I’ve found in the last 44 years or so of listening to music that some things sound better on CD and some sound better on vinyl. Now, for what I listen too, I’d say a bit over half sounds better on vinyl. I started out on vinyl, got out and came back again. My story is different from most here though in that back in the day when I was all vinyl I never had what I call a “real” turntable, so it left a false taste in my mouth. That said, for some reason I kept most of my vinyl when I went to CD, so I guess I had something in the back of my mind.
I got full force, back into vinyl only about 4 years ago when I picked up my first “real” turntable. I also did some reading and learned about vinyl. When I put that first record on it stunned me and I knew I wanted to get into vinyl again and was ready to commit to doing it right.
Mike and others are absolutely right in saying that it is a labor of love. You have to really want to do vinyl playback. There is tons more maintence and such than any other medium. Even though I wanted to be back into vinyl and commit with the best of intentions, it was not always easy along the road. I had to learn cartridge and turntable set up which was one thing I personally had a rough time with, but I wanted to do vinyl playback strongly enough that I wanted to learn. To this day, I struggle with it, but not really due to techniques as due to really poor eyes. (It’s different for everyone though). There are still things I don’t quite understand such as SRA, but mostly due to lack of experience with it and no need or way to do it on my tables. I use legacy turntables so I’m not dealing with unipivot arms and such. That means for some things like adjusting SRA, I could not do it if I wanted to because on the tables I use there is no way to do it. I just have to hope the manufacture got it close when I set up the rest of it.
All that may sound daunting, but the good news is that the rest of it is pretty easy, just a lot to consider. As Mike pointed out, there is the cleaning, storage, flipping sides, etc. However, it is my opinion that all that is not hard to learn. While most here may disagree with me, I’m also of the opinion that it does not have to cost a lot of money to get into vinyl, especially starting out. If I’m not mistaken, I believe that Michael Fremer is of similar opinion. I would also suggest digging into some articles, videos and such from him. (You Tube is your friend as is Google and Analog Planet).
You will need more than a TT to get into vinyl. You will need good storage, cleaning and maintenance items for both TT and records, etc. At any rate, you don’t have to start off with a $10,000 table, $1000 cartridge, etc. You can do what I did and go with a legacy (vintage) table for anywhere from $50 to $400 or so, if you like that sort of thing or jump straight into a nice $1200 table or something from ClearAudio or what have you. You could also start out with an entry level Project or Rega if you want and everything in between and beyond. Lots of ways to go. Also, if you have never set up a table before, please do what Michael Fremer suggests and don’t start out with a $1000 cartridge or something. Get a $30 or $40 cart. That way if you screw up and damage it you are only out $30. From there, you can step up to a slightly more expensive cartridge and keep working up the ladder if you like. (That is a good way to know how different carts and such behave). Mr. Fremer has also said, that you would be surprised how nice an inexpensive cartridge can sound on a properly set up table. (I heard him say that in a TT setup seminar he did that I caught on You Tube).
As for records costing $70, not always, they can cost that and much more, but they don’t have to. You can go used, but that requires more work and a bit more money because you will need some way to clean them good and learn about all that and eventually need an RCM. Then there is the labor involved and such. If you are going for lots of records, it can save you money and be worth it at the end of the day, but it’s a personal preference and commitment as well and requires lots of patience just as setting up a table does. So if it’s enough just dealing with setting up a table, you may not dig doing the used record route. (I personally find it fun and interesting, not to mention a big money saver, but that’s me and I don’t mind it).
You can go for new records which don’t always cost $70. Depending on what you want, many will cost between $30 and $70, sometimes $20 depending. However, you’ll still need to clean them. Yes, even new records should be cleaned before touching your table. If funds are tight you can go the extreme and set up a manual way using an old cheapo turntable, homebrew and purchased fluids and a modified mini shopvac like I started with. It was fine when I had 30 or 40 records, but started getting carpel tunnel at the 60 record point (now have 400+) because of the vacuum step mostly and that’s partly why I have a VPI machine today. You could start with a $200 Disc Dr or something when you only have a few records, but at some point you’ll want something like a VPI or Okki Nokki or even an AudioDesk or KLAudio unit depending on budget and number of records. It also depends on how fast you accumulate records. If you accumulate fast you may want to skip the cheaper cleaning set ups and jump straight to a VPI or above or what have you. (If you had 1000 records I would jump straight to one of full auto units like the KLAudio, etc. if it were me).
Just saying that you can start out in vinyl for well under $10k if you want, especially if you are not 100% sure. Once you are in and if you find you love it, you can then go as crazy as you like.
All this is just my opinion and personal experience and not in any way the word on the whole thing. Just offering another perspective.
~Eric
