Vinatge stereos and vinyl?

I've decided to pretty much stop buying CDs and going all vinyl. Will it cost me more? Yes, because for the most part when you buy a record anywhere you don't get the digital code for its songs so I will be paying for the vinyl (which is usually more than the CD anyway) plus the music digitally but CDs to me aren't worth it anymore. I'm a collector and love music (inb4 why are you buying digital compressed songs then?) but vinyl is just way more collectible and attractive to me than a shelf of CDs in shitty plastic cases. Fortunately there are very few bands I follow religiously and buy everything they release so it won't be that bad of a financial burden but to me records are just so much nicer.

 
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I haven't bought any vinyl in a while. The last album I ordered was Check Your Head, and it got delayed twice by Amazon so I just cancelled it. I might stop by the record store today after work. Otherwise the next albums I'll get will be Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy which release on October 28.
 
I did end up stopping by the record store. Picked up Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Remastered Vinyl. Also picked up Eagles One of These Nights and Bad Company Desolation Angels for $1 each.
 
My current setup is a Realistic STA-95 receiver, Realistic Lab 395 turntable and Realistic Nova 10 speakers.  I have a fondness for the Realistic stuff!!! 

Yesterday at the PA Record Expo, I snagged Iron Maiden's Live after Death and Anthrax's Among The Living for $15 a piece.

 
Finally came in the mail last night. :)
 
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Led Zeppelin 4 and The Fratellis We Need Medicine are coming tonight. I bought this all with credit card points, and I've got another $150 worth. :)
 
Checked out a tiny little shop in town yesterday - Village Records in Roscoe Village, Chicago. Pretty cool place. Not very big, but the owner seemed really cool. Their prices were a little high, but that's because all of the vinyl was in mint condition. Just because I'm a huge Eagles fan, I picked up the Long Run for $7. The cover, insert and disc were all in flawless condition. Because of the small selection I can't say that I'll be going there often, but I'll definitely check it out from time to time to see what new stuff they have.
 
Stopped by Reckless Records on Broadway yesterday and picked up a few things. Posting pictures here is such a PITA, so you'll just have to imagine (or Google) the albums I picked up.

Savoy Brown - Street Corner Talking - $4
Yes - 90125 - $1
The Who - Odds and Sods - $9

Overall it's a really cool record store with a fairly big selection. They also have an online catalog if you want to know about some things before you go.
 
I may stop by this thread once in awhile now. I've been collecting records for years now, yet never even had a record player. I may be getting one for xmas, and soon may need suggestions for setups. Anything I should look for as far as a receiver and speakers?
 
CrazyDiamond84 said:
I may stop by this thread once in awhile now. I've been collecting records for years now, yet never even had a record player. I may be getting one for xmas, and soon may need suggestions for setups. Anything I should look for as far as a receiver and speakers?
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What is your budget? Do you have a receiver, speakers??? Vintage or modern?

 
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mer71 said:
What is your budget? Do you have a receiver, speakers??? Vintage or modern?
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I like modern with a vintage look. I think I'll be good with the actual player, just have no idea with what to look at for receivers and speakers and whatever else I need to produce a good sound. Can't really say what I want to spend, but probably something good in the midrange...I definitely don't want anything cheap, but also don't need top of the line.
 
CrazyDiamond84 said:
I like modern with a vintage look. I think I'll be good with the actual player, just have no idea with what to look at for receivers and speakers and whatever else I need to produce a good sound. Can't really say what I want to spend, but probably something good in the midrange...I definitely don't want anything cheap, but also don't need top of the line.
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If you hit the right deals (craigslist, flea market, local shops), you can put together a nice system for as little as $150. I am very pleased with my Realistic STA-95 ($100 craigslist), Realistic LAB 395 turntable ($13 ebay) and Wharfedale Mach 3 speakers ($10 fleamarket). But, I love the vintage gear over modern.

 
Here is my daughter's setup.  Realistic STA-64 ($50 Ebay), Sony Turntable ($20 estate sale) and 2 pairs Realistic Nova 10"s ($30 yard sales).



 
^^love those speakers..yea I was looking around craiglist, and a lot of people seem to be giving away old stereo equipment for pretty cheap. When the time comes for me to start buying, I'll post some that look interesting for feedback. I'll be getting something together right after xmas.
 
