Two weeks ago I purchased a new turntable, the first I've had since I moved out to Vancouver. When I left Ontario I had boxes and milk crates filled with records that I left behind. I was never quite sure what to do with them all, but last fall, 13 years on, I decided to actually buy a record player and ship the records out here. I went back to Guelph in December for Christmas. While there I boxed up all the records for shipping and as soon as the weather warms up a bit they'll be on there way.The record player, a Rega P-1, came in last week. The kind folks at Hifi Centre lent me a CD player while I waited for the turntable to arrive so that I could at least play music through my new amplifier and speakers (Rotel and Bowers & Wilkins respectively). (That will, of course, work in their favour because, damn, that CD player sounded A WHOLE LOT better than my current bookshelf unit.) So, having a brand new turntable and only 4 records to play on it, there was only one thing to do...go record shopping!
That's me buying my first record in about 14 years. It's Prince Buster's Fabulous Greatest Hits. Sadly, when I got it home there was a nice big scratch from centre to edge on both sides, rendering it unplayable. (It was still in shrink wrap, so there was no way to check it. The record store, Highlife, is ordering me a new copy.) Luckily I bought another record as well, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, on 180 gram vinyl.
It's psychological, I know, but there is something much more satisfying to me about shopping for records than CD's. I, like many people, am tired of CD's. There isn't much exciting about them beyond the music. And we all know that we don't need to buy the CD to get the music. With records though, I actually feel like I'm getting something for my money. Beyond the fact of better sound quality, listening to vinyl is a much more visceral experience. Partially it comes from having a better stereo than I've ever had, but the act of listening to records, actually playing and listening to records, as opposed to having background music on, has me more excited about music than I have been in a long time.
3 comments:
What is 180 gram vinyl? What other grams does it come in. My autechre albums are 180 gram vinyl. I don't know what this means.
-sparky.
I'm a huge vinyl fan myself and blogged on this recently - http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/display.aspx?infid=3541
I recently bought Charlie Mingus' East Coasting and Thelonius Monk's Brilliant Corners on vinyl and they both sound amazing.
In response to Sparky's comment, most vinyl is 120 or 140grams, 180 is considered audiophile grade which means basically means the sound quality is a lot better.
It's heavier and less prone to warping but to be honest it depends on how they were mastered and pressed.
So true. Vinyl is the best. Congrats on picking up A Love Supreme in the 180g format. Definitely my favorite jazz album of all time!
Also, totally agree about shopping for vinyl. I love it when I find something great in a shop and it's only a dollar. Don't get that experience on iTunes!
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