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Why Audiophiles Are Shopping for Vintage Turntables

Frank Dernie

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I’d almost prefer this. I’m at least old enough to have experience with cassettes! Besides that, a good Type IV tape and Dolby S noise reduction sounds close enough to a CD for me; not that either of those things help in a day and age where no one produces metal tape and Dolby won’t license their noise reduction anymore.
I am extremely surprised to read this.
I used Cassette for years for home recording and with a good quality machine, I have a Nakamichi CR7E, and the best tape, which was expensive, careful setting of levels to minimise tape overload distortion whilst keeping levels high enough for noise not to be intrusive pretty good recordings were possible but even the first digital recorder I used (DAT) was much, much better, in fact its output was pretty well indistinguishable from the microphone feed, which I had never experienced with tape.
Pre-recorded cassettes otoh were truly awful, much, much worse than LPs never mind CD.
I cansee the attraction of LPs since the SQ isn't bad enough to worry most people but pre-recorded cassette??????????????
 

restorer-john

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I see this but that is a problem of people and short-termism not digital.

I agree Frank, but you have to admit, digital gave us instant track jumping and with that the short attention span/lack of patience for a song you didn't know.
 

Frank Dernie

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I agree Frank, but you have to admit, digital gave us instant track jumping and with that the short attention span/lack of patience for a song you didn't know.
It did. It may be that the music I like is either classical, and track hopping a symphony would be barmy, or stuff I have liked for a long time and I find most musicians I like are worth giving the benefit of listening to their whole work, whether Frank Zappa or Judy Collins.
I suspect nowadays young musicians start out with a digital rig in the bedroom and have never even thought of assembling an album.
 

restorer-john

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I found years ago the more cluttered my room the better the sound.

That is so true Frank. :) I'm going to use the Wise Words of Frank to justify (not that I really need to) my carefully-placed, random bits of gear in my listening room, CDs and LPs etc. Oh, and speakers, lots of them to randomise the diffractions and reflections...

I do believe an open large bookcase, full of books of all shapes and sizes is almost as good as full room acoustic treatment...
 

xr100

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I agree Frank, but you have to admit, digital gave us instant track jumping and with that the short attention span/lack of patience for a song you didn't know.

Does listening to the same track on repeat for hours count as a long attention span? :)
 

Sal1950

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Does listening to the same track on repeat for hours count as a long attention span?
NO, it counts you as a luny. :cool:
 

Juhazi

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I am extremely surprised to read this.
I used Cassette for years for home recording and with a good quality machine, I have a Nakamichi CR7E, and the best tape, which was expensive, careful setting of levels to minimise tape overload distortion whilst keeping levels high enough for noise not to be intrusive pretty good recordings were possible but even the first digital recorder I used (DAT) was much, much better, in fact its output was pretty well indistinguishable from the microphone feed, which I had never experienced with tape.
Pre-recorded cassettes otoh were truly awful, much, much worse than LPs never mind CD. I can see the attraction of LPs since the SQ isn't bad enough to worry most people but pre-recorded cassette??????????????

I never made live recordings, but instead used C-cassette to record music from FM-radio, in 70s as teenager. We lived in a small village far away from a shop selling LPs. Neither did my parents have a vinyl system. Some neighbours had mono vinyl players and Beatles records, but first listening of stereo sound was unforgettable! Casette radios were cheap, FM was free and pre-recorded cassettes we sold at every gas station and country shops (mainly for car stereos), but I bought only some, the first one was Elton John's Greatest Hits from 1974!

27897_1_.JPG


I got so thrilled of stereo and "hifi" that I forced my father to buy a hifi loudspeaker kit for me. It was a Philips 3-way with ready-made crossover board. I attached it to my radio, but sadly the sound wasn't as good as I hoped for. Then I forced dad to buy a FM-stereo amplifier and second kit loudspeaker - I finally had hifi stereo in my room! Soon I forced dad to buy a stereo cassette deck! I bought my first record player around 1980 when I was a student, and I still have it in storage!

1170.jpg


I bought my fist CD deck in 1984, NAD 5220 and it broke somewhere around 1998
 
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sergeauckland

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I am extremely surprised to read this.
I used Cassette for years for home recording and with a good quality machine, I have a Nakamichi CR7E, and the best tape, which was expensive, careful setting of levels to minimise tape overload distortion whilst keeping levels high enough for noise not to be intrusive pretty good recordings were possible but even the first digital recorder I used (DAT) was much, much better, in fact its output was pretty well indistinguishable from the microphone feed, which I had never experienced with tape.
Pre-recorded cassettes otoh were truly awful, much, much worse than LPs never mind CD.
I cansee the attraction of LPs since the SQ isn't bad enough to worry most people but pre-recorded cassette??????????????
A bug, not a feature.

A lot of what I hear is classical. Can't express how much pleasure can be found in playing the entirety of the Well Tempered Klavier without interruption. Or Bruckner symphonies without side changes.

Flipping LPs is a bug, not a feature.
I still use my turntables regularly, but my experience with cassettes mirrors Frank's. I had en extremely well set up Nakamichi, and only used That's metal cassettes, and it did make decent recordings, but the sheer faff of keeping the machine aligned meant I gave it up as soon as a pro quality PCMCIA soundcard (Digigram VX Pocket) became available and I could do better recordings without the faff.