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Picked up some nice vinyl this week:

Cage the Elephant (self-titled album)
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Led Zeppelin - House of the Holy Deluxe Remaster (to go with the first four albums)
Five Finger Death Punch - Purgatory (Tales from the Pit)

Love them all so far. Foo Fighters sounds 10 times better than any MP3 version I've heard, even on a shitty turntable.

On the equipment front, I'm looking for an upgrade. I recently got a $15k raise, with more more to come soon. And with tax season coming up (looking at a $1200 refund), I'm going for the gold. I'm probably going to spend in the area of $1000 to $1500 on a new setup. New entertainment center shelving, new speakers, new turntable, the whole deal. I'll be sure to post pictures of it when it's all done.
 
Access_Denied said:
I finally convinced myself to buy a new turntable. Definitely wasn't cheap, but it looks like this is going to be a hobby I have for a while, so I might as well buy something that will last, right?
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Nice! Good call on the DC. I got the standard version, without the platter upgrade and speedbox, last year and it sounds great. I'll probably upgrade the platter eventually, but most of my records are 33's so I don't really need the speedbox.

 
I remember seeing this thread but never really commented in it but now I've got reason to!

Just got my first tt - a Sanyo TP 626 belt drive turntable and put an AT95e cart on it. Picked up a bunch of yard sale records a couple weeks ago for pennies (quarter actually) - Grateful Dead, Dylan, JJ Cale, Stones, Leo Kottke, Taj Mahal, ZZ Top, Supertramp, and the list goes on! I did get one 7" for record store day - Johhny Marr.

I'm currently in between houses - living in an apartment for the next 5-6 weeks. So with that I have a makeshift/minimal setup. 80s era Mitsubishi integrated amp and some Athena bookshelf speakers. But looking forward to getting back to my first speakers I ever bought once we move - Klipsch KG 3.2 from 1994!

I'm now on the lookout for a vintage SS receiver - would love to find a Pioneer! or maybe Marantz.

I've had a lot of fun tinkering and cleaning up the turntable. I need to clean the records but that will have to wait until I get moved.

I'm not new to audio/video equipment but I am new to vinyl and vintage stereo. Up until now I've just gone through a variety of current home theater receivers (currently have a Yamaha I'm very happy with - and, no, I don't have any issues with it being to bright with the Klipsch I have all around) and dlp-based front projection. Sorta on the other end of the spectrum than this thread but I have a Panasonic SA-XR45 digital receiver that I run a dinky little external dvd-rom drive with a diy coax digital cable I made for it - just as a cd transport - and WOW man does it sound nice. If you've ever read anything about the new crop of digital amps (t-amps, tripath, class-d, etc.) they really are nice. I've run a t-amp with those Athenas in my kitchen for years and years and the digital amps are very clean and very efficient. Paired with efficient speakers they are really nice. I've paired the Panasonic with my KG 3.2s and also with some old Orb Audio 2.1 sats/sub and it really sounds great with both from a direct digital source like a cd transport.

Eventually I'll post some pics as I've enjoyed seeing others pics but can't at the moment.

 
Yeah, just got my first turntable in a LONG time and have been splurging on a little vinyl. Great to hear some of these 70's artists on vinyl for the first time since I was a kid listening to my parent's collection. 

 
Here are a couple pics of my little temporary setup. And one of some of my other speakers just sitting sad in their boxes in storage in the extra bedroom.

Bonus points for anyone who recognizes the cylindrical device up on top of the speaker ;) Anybody else have one?

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bordjon said:
Here are a couple pics of my little temporary setup. And one of some of my other speakers just sitting sad in their boxes in storage in the extra bedroom.

Bonus points for anyone who recognizes the cylindrical device up on top of the speaker ;) Anybody else have one?

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Yeah, I've got an Echo too. Kinda fun to just ask it to play music or wake me up as my alarm clock and other random shit I use it for.

 
Yeah we've had the echo since December and have really enjoyed it. My wife took to it much more than I thought she would. We use the shopping list and timer function a lot. Since we've moved to the apartment it's been playing music all day every day for us. That duty use to be done with a Roku Soundbridge/t-amp/athena speakers in the kitchen but that setup may get permanently replaced by the echo in the new house.

