Vinyl & turntables

[umslopogaas]

#70 ferretfancy, I had much the same experience. I must have wrecked many LPs by trying to track at ever lower weights, on the mistaken assumption of "the lighter the better." I've had no problems with my SME arm though, I've used it for many years and it is a beautiful bit of engineering. I had it set up on the current deck by SME themselves, they would do this for you if you delivered the deck and arm to them.

I use Goldring cartridges, they were recommended to me and seem to do the job very well. I get the stylus retipped by Expert Stylus and Cartridge Company in Ashtead (the only company in the world I have come across to offer this service), £85 when I last had one done. I also have s Shure V15-5, which is just as good, but more expensive and delivers a slightly different sound, a bit brighter than the Goldring.

I've collected LPs for many years, though I've slowed down a bit since I retired. People ask me why I need a four bedroom house when I live by myself, but I point out that seven thousand discs take up a lot of space!

[Alain Maréchal]

How can that sort of thing deliver Shostakovich 15 and change my life???

If the particular performance of Shostakovich 15 you wanted to hear delivered was the very first one recorded after the premiere by Maxim S., then vinyl is the only way in which you would hear it. As far as I have been able to tell, it has not appeared on CD. I still play my copy, and it sounds superb. As others have pointed out, many fine performances still languish unheard except by those who have the LPs.

The clicks and pops argument only applies to inferior copies that have not been well stored and have been played on a cheap turntable. Vinyl is hardier than you might think: most of my collection of several thousand has crossed the channel at least twice, and very few have been damaged, and when played on a deck that cost about £350 ten years ago (therefore not top-of-the-range by any means) and has had the cartridge replaced when necessary, they sound fine. Many analogue recordings have not been well transferred to CD (although I willingly concede that just as many probably have been).

[umslopogaas]

Alain, is your LP of the Shostakovich 15 the Russian Melodiya or the HMV issue which they put out on their ASD series under their collaborative agreement with Melodiya? I have both and I reckon the Russian original is better - which makes it very good indeed.

I was once told that a lot of the problems with vinyl date from the 1970s oil crisis. The price of vinyl shot up, so to avoid having to increase LP prices the companies starting padding out the vinyl with filler. What sort of filler I dont know, but its a fair guess it didnt improve the surface. The worst offenders I have come across are Supraphon, I have several of those that really do sound like a breakfast fry-up (though only a few, most are very good).

They also made LPs thinner and thinner as the years passed, which made them more prone to warp.

[amateur51]

I've collected LPs for many years, though I've slowed down a bit since I retired. People ask me why I need a four bedroom house when I live by myself, but I point out that seven thousand discs take up a lot of space!

Do you have the floors reinforced?

[Nick Armstrong]

If the particular performance of Shostakovich 15 you wanted to hear delivered was the very first one recorded after the premiere by Maxim S., then vinyl is the only way in which you would hear it.

The LP in question was the first western recording, with Ormandy and the Phildelphians, which changed my life around 1975... Vinyl was definitely the only option then. That recording has though appeared subsequently on CD.

[hafod]

Do you have the floors reinforced?

Not just the floors!

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.minhembio.com/forum/uploads/monthly_02_2008/post-25385-1203939575.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/record-shelves-what-are-people-using.265528/page-7&h=640&w=800&sz=132&tbnid=pg7BfBBcQPI23M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=118&zoom=1&usg=__2nHAQR-Z86qhIEuHlvnhibQrqXY=&docid=iSk7pXxtz6wATM&hl=en-GB&sa=X&ei=YKhyUpOLDNGjhgfwh4DADg&ved=0CDAQ9QEwAA

[umslopogaas]

#79 amateur 51, no, I havent had the floors reinforced, though more than one person has suggested I should! However, the original structure is a stone-built cottage with very thick stone walls. I have built up my biceps by drilling holes in them for fixing bolts, but the walls take most of the weight, not the floor.

By my rough estimates, the collection weighs three tons, but that gives me some cause for peace. After all, it may be worth a bit of money, but what sort of burglar is going to nick three tons of stuff?

I do have an awful fantasy that one day I come home with one more record, walk upstairs, put it on the shelf and there is a mighty crash and the walls burst and fall down, but so far, it hasnt happened.

[Beef Oven!]

........After all, it may be worth a bit of money, but what sort of burglar is going to nick three tons of stuff?

Let me know what recordings you've got and I'll see what I can find out. Insurance claim?

If you've got any La Monte Young, don't be surprised to see MrGongGong climbing through the roof

[Dave2002]

#79 amateur 51, no, I havent had the floors reinforced, though more than one person has suggested I should! However, the original structure is a stone-built cottage with very thick stone walls. I have built up my biceps by drilling holes in them for fixing bolts, but the walls take most of the weight, not the floor.

By my rough estimates, the collection weighs three tons, but that gives me some cause for peace. After all, it may be worth a bit of money, but what sort of burglar is going to nick three tons of stuff?

OK - let's work in metric. 3 tons - approx 3000kg = 3*10^6 grams. Now divide by 7000, to get the weight per LP = 3/7*10^3 = about 430 grams - which is about 0.95 lb. Seems a lot to me. I just picked up 3 LPs at random - not the lightest by any means, and the weight was around 650 grams, so I doubt that any LP weighs more than 220 grams. that would put your collection at approx 1.5 tons. Of course your shelving may weigh quite a bit too! However, you indicate that it's not supported on the floor.

[Don Petter]

Surely it will depend on the ratio of light music to heavy metal?

[Alain Maréchal]

Alain, is your LP of the Shostakovich 15 the Russian Melodiya or the HMV issue which they put out on their ASD series under their collaborative agreement with Melodiya? I have both and I reckon the Russian original is better - which makes it very good indeed.

.

Its the ASD I was thinking of. I may have the Melodiya somewhere - I have never catalogued my collection properly (possibly a reaction to the precisely organised requirements of my profession). I always thought the Melodiya pressings (usually bought from Colletts) had noisy surfaces and smelt of fish, but I am willing to be surprised. Unlike vinyl-phobes, I have the option.

[Alain Maréchal]

The LP in question was the first western recording, with Ormandy and the Phildelphians, which changed my life around 1975... Vinyl was definitely the only option then. That recording has though appeared subsequently on CD.[/COLOR]

I only have the CD version, and felt it was lacking in atmosphere. I shall play it again. There is usually something indefinable about a recording of new music made when it was new. A sense of discovery and exploration perhaps. Ormandy was good at #4 as well, also made when it was "new".

[Dave2002]

Surely it will depend on the ratio of light music to heavy metal?

Love it ...

[umslopogaas]

Phew, much to respond to here and not only the possible smell of fish. I need to go and sleep, but I must say before I do: I dont have any La Monte Young (who or what is that?) so Mr GG can enter through whatever door, front or rear, that he wishes and I would be very glad to make his acquaintance and even give him a drink, but he'd better hurry up or I'll be definitely gone to sleep.

I've got plenty of light music and some heavy metal, as well as all the serious stuff, so every one is welcome.

[Dave2002]

Some heavy metal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCFk0f8szes ....

Sweet dreams!