Why buy a turntable ?

Bob Edwards ,

1. people who had records (old people like me for example) and a turntable before the cd'd arrived,
had spend a lot of money if they wished to replace the records with cd's. It was easiyer to buy a better turntable instead of replacing only 100 records with cd's. Now such people are still with the old records and have no reason why not buying a new and a better one when possible.

2. nowadays you can buy used records and spend "no money" to buy them. In Israel foe example, good classical music used record costs 1 $ - the same cd costs 15 - 20 $.

3. Good turntables are much cheaper then cd players with a similar quality.

4. many people still say (and they are right I think) that turnatables and records have better sound then cd players.

I hope it helps you - ask more if you wish.

Arie

Bob, I think the most people buy a turntable because they HAVE many vinyls. Some
people have turntables which are more expensive than a CDS2. I think that my
turntable gives me a better sound as CD. - I wait for a NAIM sacd or other
high information player.

Ulrich

If you have records you need a record player. It is very difficult to get a 12" inch disc into a CD player! Excuse the flipancy - the real reason people should buy a turntable is if they have a reasonable collection. It is much more cost effective to this than replace even 50 Albums depending upon your system. Your average person will of course think your mad if you believe that Vinyl sounds better - it does though!

Another reason is the actual ownership of little a piece of history. I love the fact that when I play something like The Beatles 'Revlover' it is a original mono pressing made in 1966. Old albums are wonderful items in their own right, the quality of both pressing and cover art is something we have virtually lost as a creative form.

50s and 60s Jazz to me is the pinnacle of vinyl production. Check out original US pressings of things like Ornette Colemans 'Free Jazz', old Verve classics such as Getz / Gilberto 'Jazz Samba', Jimmy Smith 'The Cat' etc, or just about anything on Impulse, Atlantic, Blue Note etc. The sheer quality and pride of manufacture of this stuff is astounding, they are really heavy, usually with stunning sound quality and thick heavy laminated sleeves which are usually gatefold. I much prefer owning these and many more similar records than any current digital facsimile. To me it is the difference between owning a painting and a print.

Tony.

I agree with Tony and Ulrich.

Vinyl is so much cooler, especially when most of the time the record player sounds more musical than CDs, and some jazz pressings sound absolutely amazing.

Bob

I think you may wish to include the infrastructure of the buying marketplace as an issue as well. After all, without the records, there's no point to buying turntables.

Most people believe that "you can't buy records nowadays, other than dance mixes". It might be worth mentioning that there are several pressing plants that have reopened to supply the residual demand of vinyl users, creating micro-markets and small companies such as Alto, Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions and EMI themselves (100th Anniversary editions) to continue supplying this demand.

Add in the quality aspect that modern records are made for a more discerning client and so are much higher quality than in days of yore (the 70's in particular) when all vinyl was recycled and records were made to the lowest standard possible. The modern record is often quite different to the dirty old item one bought in the 70's, and this has had further beneficial effects on the sound quality, arguably improving on the digital formats that are available.

Also, mention it in context of modern failed technologies such as DCC where take-up of those technologies was slow or non-existent thanks to the dearth of prerecorded material available in those formats.

If you're concerned about the MP3 argument, you could put that to rest citing free ripping software as the supply for product, as well as the creatuion of subculture where people share ripped product.

Regards,
Frank.

1)The original issue of an album usually sounds the best, as the people who were in the room when the music was made were typically involved in approving the final product.

2)The collector fetish--lps are the way most recorded music was intended to be heard, and seen, and touched (I'm including the jackets, etc.)

3)Much catalog has never and will never see the light of day in digital formats.

4)Vinyl offers tremendous bargains with records easily available at Garage sales and thrift stores for <$1 each, and at used record stores and shows for $1-$10--much less than cds. If you let people know you listen to lps, they will often give you their collection if they no longer want it.

5)Many cds were mastered to an atrocious standard, often with sub-master tapes, and inferior artwork.

6)Turntables offer much better sound per dollar than cd players, i.e. Rega P3=Naim CD5, LP12/Aro=CDSII, so about a 2:1 ratio at retail. Used, it's even better, especially in England where LP12/Ittoks are plentiful and remarkably cheap (400 pounds vs. $1,000 in the States).

7)Storage is cheaper (see thread on cd storage).

8)I have no experience of top flight CD players, so take this with a grain of salt, but I've never heard a cd sound as much like music as vinyl at it's best.

--Eric

My thanks to everyone--I will be rewriting the paper to incorporate quite a bit of what you were kind enough to post. (And yes, you will be properly cited !)

I will also be dragging a system to class to demonstrate the difference between records and CDs--now that should be fun !

Cheers,

Bob

I had sold away all my records when I was younger and switched to cassettes, then CDs. Now, older and wiser, I only occasionally listen to CDs and have restocked on records - simply because vinyl sounds much better. However, great records can really be super-expensive. Of course, less quality records can be had for a song ...

Because a £2000 turntable blows a £2000 CD player out of the water on quality

Because they are beautiful to look at and use

Because turntables reproduce music, CD players facsimile it

Because the software (vinyl) is available for a fraction of the price of CD's especially if you buy secondhand

Because there is hardly anything in the pop/rock genre that isn't available either new or secondhand on vinyl

Because owning a turntable with all it's little rituals of stylus cleaning, manual cueing etc is a labour of love - you have a relationship with a turntable - pushing a silver disc in a slot isn't the same.

Because running a turntable is like running a classic car - it's Austin Healey against BMW Z3 - one has character - the other, sadly, does not.

And finally because I love the smell of fresh vinyl in the morning!!

Jonathan