New vinyl is crazy expensive...

[JazznFunk]

Even some of my 45+ year old records sound very good. It's different from the digital source, but not necessarily worse. It's interesting how vinyl for a while had much better dynamic range than digital due to the mastering loudness wars.

It wasn't the mastering loudness wars, it was the A/D converters. Loudness wars didn't set in till well after vinyl's 'death'. There was a sweet spot in the early 90s where A/D converters got much better, and the dynamics of early CD releases from analog sources were pretty much in line with vinyl's overall volume and 'warmth'. People just started exploiting the dynamic range of CDs to a negative degree with the loudness wars. One of those 'just because you can do a thing doesn't mean you MUST' deals. You can make a CD sound fantastic if you master it appropriately. That's the beauty of CDs really.

 

[Crackle]

I have a collection of vinyl records that I almost never listen to. I am very content with CDs and continue to buy them. With CDs, I don't have to drop the needle or flip the record. CD is a true lossless format. As far as I know, the loudness war is over and the the mastering on CDs has been excellent for a number of years now.

 

[TheArchitect]

I've had a pretty decent home stereo setup in my living room for awhile now, and I've been looking to expand my vinyl collection with new copies of my top 10 favorite records. However, after doing some browsing, I've encountered some serious sticker shock. I haven't found any new vinyl that's under $30 plus shipping, and I'm not talking special collector's edition items.

Are people really spending this much (or more) on this sort of thing? Are the inflated prices explained by the collecting craze of the last few years? If you have any recommendations for good sites to buy used, please send them my way. I've looked on Discogs, but the search process is very confusing.

Thats where they have been for a while now. I buy vinyl for very specific releases. I find the older stuff works better on vinyl for a number of reasons.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

 

[friskinator]

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Fair. Maybe I'll just save myself a lot of money and buy my top 10 through iTunes. I also have a Sonos soundbar for the TV that sounds amazing, so I can stream there.

 

[EricOnTheBass]

Check out Columbia House, you can get 10 records for $0.01 each as long as you buy 20 more at regular club prices within a fortnight.

 

[morebass!]

In the mid 70's I paid $3.99 for albums. $4 in 1976 is roughly equivalent to $28.34 in today's dollars.

 

[JimmyO]

I still have most of my records from the 80s. I buy a few here and there - used records in good condition can be as low as $6 and up. It's fun to have people over and put on the old HiFi system - my Dads' Sony receiver and my technics record player from highschool.

We didn't use the terms vinyl or turntable - it was just records and record player.

My dad’s old turntable was dead, but his Bose Acoustimass speaker system from the early 90s still freaking cranks. He passed away several years ago, but I think of him every time I settle in with a good record and a beverage.

My kids are old enough to be paying attention to music now, and so when listening to old records, I explained to them that, at no point, did any of that sound go through a computer. I think I blew their minds.