Thread: Current listening on vinyl

I decided to start a new thread called Current listening on vinyl in case that encouraged the vinyl resurgence further. Today’s starter for 10 is a bit of Wagner with a 1969 Siegfried conducted by Karajan followed by his 1967 Valkyrie and finally his 1968 Rhine Gold. Some might consider 10 hours or so as more than a bit but you can never have too much Wagner can you even if I’m forced to leave Twilight of the Gods until tomorrow. This Ring cycle won a Grammy Award and is highly recommended. What more can I say other than give that black gold a spin as you won’t regret it and it may just surprise you.

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Good idea for a thread Rudy. I hope you are well set up for the Ring Cycle

Currently on the turntable:

J S Bach Organ works Vol. 2 (Ton Koopman) DG 1988



A very poor pressing, but the music is great.



Earlier, Horn Concertos from Telemann, Vivaldi and Rosetti by German provincial bands.




A record which could also be posted to the 'Turnabout Vox is fair play' thread.

Vinyl rules in my listening room. When the CD boom exploded and vinyl nearly disappeared, I was one of the ones who did not capitulate. I kept hold of my some fifteen hundred LPs. In fact, I picked up many vinyl albums from flea markets and outlets when folks were dumping them for next to nothing. I managed to acquire some splendid buys including in one instance picking up the complete box sets of DGs Beethoven Bicentennial Collection, the complete set of Time-Life Records The Story of Great Music, and the complete Time-Life Great Men of Music collection, all included with about twenty Longines Symphonette box sets and about four dozen additional single LP items from RCA, Mercury, and Columbia -- for $50. And the majority of these discs were unplayed. Excellent condition throughout, and a splendid addition to my already substantial collection. And I still add to it, having purchased many of the new vinyl issues currently available at merchants like Elusive Disc and SoundStageDirect. Simply, vinyl rules!

My own vinyl is well cared for, and has been for (in some cases) over fifty years. That means few ticks, pops, and scratches. Well cared for vinyl is quite quiet on a good turntable. Occasionally I pick up something from a used record store or a flea market that looks better quality than it plays. Often a thorough cleaning will improve matters greatly, but there's nothing like new or well cared for vinyl.

Which brings me to wondering what you all vinyl lovers play your records on. What kind of equipment?

My own main current rig consists of a VPI Scoutmaster II with JMW-9T Signature Tonearm fitted with a Clearaudio Maestro Wood MM phono cartridge, which I run through a JoLida JD9 tube phono pre-amp into my tubed JoLida Integrated amp. It delivers a detailed, punchy sound with a bloom, a wide and deep (but properly so) soundstage and quite accurate instrumental sound and voices. Acoustic guitars sound like acoustic guitars, voices have the proper heft, and the Maestro Wood allows for listening deep into the mix for all those little ambient touches that make a record some to life. Compared to my CD playback (which is not so bad, considering what is involved there), the LP playback is just so much warmer, lively, and human sounding.

There's quite a bit of vinyl listening going on in the Current Listening thread. Does this really need to be splintered or Balkanised?

Originally Posted by RudyKens

I looked back over the last 24 hours from Page 99 of Current Listening II onwards and saw only a single needle reference in that haystack and even that was just one referring to a comparison from memory with a CD version being currently listened to. Apologies if I'm splintering something though and I'll go back into my shell with my vinyl copy of Gotterdamerung for company and post any of my vinyl v. CD comments ad hoc on the hi-fi forum.

I don't want to send you back into your shell. Its just my two cents worth, and besides I heartily approve (fwiw) of any thread or discussion celebrating vinyl. But one of the things that makes the Current Listening thread so vibrant and informative is the all-inclusive variety. I think there's more there than you realize - until most of my collection got stolen recently I might have been at 50% most days. Your asides or commentary with your lp listening would be welcomed there.

I post in current listening II, and everything I listen to, Usually, is Vinyl. Im in my mid 50's and most of my Classics are Lp anyway. Its a nice idea this thread but i kind of agree with the other posters.

Originally Posted by TurnaboutVox

I have two vinyl rigs running, one in my office-in-the garden, where music can be played at a high volume without bothering anyone too much. This has a ProJect One turntable with a (rather good) ProJect arm and an Ortofon OM 20 cartridge. This feeds my antique refurbished Arcam Delta 290, which, as it was made more than 20 years ago, has an internal phono pre-amplifier. This is the set up I use most, as it's robust, I can clean LPs on it etc.

In the house is a vintage Linn LP12 (basic model). I never got around to upgrading it back in the day, so it still has a Basik (LV. X) tonearm. It has an Ortofon 520 Mk. II cartridge. My modern (Cyrus) amplifiers require a dedicated phono pre-amp, so I'm using a Rega Fono Mini A2D, which is an ADC for ripping to digital file too (if you want to commit that sacrilegious act, of course). The turntable needs a comprehensive service, which I've not got around to doing because I'd have to take it to the nearest Linn 'clinic' in Manchester, 35 miles away.

I do like vinyl, but mine may not have been so well looked after as yours...

Thanks for the information. I believe that a lot more folks might prefer the sound of vinyl to digital formats if they could hear a record played on high quality equipment. Sadly, too many equate records with ticks, pops, scratching, swishing, and inconvenience, and with the sound of low-fi turntable units from the 60's and 70's. Too bad. Such ones have really never heard a record play to its potential.

I have some of my old replaced HI FI set up in a spare bedroom/music room beside all my guitars ect. This includes my old pioneer turntable. If I cant play LP's in the Living room I have an alternative venue. Good pressings of good recordings played on decent equipment can be very impressive to listen too. Hunting around can still produce Lp's to buy cheaply. Especially classical music. For a poor man like meself its great!

Vinyl listening.
I was in a chamber music mood this evening, so I cracked out two discs of British music, pieces I hadn't visited for quite some time.
The first to hit my turntable was the Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet by Sir Arthur Bliss. The disc is from SPECTRUM, SR-127 and is titled Two British Quintets. The B side features the Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. I'll save that for another day. Ramon Kireilis plays the Clarinet accompanying the Lamont String Quartet.
Next I turned to a MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY record, MHS Stereo 4043 titled English Music for Viola and Piano and played the Suite for Viola and Piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Emanuel Vardi, Viola; Frank Weinstock, Piano. The B side features a Sonata by Bliss. Again, music for another day (though it might have made for a good match with the Quintet).

Vinyl remains a favored way to experience recorded music for me. Performances seem more alive, right down to the breathing of the musicians.

Some posters have doubted the value of this thread but I think there is some in it as a means of explaining why vinyl is preferred over CD or vice-versa.

Someone is bound to say that the thread then belongs in the hi-fi area and perhaps it does.