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Why Audiophiles Are Shopping for Vintage Turntables

watchnerd

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A highly opinionated article, to say the least:

"Listening to records is the penultimate middle finger to the digital age; one where human beings text family and friends in the same room rather than talk to them, and where people flip through music selections on their smartphones with the same level of attention that they display when selecting a brand of cereal at the grocery store. Listening to music on a turntable requires paying attention to the process of playback, and the music itself; something that is seemingly quite difficult for most people these days."

Provocative comments aside, the rest is about the ever-pricier resto biz:

https://gearpatrol.com/2020/01/14/why-audiophiles-shop-for-vintage-turntables/




(Full disclosure: my TT happens to be a restored vintage one, but not one of the brands mentioned in this article)
 

murraycamp

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Or the first?
 

anmpr1

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A restored Garrard 301 on a custom Zebrawood lacquered base with a 'modern' Ikeda (née FR) arm/cartridge is really more of a work of art. Shows off great. I'd like one. As an old guy. If younger, I'd prefer to spend dollars on something a bit more exciting--maybe a Ducati XDiavel. And pocket the savings.
 
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watchnerd

watchnerd

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A bit hyperbolic, but I can see where the author's coming from. Playing an LP is more of a ceremony than queuing the next track on a digital player.

Hollywood seems to have glommed on to this.

The last big fight scene in John Wick 3 has them fighting to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" played on a turntable.
 

FrantzM

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With a bit of creativity these days one can sell anything. GOOP has clearly demonstrated that Humans can be prodded to be parted with their money, for bottled vagina scent ...
I am one of those who can buy nostalgia: I wear a variety of mechanical wristwatches. The one I wear the least, is the more accurate as well as the least expensive ..
 

Frank Dernie

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He is missing out music lovers wanting to listen to music altogether.
He is also wrong about digital.
So since his premise is based on early digital being less good than now (demonstrably wrong) and that digital encourages people to track hop (demonstrably wrong for people who actually like the music they are listening to) the whole article is bollox to the point of irritation, for me.
The reason people are rebuilding old stuff is that the "vinyl resurgence" behaves like the fashion industry.
Certainly there are plenty of old record players which work well, what was needed and how to achieve it was known in the 1960s, maybe earlier (not all makers tried to achieve it though) so there are plenty of old TTs worth restoring, but putting an expensively re-finished Garrard 301 in a fancy plinth with a fashionable old arm (again not all were good) makes no sense except for the vintage look, (a 401 is better but not as vintage looking).
Anyway it is a nice little earner for some craftsmen whilst it lasts.
The newly re-released 301 in plinth with old fashioned arm is 23 grand ffs.
 
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watchnerd

watchnerd

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With a bit of creativity these days one can sell anything. GOOP has clearly demonstrated that Humans can be prodded to be parted with their money, for bottled vagina scent ...
I am one of those who can buy nostalgia: I wear a variety of mechanical wristwatches. The one I wear the least, is the more accurate as well as the least expensive ..

Hey, don't undersell the value.

It smells like Gwyneth Paltrow's vagina, not some run of the mill vagina.

Just think how much access to her vagina smell would previously cost? Millions?

And apparently her vagina smells like bergamot, something I've never encountered in my life with less than A list celebrity vaginas.

I think it's a steal.
 

Midwest Blade

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Continued fueling of the nostalgia around the whole turntable and LP trend. I get it, sincerly happy for anyone who choses to go this way and buy a starter turntable or really step up and get one for $100k. I scratch my head when people record their albums to hi-res files on their computer, clicks and all. I have both cd's and lp's as a source for my main system out at the house, mainly using cd's as they just flat out sound better but still spin the odd disc. 100% streaming (Amazon HD) here in the city condo, having access to litterally millions of titles at my fingertips, cd's and lp's are getting to feel like real old school.
 

beefkabob

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Let me get out ye old phonograph cylinder because it's sooooo analogue. Audiophools and fetishists.

