Want to get started with vinyl

OK, I have not got ANY records, having got into music just about the time of the CD, and I have spent the last 5 years trying to get my CD player to sound more and more natural. I am pleased with the sound but recently have lunch with a recent vinyl convert and think that it's time to take the plunge.

My question is what should I start with. I am happy to spend a bit of cash, but equally, I'd be happy to start with something relatively cheap. Also, given that I haven't got any records, are there certain websites where I can buy perhaps second hand vinyl - I'm a big classical music fan, but like pretty much anything.

Any help much appreciated before I waltz on down to my dealer for some auditions.

Cheers,

Ed

 

Project 1 Xpression with carbon fibre tonearm for £189.95

Here

 

Thanks for the reply. What would you suggest in the area of phono stage?

 

A Project Phono Box (£40 retail) would be a good starting point.

 

Alternatively you could try and get a second hand Musical Fidelity XLP or XLPS, they regularly turn up on ebay or if you want to spend up to £85 you couldn't go wrong with this

 

Project phono se is pretty adjustable and can be had second hand for around £60 or graham slee gram amp 1 at the same price s/h or £85 new

 

Ed, what is the rest of your system?


Paul.

 

Here is the link to my post on the "My Kit" thread - https://www.audio-forums.com/as-rediect/showthread.php?p=61321#post61321

In case that doesn't work, it's as follows:
Musical Fidelity X-Ray - cd player
MF Tri-Vista DAC21
MF X-Plora - tuner
MF X-P100 - pre
MF X-A50 X 2 - power (tweeters)
MF M-250 X 2 - power (bass and mid)
MF X-Cans v2 - headphone amp with upgraded tubes
ATC SCM35s - speakers
Grado headphones

Cheers,

Ed

 

Then surely you'd want MF's X-LPSv3 phono stage?

 

Yeah, suppose I would be interested in the MF one, but to be honest, I probably ought to consider branching out a bit...!

 

Ted - if you want a cheap way in, look at my ad
https://www.audio-forums.com/as-rediect/showthread.php?t=7616&highlight=thorens

I bought this to test the vinyl water two years back and am now going to upgrade, with no particular hurry. I listened to some cheap Projects at the time but preferred this - gives good bass in particular and deals pretty well with surface noise.

 

Unless you already have vinyl... I wouldn't bother.

Just upgrade what you already have instead.


The thing is once you start with vinyl you're forever upgrading... before you know it you have an LP12

 

Ted, for classical vinyl the best place to start is charity shops, still the cheapest place to look by far. Once you start buying from 'specialised' outlets you start paying through the nose. The average price I've paid for classical LPs is about £1.50.

 

Why?????? Personally, I'd forget it. I only have vinyl because I'm an old git who was collecting the stuff years before CD came on the scene, and had a pile of the stuff, meaning I had to have a turntable. If I were starting again, I wouldn't consider vinyl at all. (And, no, it doesn't sound any better, unless you want it to).

 

Considering what a valve and vinly nut I am, some might be suprised to discover just 6 years ago I didnt have a single slab of vinyl.

It all began when I swapped a nice jacket I had for a friends vinyl collection. He probably had about 50 LPs.

I then bought a cheap Systemdeck IIXE for about 150 (a good buy), but used the inbuilt phono stage in my musical fidelity Electra E100 amp (a poor sounding stage, even for an inbuilt one).

Charity shop buys for about 50p a go, a few fancy records here and then, a bunch of purchases from Fopp records (new) and from Netsounds (second hand). I must have spent about 500 on records in the last six years or so, and have probably about 300 records.

I intend to keep on buying lots of vinyl until I have every old album Ive ever wanted or dreamed about buying.

If you feel you want to get more into music from 1995 onwards I wouldnt bother, but if the 50's 60's 70's or 80's are interesting to you musically (or classical from any age) then a turntable is a brilliant idea for anyone.

Having said that I think you really need to spend 150 or so on a deck and 50+ on a phono stage and probably 50+ on a cart, so if you have less than 250 for the whole shennanigans you might not like the sound that you get...

 

I've been pleased with the project 1 expression. Not astounded but at no point did I want to not listen to it. They come up cheap second hand.

By all acounts the gram amp 1 is the nicest of the budget phono stages.

Searching for records is a wonderful thing, cd's just don't have the same mystique.

 

Don't listen to the grumpy so and sos who say don't do it. They have no romance in their souls ... or maybe they do but with a12" 33.3RPM Microgroove LP shaped hole in it ... . Old records are wonderful things and that's that.

Seriously though, One of the Projects or a Rega P2 or the NAD equivalent and you shouldn't go too far wrong

 

Couldn't agree more. I was in a similar position to Bottleneck.

As I got more into hifi I started to really want a turntable - 6 years on and I now have just over 500 records, loads bought 2nd hand at very reasonable cost. Also once hear a audiophile pressing of a classic (Allman Brothers at Fillmore for instance), cds just seem boring.

Collecting vinyl, either scanning through ebay or going through a 2nd hand shop is very enjoyable.

Besides, may be it is the luddite in me, but I sort of enjoy the involvment with regards to maintaining the deck, cleaning records etc.. Seeing the deck working and its mechanical features is so much better than a black box with a drawer.

 

Technosound, Milton Keynes had a Pro-Ject RPM-4 for £199.00 when I was in there last week, it's customer trade-in, but it looks mint, it's complete and ready to go.

Go with other phono stage recommendations already made.

Vinyl, you can look on ebay under the 'Records' section, often if you just browse the auctions closing in the next hour you can come across lots of ads for job lots of vinyl being sold off very cheap, often with no bids, especially for Classical.

If you are interested, I have a couple of really nice Stravinsky box sets, I could send you the details and you can choose which one you would like.

Also check out this web site for vinyl:

www.gemm.com

&

http://www.netsoundsmusic.com/

 

Thanks very much for all the replies - will go through them properly when I get a moment. Just regarding second hand LPs - isn't there a big risk with scratches? Also, does a lot depend on what sort of pressing you get? Eg if your LP is the first from a batch of 200 that's great, but the last LP would be vastly inferior? Any truth in that and if so, is there any way of telling? Perhaps visibly?