I got my mom one a couple months ago and she loves it (she's 80!)

 
bordjon said:
Yeah we've had the echo since December and have really enjoyed it. My wife took to it much more than I thought she would. We use the shopping list and timer function a lot. Since we've moved to the apartment it's been playing music all day every day for us. That duty use to be done with a Roku Soundbridge/t-amp/athena speakers in the kitchen but that setup may get permanently replaced by the echo in the new house.

I got my mom one a couple months ago and she loves it (she's 80!)
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Curious, does your mom have her own Amazon Prime? I was going to order one for mine but she's on my Amazon Prime as a family member so from what I understand she won't have access to the Prime music I do.

 
lawdood said:
Curious, does your mom have her own Amazon Prime? I was going to order one for mine but she's on my Amazon Prime as a family member so from what I understand she won't have access to the Prime music I do.
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She does have an Amazon account that I set up a while back but she doesn't have prime. I added her as a "household" member (from within the app I believe it was under "manage household") and she uses my prime acct/library. I have her echo on my app as well as mine and I can control hers as I need to which is cool. She had accidentally switched to her "library" and it wouldn't play any prime stuff and I just switched it back to mine. All through the app. (though I was able to give commands over a facetime chat too.) I was curious how it all would work but it just lets her select my "library" to play from which is awesome because she mostly just asks to play certain musicians or genres and it will find whatever it can on prime or on a tunein station or something.

I had not had any need to add her for prime shipping benefits in the past because what few things I order for her I just do myself through my account and have her credit card linked to those things and her address for shipping. (Raisin Bran and refrigerator water filters :) )

Hopefully that sorta makes sense. I'm a bit under the weather and a little scatterbrained at the moment! Feel free to ask further questions if you need clarification.

 
bordjon said:
She does have an Amazon account that I set up a while back but she doesn't have prime. I added her as a "household" member (from within the app I believe it was under "manage household") and she uses my prime acct/library. I have her echo on my app as well as mine and I can control hers as I need to which is cool. She had accidentally switched to her "library" and it wouldn't play any prime stuff and I just switched it back to mine. All through the app. (though I was able to give commands over a facetime chat too.) I was curious how it all would work but it just lets her select my "library" to play from which is awesome because she mostly just asks to play certain musicians or genres and it will find whatever it can on prime or on a tunein station or something.

I had not had any need to add her for prime shipping benefits in the past because what few things I order for her I just do myself through my account and have her credit card linked to those things and her address for shipping. (Raisin Bran and refrigerator water filters :) )

Hopefully that sorta makes sense. I'm a bit under the weather and a little scatterbrained at the moment! Feel free to ask further questions if you need clarification.
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Thanks for clearing that up a bit for me. That makes sense. Since my Mom too is on my Prime it looks like I'll just be able to do the same and share my Prime music library with her so she can listen to music which will probably be the #1 use she'll have for her Echo.

 
I started my collection when my dad encouraged me. I got some from weekend flea market but most of which, I bought online while some are gifts from friends and family.

 
I have revamped my main setup.  A great sounding system for $200!!

Sansui 5050 receiver ($50)

Technics SL-Q2 TT ($40)

Klipsch KG4's speakers ($100)

PS2 Slim for CD ($7)

Aux cord for MP3 ($3)

 
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Well I was tempted at a yard sale this weekend! Guy had all this junk do-dads all around then in one room - some nice old Klipsch cornwalls! they looked great. I asked if he was selling the speakers and he said maybe and then said he knew what they were and how much they were worth quoting ebay prices at 700-1000 and so I just started talking to him about Klipsch. He said he thought he was going to keep them. I think they were his dads. He said if I made a good offer he might sell. I kinda wonder if he'd have taken 400. But then again, while that's a real decent price, I'll just keep going and hope I find them for 40 one day instead!

 
bordjon said:
Well I was tempted at a yard sale this weekend! Guy had all this junk do-dads all around then in one room - some nice old Klipsch cornwalls! they looked great. I asked if he was selling the speakers and he said maybe and then said he knew what they were and how much they were worth quoting ebay prices at 700-1000 and so I just started talking to him about Klipsch. He said he thought he was going to keep them. I think they were his dads. He said if I made a good offer he might sell. I kinda wonder if he'd have taken 400. But then again, while that's a real decent price, I'll just keep going and hope I find them for 40 one day instead!
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$40? Good luck!!

