[Theronbo]

I have a couple hundred albums I’ve store for 25 years…. All acquired from 1974 through 1979. When I was 16 to 21.

At one apartment back in 2001 was a basement apartment… got some water.

So, have the albums have some water damage to the first track & some decay to the cover.

In the past couple years I’ve gotten back into listening.

Built full surround system with 7.2.4 built all the speakers except 2 ported subwoofers.

Built X-Statics & X-voice & a Double Trouble open baffle sub. Plus’s all the surround speakers.

Have a Dennon AV & Krell amp for L&R.

Was dreading doing anything with the vinyl.

1. Afraid to see what shape the albums are in.

2. Love streaming music…

3. Too many memories of cracks & pops & the hassle of taking out & album cleaning it… listening to a side… then putting it away or flipping it… just seemed like a hassle to listen to lower quality music.

I purchased a Dayton Audio turntable on clearance for $150. Seems significantly better quality than my old Pioneer PL12 turntable.

I’m guessing it might be worth it to obtain a better cartridge.

All that said… if been rather impressed with the listening experience.

Some records have some bad pops… but, not nearly as bad as I remember.

I’ve cleaned some simply using distilled water, drop off dish detergent & microfiber towels.

I have a small shoe polish brush made of horse hair I’d never used…  use that on the turntable… seems to lift off any dirt without damaging the vinyl.

I’m surprised at how cheaply the albums go for.

I do have a direct to disc recording somewhere I’m eager to find… I remember it sounded significantly better than average record.

[toocool4]

If you find yourself getting into and enjoying playing LP’s more and more, it is worth getting yourself a record cleaner. You can really get your records cleaner and hopefully enjoy your records even more.

I don’t know anything about Dayton Audio, before investing in a better cartridge check with Dayton Audio to see if they recommend cartridge upgrade. Not all turntables benefit from cartridge upgrade, if the turntable is already at it’s limit of what it can do a cartridge upgrade will yield nothing apart from a slimmer wallet.

Enjoy re-discovering your LP’s. 

[Theronbo]

Thanks for the encouragement.

 Audio-Technica AT-VM95E  Is the cartridge that came with the unit. $69 around the internet.

I suspect Parts express is clearing these out… as a ‘cheap’ turntable does fit the market.

Either you have the budget… or you buy a used quality device.

I found my direct to disk album: Head Room by Canadian band FM   From 1977. Disc Id LBR-1001

It does sound noticeably better.

Vinyl is such a bizarre media… astonishing it works as well as it does… & they made quadraphonic albums… 4 channels in one grove? Wow!

[toocool4]

Yes, record playing is fiddly at times, a not so good setup can make or break the sound. Azimuth, SRA, VTA etc can throw everything out.

[Tarheel]

Just took on the task of replacing all outer jacket covers and inner sleeves with products from Mobile Fidelity or MoFi.  Did around 65 this weekend till I ran out of inner sleeves.  Ordered more from Amazon.

So what to do with the older paper sleeves?

[toocool4]

I don't use outter sleeves, I don't have space for them. For inner sleeves, I buy them by the hundreds from covers33.co.uk

As soon as I get a record home new or second-hand, before it goes anywhere near my turntable. They are put through the record cleaner and placed in a brand-new sleeve and the old one put in the recycle bin.

[S Clark]

If the wet sleeves left a visible residue, it's probably mold.  Spray with Lysol and leave for 10 minutes before doing a more thorough cleaning.  You may need to take cheap paint brush, cut the bristles short to gain stiffness, and then use it to scrub the grooves with distilled water/soap mix, followed by a distilled rinse.  For new sleeves, I find Sleeve City hard to beat.  I use their cheapest plastic inner sleeve.

If you go further down the vinyl rabbit hole, better cleaning is probably a better investment than better cartridges or even a better table.  Dirty records never sound good.  And high end cleaning has never been cheaper.   
By the way, I see you're in East Texas.  My family has roots in the Quitman area.  Are you anywhere around there?

[Theronbo]

So, after listening to quite a few of my old albums… some surprising some disappointing.

This is my conclusions:
1. Doesn’t suck.
2. Noticeably better sound than CDs
3. Noticeably inferior to lossless streaming.

I’m surprised I actually enjoy putting on an album & letting it play. Thought I’d become spoiled by the convenience & instant gratification of streaming.

Have an Frijid Pink album… sounds pretty bad. But, there’s a ‘digitally remastered’ version available on Apple Music. The difference is dramatic. The album sounds flat with no dynamic range.

Also Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album - Vs the 50 anniversary remaster?! Holy F*ck! & I can listen to it in Dolby ATMOS mix, since it was originally recorded in Quadrophonic.

Vinyl is an option, glad I took the effort… but it’s not going to be my main listening media.

It was most fun trip down memory lane… bunch of artists I’d forgotten about:
Myles  & Lenny … pretty bad.
Valdy- gorgeous folk sing.
Ray Materick “Side Streets Album” - has there ever been a better poet songwriter?

So, it been worth the $150 I spent on the turntable… & to face my fears on the condition of my record collection.

I’ll read up on the pinned posts on vinyl care & feeding….

Now I have to figure out how & where to store these….

[S Clark]

Sounds like a very well thought out look at old vinyl without breaking the bank.

   Vinyl can be really good stuff for a few thousand dollars, but a few hundred will have real limitations.  Obviously some here think that $10K is the starting point for quality....  Everyone has a $/quality threshold in this hobby.   

[Theronbo]

Yeah, the ‘cartridge database’ thread looks interesting.

It seems obvious to me that a better cartridge could make a significant difference.

Reviewers have said so.

I mean that’s were you translate grooves  to analog waves… kinda the meat of the process… perhaps the more accurate the cartridge the more critical is accurate tracking.


Digital CDs seem relatively simple by comparison…. It’s just they chose a stupid sample rate & word size so they could fit an album on a single CD.

I feel certain that this cheap Dayton/Parts Express device is more than capable to my equipment when I acquired these albums.

[Theronbo]

My Mother grew up near San Augustine.

My Dad in Houston.

My ancestors lived all over Texas… starting ranches & then selling them to easterners. Buy a new acreage, start new ranch sell it… move on. 

I live just east of Conroe … on the edge of The Big Thicket, East Texas Piney Woods.  My property is still native forest… though I timber 1/3 of the mature pines every 7 years. Not so much for the money as the tax break. The land I live on now my Grand Mothers Grand Father acquired in 1880. Someone owned him some money… didn’t have cash… so settled it with a quarter section in Montgomery County. I bought 15 acres lots of 2 aunts & then inherited 20… so, quite happy to own a little piece of paradise.

But, 173 miles from Quitman.