The main advantage of vinyl is that the cover art is so big. Also, you can scratch with them on your 1200.
 

MattHooper

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A highly opinionated article, to say the least:

"Listening to records is the penultimate middle finger to the digital age; one where human beings text family and friends in the same room rather than talk to them, and where people flip through music selections on their smartphones with the same level of attention that they display when selecting a brand of cereal at the grocery store. Listening to music on a turntable requires paying attention to the process of playback, and the music itself; something that is seemingly quite difficult for most people these days."

Provocative comments aside, the rest is about the ever-pricier resto biz:

https://gearpatrol.com/2020/01/14/why-audiophiles-shop-for-vintage-turntables/




(Full disclosure: my TT happens to be a restored vintage one, but not one of the brands mentioned in this article)

I don't give a middle finger to digital audio, as I quite enjoy it.

But one of the things that appeals to me when listening to my turntable is unplugging from the digital world. I'm on a computer all day long for work. Like most I feel the constant "tug" for attention of my smart phone. Everywhere we go we interact with digital screens.

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.
 

Thomas savage

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Hey, don't undersell the value.

It smells like Gwyneth Paltrow's vagina, not some run of the mill vagina.

Just think how much access to her vagina smell would previously cost? Millions?

And apparently her vagina smells like bergamot, something I've never encountered in my life with less than A list celebrity vaginas.

I think it's a steal.
Just put a earl grey tea bag down there.. thank me later .
 

0bs3rv3r

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If you want a good turntable, there is no doubt in my mind that there is much value in older turntables. The real trick is finding one that the young turks haven't cottoned on to and sent the price through the roof. There are many GREAT turntables not branded Garrard or Thorens
 

Berwhale

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My father has an Ariston Q Deck sitting in a cabinet virtually unused (it's maybe played 10 records). He purchased it as part of a system I specified for him when Technics M.A.S.H/Bitstream CD players was a new thing (1989/90 maybe?).

My brother covets the turntable as his Dual CS-505 MkII has seen better days (he stuck an Audio Technica cartridge on it that required a head shell adaptor and it never worked well). On the other hand, I got rid of my Dual CS-505 MkIII and LP collection 20 years ago and have no wish to go back to vinyl.

*edit* More on MASH here: https://www.stereophile.com/content/pdm-pwm-delta-sigma-1-bit-dacs-peter-w-mitchell
 

Sal1950

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A highly opinionated article, to say the least:
"Listening to records is the penultimate middle finger to the digital age; one where human beings text family and friends in the same room rather than talk to them, and where people flip through music selections on their smartphones with the same level of attention that they display when selecting a brand of cereal at the grocery store. Listening to music on a turntable requires paying attention to the process of playback, and the music itself; something that is seemingly quite difficult for most people these days."
I find it sad all the lies and BS that's come out of this vinyl thing. It seems a day doesn't go by that I don't hear on TV or read on the net remarks along the lines of "he must be a real audiophile, he has a TT, or vinyl still provides the best sound" You see it everywhere in todays movies and TV shows. Yes this is from people who know nothing about sound or people that in one way or another stands to make a bunch of money from the vinyl market. Its very disturbing to me that this group of people are giving the finger to the many engineers and others that worked so hard to develop digital recording, optical drives, and all the rest to bring us this SOTA system. Personally, from the day I got my first CD player and played Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms, I couldn't wait for the day that I could replace all my LP's with CDs. In the mid 80s I never dreamed of the nirvana we live in today with all my music (much in 5.1 multich) as files on my computer, or better yet, for a small monthly fee, access to just about any recording ever made in redbook or better digital streaming. All the blood, sweat, and tears that has gone into todays digital music age and for the love of money people spread lies and mis-representations to go back to dragging a rock thru a ditch. :mad:
I so fondly remember my homeys in Chicago on 1979 :D "Records were made to be broken" LOL

 
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