Lately, it seems that vinyl has seen some sort of revival. Many media outlets are proclaiming that vinyl is back. That is true to some degree. Vinyl is having a semi revival amongst some circles, but to the audiophile community, vinyl never left. It has been the default choice of the high end for many years and will continue to be. Browse through Audiogon, the definitive high end online audio community and you will see that it is alive and kicking. Within that crowd, dropping $80,000 on a turntable is not unheard of. I heard The Clearaudio Statement turntable at a hifi event not long ago, and apart from weighing almost 800lbs, it’s also $150,000.
Of course, turntables that expensive are unrealistic for most people, and you certainly don’t have to spend anywhere near that amount to enjoy vinyl. Denon and Music Hall make excellent turntables that will bring years of satisfaction for anyone but the most discriminating audiophile.
So what is appealing about playing back music on large spinning vinyl records? For the older audiophile, perhaps it’s nostalgia. They remember playing their father’s lp collection, and maybe they inherited it. For someone like me, this is not the case. I grew up in the digital age. By the time I got to the age where I could truly appreciate music, CD was the de facto format. It is what I purchased for many years before I jumped into SACD and DVD-A, both of which are digital formats.
I got my first taste of vinyl about 8 years ago when I was visiting the legendary hifi shop Stereo Exchange in Soho, Manhattan. I still remember it vividly. The LP spinning was Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd. An album I knew intimately, yet it sounded more lush and robust than my CD version. The soundstage was incredible. I’ve been hooked since then.
The lure of vinyl for many audiophiles is that it just sounds natural, richer and warmer. Many audiophiles prefer an analog front end for their systems, and even those who do have digital sources often eschew digital connections like toslink and coaxial in favor of the analog outputs on the player so they can use the internal DACS (Digital To Analog Converter) of the player. Expensive digital players use superior DACS like Burr Brown for instance, so buying an expensive player and using a digital connection defeats the purpose of an expensive player in the first place. For many, digital sources sound too clinical and precise. That’s not to say that they are bad, they aren’t. I have many FLAC files that I stream over my network, in conjunction to the numerous SACD, DVD-A and redbook CDs I still listen to and enjoy. However, when I want to truly listen, my turntable is always the first choice. It’s not something that can be explained scientifically, you just have to experience it.
Vinyl has come a long way from the scratchy, crackly records you remember grandpa playing. These days, many lps are pressed on 180 and 200 grams of vinyl. It’s actually a misconception that vinyl sounds scratchy and crackle and pops. A properly fitted cartridge and tone-arm will play beautiful music without hisses, scratches and pops. Hisses, scratches and pops are caused by improper cartridge and tone-arm alignment, warped vinyl, or just poor source material. It has nothing to do with the vinyl medium itself. Many older records were just bad quality records and the source material was questionable.
J&R also carries a healthy selection of vinyl titles. It’s kind of funny when you think about it, J&R started out selling vinyl in 1971, and 37 years later it’s still in demand. Now that’s staying power.
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September 23, 2008 at 3:36 pm
[...] My blog post titled For The Love Of Vinyl has created some lively discourse about the vinyl medium. I ...
December 2, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[...] no secret, we here at J&R hold vinyl in very high regard. We love it. Not just because it’s ...