 
I've seen old klipsch (the wood ones) for $50 at garage sales. I use vintage Sansui SP-X6 speakers, but they don't get loud enough (I wonder if there is something wrong with them? They appear fine from the outside, but there isn't much bass for a 4 way speaker.)

I just bought these SONY MM-MF315 150w 3 way speakers for $10 total. I haven't hooked them up yet though.

https://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/339913-the-official-2015-yard-sale-thread/?p=12782285

I'm using a Kenwood VR-505 Receiver in case anyone cares.

 
slowdive21 said:
I've seen old klipsch (the wood ones) for $50 at garage sales.
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Well buy 'em next time dang it!! And see if they'll throw in that Pioneer SX-1250 with 'em ;)

I'm no speaker expert at all. I just did my first repair ever. My old Paradigm Titan v1 had dry, crumbly foam surrounds on the woofers so I replaced those. It was an easy task though. If you can visibly inspect your foam surrounds (if those have foam) that's something to check. Also - if you have access to the inside you can check for blown capacitors. Little (or big) cylinders typically and if they are leaking goop or bulging then they've gone bad. That's a little bit more complicated repair. Also - your speakers may have some knob(s) on them for adjustments - if you turn them and you get crackling they could have oxidation on them and need cleaning with something like deoxit. Lastly, you may want to check something simple like making sure you've got your positive and negative speaker cables connected correctly. If not it can cause out of phase "off" sounding speakers.

Good luck with your yard sailing! I'd contribute to the thread but most all of the stuff we find isn't video game related. We look for a lot of mid century house stuff. We go ever week but don't bring home much at all. If I find records I'm happy. I think all we came home with this past weekend was a 25c iron trellis thing for our English ivy we have rooted...

 
slowdive21 said:
I've seen old klipsch (the wood ones) for $50 at garage sales. I use vintage Sansui SP-X6 speakers, but they don't get loud enough (I wonder if there is something wrong with them? They appear fine from the outside, but there isn't much bass for a 4 way speaker.)

I just bought these SONY MM-MF315 150w 3 way speakers for $10 total. I haven't hooked them up yet though.

https://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/339913-the-official-2015-yard-sale-thread/?p=12782285

I'm using a Kenwood VR-505 Receiver in case anyone cares.

Try and see if the speakers and cabinet is sealed. And kind of leaks would ruin the bass. My KG4's had leaks and I used a glue gun to seal them.
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Thanks guys, I'll have to check them out!

BTW, I'm into vintage stuff in general. I just don't post much of it in the thread. :)

Here is one of my daybeds. I paid $15 for the pair IIRC (possibly $25 total. I can't remember) at a garage sale.



 
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slowdive21 said:
Thanks guys, I'll have to check them out!

BTW, I'm into vintage stuff in general. I just don't post much of it in the thread. :)

Here is one of my daybeds. I paid $15 for the pair IIRC (possibly $25 total. I can't remember) at a garage sale.

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Nice - I like that a lot! Yeah we are really wanting to find a vintage sofa for our living room (just moved to a new house) and haven't had much luck. We waiver back and forth with a new one like a West Elm Peggy or something from Joybird but they are so expensive! Most of our stuff has been sorta middle-of-the-road deals from ebay and craigslist. (we've got Saarinen, Bertoia, Eames among the big guns and a plethora of no-name pieces.) We love modern, but also like modest, granny ranch, kitsch, atomic, even 60s or 70s mod.

Our latest cool find - and maybe the best "deal" ever was just over a month ago at a thrift store. My wife never looks at the rugs but happened to on that day - and spotted what we believe to be 50s or earlier 7x12 Afghanistan Ersari wool rug. I know nothing about rugs but I know this one is in pristine condition and at 24.99 it was an insane steal of a deal.

Sorry to derail the stereo thread!

Anybody keeping an eye on Amazon Prime day tomorrow to see if any vinyl is on sale? I'm watching but it'll have to be a good deal. I already picked up a few when they had the b1g1 vinyl glitch a couple weeks ago. I mostly pick them up for cheap from yard sales and thrift stores.

 
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