CDs as investment?

[Beef Oven]

The appeal of some early vinyl stereo is that it was recorded using good old analogue/valve technology and those hi-fi buffs who use "tube amps" take the view that the sound is unsurpassed. There's an interesting summary of info on collectable labels here....
http://www.classic-choice.co.uk/collectorsguide.asp

I agree that vinyl is unsurpassed. I do miss the very special sound of an LP compared to CD. What I don't miss is all the scratches and clicks and pops that inevitably come about.

[Bryn]

I agree that vinyl is unsurpassed. I do miss the very special sound of an LP compared to CD. What I don't miss is all the scratches and clicks and pops that inevitably come about.

Oh and I do so miss the compressed dynamics and the application of, and eventual approximation to reconstruction from, the RIAA curve.

[Beef Oven]

Oh and I do so miss the compressed dynamics and the application of, and eventual approximation to reconstruction from, the RIAA curve.

Happily, I am unfettered by technical understanding and I am able to simply judge that to the ear, vinyl is superior.

[Bryn]

... vinyl is superior.

To Shellac.

[anotherbob]

....though ebay bids are a better guide to what people are currently willing to pay. Its only a small minority of material that attracts the big money: most of the stuff on ebay is put up for 99p and attracts no bids.

Since the arrival of Ebay I have used it to fund my long standing interest (or obsession if SWMBO is to be believed) in enlarging my own vinyl collection. For many years I have haunted flea markets, car-boot sales, etc. etc. and I cannot pass a charity shop without checking for vinyl. I never buy records from Ebay, but over the years I have found enough saleable LP and 45s that I have sold myself to more than meet the cost of what I have bought for myself.
Some of the most valuable have been the early classical stereo labels, and what is odd is that the majority have been bought by far eastern collectors, Chinese, Korean and Japanese mainly. I don't know why that should be; perhaps they have more money than us?
I encountered one particular Japanese collector of Brass Band music and when I asked him about his interest he turned out to be the Musical Director of a Brass band in Osaka!

[Ferretfancy]

I agree that vinyl is unsurpassed. I do miss the very special sound of an LP compared to CD. What I don't miss is all the scratches and clicks and pops that inevitably come about.

Not always inevitably,Beef Oven. I still buy LPs from charity shops occasionally, and usually find they play well after careful cleaning. Many discs that you find at Oxfam and elsewhere are unwanted copies that have never been played, and a glance at the centre of the label for scuff marks is a good test. Most wear and tear on LPs is caused by playing them on turntables with too low a pickup tracking weight, this does quite a lot of damage which can't be cleaned away.

[anotherbob]

Not always inevitably,Beef Oven. I still buy LPs from charity shops occasionally, and usually find they play well after careful cleaning.

If you're REALLY serious about cleaning vinyl....

http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html

[cloughie]

To Shellac.

Handbags at dawn Beef v Bryn, Vinyl v CD, Ears v Tech Spec.

[Ferretfancy]

If you're REALLY serious about cleaning vinyl....
http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html

anotherbob

Thanks for the link! I clean my vinyl using a similar but much less bulky piece of equipment.It's a wet cleaner derived from a type of electric toothbrush that produces a fine jet of water from a small reservoir. This improvised gadget sounds horrendous, but it does work! Perhaps I should draw a veil over the details !

[umslopogaas]

#20 anotherbob. I remember going into Fine Records in Hove once, one of my favourite shops, and it was completely cleaned out, there wasnt an LP in the shop. "We've been Koreaned!" they said. I think there are several reasons for the far eastern interest in vinyl. First, they are a very musical lot and are particularly passionate about the violin. Second, they have among their ranks the usual proportion of collectors. Third, they have quite a lot of money. Fourth, they had no industry of their own at the time vinyl was in production. All this adds up to a keen interest from the far east in our old vinyl. I'm told though that the interest is dwindling, because just like here, the old collectors are getting older and shuffling off and the young lot arent interested. In addition, after twenty or thirty years they've mostly bought all that they want.

What we collectors with an avaricious eye on our groaning shelves are waiting for is for China to become sufficiently wealthy for its nascent collectors to accumulate sufficient spare dosh to go shopping for our records. There aren't many copies of late 1950s stereo first issues of classical violin music left in worthwhile condition, and if the Chinese come into the market, hold tight. I might acually pay to deposit my Kogan Tchaikovsky vc (Columbia SAX 2323) in the bank vault. And no, I'm not interested in selling, whatever the offer (well OK, but it'll need to be a big one ...).

[jayne lee wilson]

Shame you never got the superior Chesky CD issues of those, then you wouldn't even need to clean them!
Luxury, bloody luxury, etc...

I must say I am rather disappointed with the Chandos CDs of Earl Wild's recordings of the Rach 1-4 PCs and much prefer the sound of the Reader's Digest LPs. Really pleased I kept them!

[MrGongGong]

One has to be very wary of Amazons supposed ability to get hold of the rarer items it lists
I know of at least one CD that they say they have which is definitely NOT available as all the unsold copies are in my loft and there's no distribution deal anymore for that group

It does seem that they simply list everything in the universe on the basis that MOST people want what's easy to get hold of , after a few months of ordering something out of their usual orbit you get an email saying how its "taking a bit longer than usual" etc and finally you get one saying that the item is "unavailable".............. some of the prices quoted are obvious inventions (there's currently a copy of La Monte Young's "Well tuned piano" listed at £750 for a CD copy)........... if that was the case then I could retire on the sale of a few of my old LP's !

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

However much I may desire a deleted recording, I will not pay silly prices. I recall coveting Ozawa's Eine Alpensinfonie, being sold at £124, but a few weeks later there was an offer of the same for around £16.

But to contradict myself, I admit to being sorely tempted to buy Marcello Rota's recording of the same for £60.

Well. I've only two versions still to collect (aprt form the DVD versions). That's my excuse anyway.

[Dave2002]

I might acually pay to deposit my Kogan Tchaikovsky vc (Columbia SAX 2323) in the bank vault. And no, I'm not interested in selling, whatever the offer (well OK, but it'll need to be a big one ...).

I waas staggered to see the prices that that Kogan LP was selling for on eBay a few years ago. A few weeks later I bought the CD equivalent for around £5!

I had thought of making money by buying up LPs in charity shops, then selling them on eBay, but I came to the conclusion that mostly one would get back roughly what one had paid for them (even some really good LPs), and be out of pocket with the postage. Some people might strike lucky though. I do regret not buying the Bruno Walter LP of Schubert 9 a year ago (maybe they also had 8) in one of our local charity shops. I went back a day later and someone had obviously decided it was worth having.

[Beef Oven]

To Shellac.

To CDs.