xerxes/Gyro requires a lot more money. As an example: I have a Michell Orbe (a couple of models up from a Gyro) and it costs about 2500 UK Sterling in the UK - probably about 6000USD to allow a bit for shipping. And that is without an arm and cartridge. With arm and cart and head amp mines kicks in at about 4500UK Sterling. Expensive hobby.

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: VinceG Sep 24 2008, 10:44 AM

Arghgh damn expensive hobby it is! I dont have that kind of money though Tony and I know you meant well and good, but I would only play my records on a rare occasion so I dont need that kind of expensive units.

Whats your opinion on these kinds of Record Players?

http://coolrecordplayers.com/index.html

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 24 2008, 10:57 AM

Afraid I've never come across Crosley before Vince. The first looks like it's a direct drive but can be used with a separate amp/speakers. The second is belt drive but no indication is you can use with separate amp and speakers - has built in speakers. Possibly fine if you want to rip to cd/pc but I think you could get better quality for your 250USD tbh.

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: blindwillie Sep 24 2008, 11:29 AM

Agree on Rega and Linn, I have no experience with the others and no opinion of them.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 24 2008, 03:05 PM

I might mention that you always touch the vinyl on the sides and handle it very carefully. If you follow this simple rule, vinyls will love you for it

Posted by: VinceG Sep 24 2008, 03:55 PM

Thanks Tony. Ive been reading reviews for it, and the Pros seems to hate it, but the beginners and old timers seem to like it. I think its the equivalence to a an Esteban if were talking guitar and quality.