Vinyl-tastic!

[Fab Foodie]

No, not a girls in pvc thread... though not a bad idea in itself...

No. After an 8 year abscence, I finally retrieved my Thorens TD160B, SME2, Ortofon Combo from the loft and liberated my vinyl collection from the packing boxes they have resided in since we moved to Abingdon.

(For the audio buffs, the rest is Audiolab 8000A and Rogers Studio 1A's... a bit retro...)

Once buffed and set-up I lept straight for Billy Bragg's Levi Stubbs Tears

AWESOME!

Leapt out from the speakers, live, real, natural sounding music. God I've missed that sound. CD's on The Arcam Alpha jsut sound so dead and lifeless.

Sorry to say the following have been endured in a non-stop nostalgiafest...

Rikki Lee Jones
Early Style Council
Early EBTG
Alan Parsons
Julia Fordham
Foreigner
Third World
Grace Jones
Linton Kwezi Johnson
Saint Saens (Organ)
Gershwin RIB, AIP
Jazz at the Pawnshop
Suzanne Vega... now playing...

Mmmm, Billy Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues, Verve recording... it must soon be time!

Vinyl, I'd forgotten how bloody good it is.

 

[Mr Pig]

Records are great arn't they? :0)

Arcam CD players are pretty pants, I'd get another one if I were you. You don't need to spend a lot to beat an Arcam! Some CD players actually sound ok, although you never get the magic of vinyl. Still, I'm happily listening to Sharon Shannon on CD as we speak.

 

[Crackle]

I'm ashamed to admit I ditched my vinyl a few years ago. They went to a friend who values them though.

It was when my deck finally gave up and I couldn't afford a new one. I figured I could replace all of the key albums on CD for less than the price of an equivalent deck. Occasionally I have regrets, like when someone posts a thread like this but mostly I'm happy with the digital route.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

our cd player's in the cellar, the laptop is linked wirelessly to the hifi so there's no need for it. i'm in the process of digitising some of the better vinyl that the wife and i collected through our youth, i wish she'd looked after hers like i looked after mine…

 

[Fab Foodie]

Records are great arn't they? :0)

Arcam CD players are pretty pants, I'd get another one if I were you. You don't need to spend a lot to beat an Arcam! Some CD players actually sound ok, although you never get the magic of vinyl. Still, I'm happily listening to Sharon Shannon on CD as we speak.

The Arcam is a Alpha 7SE, it was OK at the time...
"Alpha 7SE won What Hi-Fi? Product of the Year award in 1999 and 2000" Me and a mate reviewed it one evening next to the then new Roksan CD player and the Alpha won the day. It was certainly a step-up from the Marantz CD65 Mk2 classic that I ran at the time!
To be honest, it all needs replacing, the Audiolab is get a bit graunchy, The Rogers are too visually and sonically imposing for the room too.
We'll frefurb the living room soon and they'll go to a good home, I fancy building some IPL mini transmission lines instead!

http://iplacoustics.co.uk/ipl_acoustics_____transmission_l.htm

@ Alecstilleyedye, Mrs FF's records are pretty shabby too


btw, the Billy Holiday was beguiling.

 

[cookiemonster]

In storage back home I have 2 boxes of vinyl plus a Technics T/Table.

Vinyl is fantastic!!!

 

[Dave5N]

I have a thousand or so albums upstairs. Don't s'pose I'll ever play them again.

Mind you, looking at your list, nor should you!

Early Style Council indeed! Your poor, poor neighbours....

 

[Cranky]

Sorry to say the following have been endured in a non-stop nostalgiafest...

Rikki Lee Jones
Early Style Council
Early EBTG
Alan Parsons
Julia Fordham
Foreigner
Third World
Grace Jones
Linton Kwezi Johnson
Saint Saens (Organ)
Gershwin RIB, AIP
Jazz at the Pawnshop
Suzanne Vega... now playing...

Mmmm, Billy Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues, Verve recording... it must soon be time!

Vinyl, I'd forgotten how bloody good it is.

We share some of the same records and I also had a TD160 for a while. I 'rediscovered' my vinyl collection after we moved into this house three years ago and now play albums from it quite regularly. In fact, I intend to replace the cartridge on my Rega Planar 3 at some point.

 

[albal]

Yeah totally agree with you on that 1. There is nothing better than vinyl. I still play mine on my Rega planer 2 /Denon NS1 system sounds f in grate. I loathe cd. Whilst on the subject I had a bit of a result today ; went back to the Audio shop where i sent my Denon cassette deck(part of the NS1), which i was told they could not fix it as parts are no longer available, It had been in once and sent back cos they said it was done and by heck it was , sounded sh1t.
So 27Oct it went in And Today it s come back and IT'sFINE!!! Plus I got a full refund of £72.90.
I know folk will tell me I should 'download ' onto my laptop .I 'd probably screw that up, as it s a bit tech for me(being a lorry driver & that)
But i am pleased as punch.
Gotta go to turn the tape over!!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I have a thousand or so albums upstairs. Don't s'pose I'll ever play them again.

Mind you, looking at your list, nor should you!

Early Style Council indeed! Your poor, poor neighbours....

Ah, I have a fondness for the works of Weller, The Paris Match EP was a fave of mine and the then probationary Mrs FF... those long hot summers...


Anyway, some cheesy cycling action... Weller rides a Condor amongst others.

View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mJeP3mipHQY


Or a bit of French....

View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_yzh4FDv7U&feature=PlayList&p=118ADCE37D796830&playnext=1&index=51


Glorious memories!!!

 

[another_dave_b]

Suzanne Vega at the Albert Hall was my first 'proper' gig. It was televised, and allegedly you could hear me 'whoop' just before Small Blue Thing.

EDIT
She wrote quite a nice article for the NY Times last year.

 

[yello]

To this day, I still don't know what Weller was trying to do with The Style Council... I suspect he doesn't know either!

Like others, I have boxes of vinyl waiting to be unpacked. In my case, it's only been around 18 months. However, I no longer have a turntable! That might prove interesting come the day those boxes are unpacked... still, given rural France is still firmly in love with Johnny Halliday and line dancing, I suspect I stand a damned good chance of getting a decent tt at a car boot sale!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I've got all my vinyl and a turntable downstairs. I like listening to it occasionally, but my musical tastes seem to be ever evolving and you can't really get interesting new music on vinyl any more ... I think the last vinyl I bought was The Kills' first album, five or six years ago. I listen to my ipod mostly now, although it does sound pretty good through my big stereo speakers.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I've got Arcam Alpha CD and amp - got them about 10 years ago I guess, still sound good to me. Still got me old vinyl too (about a 1000 LPs too). I use a VPI Jr turntable - an American brand. It's the size of a house and weighs about the same - lovely sound mind. There's something satisfying about an LP cover too that you just don't get from a CD case.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Even CD inlays are better than the single tiny picture you get with an ipod.