As to turntables, I actually like having to get up every 20 minutes or so, it's good for my muscles and joints to keep moving. When I play digital recordings, I sit there for 2,3 or more hours without moving, and that's not supposed to be a Good Thing. Much of my listening is 'classical', so for me too, not having a long symphony interrupted is preferable, but 20 minutes or so isn't bad for Jazz or whatever.

My two main turntables are vintage, broadcast Direct Drives, and as such need no maintenance and have kept their alignment for the past 35 years. I check them for rumble, speed and W&F every now and then and they're fine.

I too had a Linn LP12 back when, and wasn't impressed.

S
 

Burning Sounds

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I must admit I did a lot of track hopping in the early days of using JRiver, but I quickly became dissatisfied with listening to music that way. It just takes a bit of discipline to listen to entire albums. Most of my playlists are now made up of entire albums rather than individual songs.
 

LTig

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But seriously you track and channel jumpers, stop and smell the roses. There's excellent stuff going on between the hits. ;)
I couldn't agree more. Very often those tracks between the hits in the long run reveal themselves as the better stuff.
 

DSJR

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Juhazi - that Dual 1219? is a truly wonderful, eandearing and lovely thing with a potentially great performance even today (around cheaper Rega level which is no mean feat for an 'auto-changer') and the arm can take good modern cartridges way outside its perceived level, but after years in storage, there are a couple of parts that MUST be replaced even before powering it up again if tonearm mounting damage is to be avoided and the mech not to move the arm around on 'auto' - look up 'Steuerpimpel,' arm-height adjustor 'rubber sleeve' and 'Dearing Ring' in the Dual 'room' on Vinyl Engine as well as the wonderful service notes with copious pics on the 'dualcan.tumblr' site. I try my best there, but Dualcan Klaus is the go-to man regarding Duals...

These days I don't seem to have time to relax with a full album, and even if I do, I tend to cherry pick tracks - looking back I think I always did once I got to know a record (I suspect it's a throw back to doing dems where tracks at a time - or even parts of tracks in a comparative dem - were played).
 

Snarfie

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With vinyl I get to just leave my phone, my ipads, my computer, "unplug" and take a break from computer technology while immersing myself in the music. I find the break to be nourishing.

I caught my self these day's more an more listening to my music/gear while reading hobby things on my phone like ASR. For instance listening to Chet Baker an reading thinks i like let time desolve an before i know it is bed time. I find this multi tasking quite relaxing an time well spent than checking social media, mail of worse whatching tv al night. There is one condition you need a damm good chair.
 
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Juhazi

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DSJR, Yes, but my Dual is actually 1216/Salora LS2000, without changer. I had/have also Salora 2000 FM-receiver. My sister used Dual until 2015 and it still runs. Pickup is Shure M75 with elliptic needle. The chassis and cover are so small that cover must be open when playing LPs! My Thorens TD 145 has that issue fixed.

Salora brand history


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SALORA_HIFI_STEREO_2000_otsikko_a_jpeg.jpg
 
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Robin L

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I cansee the attraction of LPs since the SQ isn't bad enough to worry most people but pre-recorded cassette??????????????
At least the awful pre-recorded cassette will be consistently bad. No clicks or pops, no IGD, no off-center cassettes. I'm not defending pre-recorded cassettes [save the Connoisseur Society In Sync cassettes], but it helps to explain why they made significant inroads for music sales in the 1970s/80s as LP quality declined significantly. Once portable CD playback was the norm, it was pretty much "game over" for cassettes. DATs sealed the deal.
 

MattHooper

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It did. It may be that the music I like is either classical, and track hopping a symphony would be barmy, or stuff I have liked for a long time and I find most musicians I like are worth giving the benefit of listening to their whole work, whether Frank Zappa or Judy Collins.
I suspect nowadays young musicians start out with a digital rig in the bedroom and have never even thought of assembling an album.

It seems to me someone whose tastes emphasize classical music is less likely to be affected by the type of digital music ADD that I'm talking about.
Classical music generally entails much longer pieces and listening time and the enthusiast is generally more inclined to maintaining attention to a piece for longer periods of time.

And, again, it's obviously not the case that EVERYONE listening to digital music eschews full-album-listening and engages in constant selecting of bits here and there for playlists over full albums. But it is a very common way for people to experience music these days,.

And for THOSE OF US who experience a more desultory listening experience when using digital, insofar as vinyl encourages longer listening and more patience in evaluating the body of an artists work on an album, which reaps satisfying rewards, it's a valuable addition to how we listen to our music.
 

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Frank Dernie

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I listen in EXACTLY the same way to music whether the carrier is LP or CD.
I put on the recording I wish to listen to, whether on CD or LP, then listen to it. The only difference is how often I have to stand up and change disc.
And for THOSE OF US who experience a more desultory listening experience when using digital, insofar as vinyl encourages longer listening and more patience in evaluating the body of an artists work on an album, which reaps satisfying rewards, it's a valuable addition to how we listen to our music.
I suspect the "those of us" to whom you refer is just you. :)
 
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