No shame in not being into classical Marc, it seems like there is a lot ofKed, classical has only really been a big interest to me in the last 10 years. So I'm where you are re putting up w hyperinflation.
For me it was prog, fusion, electronic, modern jazz.
I started sniffing out the best Japanese and original US and UK pressings on my genres 20 years ago. Max spend per lp, £15, 80s/90s era collecting.
I have 150 Japanese, and first pressings US and UK for Miles Davis Classic Quintet mid 60s onwards and 70s fusion/electric jazz period, and Coltrane 60s Atlantic and Impulse labels period incl his late 60s free jazz madness, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy etc. Almost all of these beat the UK reissues from 90s hands down.
Plus a ton of first and max second pressings for Hendrix, Santana, prog legends, Mahavishnu, Weather Report etc.
My Led Zep Japan pressings are special sonically, esp LZ3.
In hindsight, yes, more attention to classical would have made sense.
Ked, do you have an autographed (by Jimmy Page) Led Zeppelin's album cover?
* Tango, your tube music videos are excellent, including Paganini by Rabin, thank you.
I slept well.
High Regards,
So is your's Ked. I'm glad I'm not feeling like the only way to get good performances and sonics is to pay eye watering amounts of cash.
You must be kicking yself you didn't get into vinyl when it wasn't simply a rich man's obsession when only the best will do. As it seems to be now.
Marc you are back to cash again. I just told you in the last post that it still isn’t about that - it is about knowledge. There are thousands of fantastic pressings and performances (jazz and classical) to be had <£50. That being said, if you look at the cold hard *large amounts* of cash that us audiophiles can often squander on ancillaries (luxury cables, grounding, isolation paraphernalia then it is a mere excuse imho. If you look at financial investment in your own system, and this is not a criticism because you can do as you wish, then the money spent on just Entreq would afford a really high spec record collection. People prioritise and apportion their finances in the way that they see it fit and that is right. But I do think audiophiles as an entity could often do with re-evaluating their spending patterns and ask how much they care for the software versus hardware - please note I am talking about analogue audiophiles not those who solely stream.
Ked, classical has only really been a big interest to me in the last 10 years. So I'm where you are re putting up w hyperinflation.
For me it was prog, fusion, electronic, modern jazz.
I started sniffing out the best Japanese and original US and UK pressings on my genres 20 years ago. Max spend per lp, £15, 80s/90s era collecting.
I have 150 Japanese, and first pressings US and UK for Miles Davis Classic Quintet mid 60s onwards and 70s fusion/electric jazz period, and Coltrane 60s Atlantic and Impulse labels period incl his late 60s free jazz madness, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy etc. Almost all of these beat the UK reissues from 90s hands down.
Plus a ton of first and max second pressings for Hendrix, Santana, prog legends, Mahavishnu, Weather Report etc.
My Led Zep Japan pressings are special sonically, esp LZ3.
In hindsight, yes, more attention to classical would have made sense.
Don’t show your hand Marc ! This is high stakes pokerMarc - I am really interested in your original jazz pressings as I have been hard at work building my collection in the last 2 years. Would be keen to see what you have. Could you send a piccie with the best laid on the floor like the General does sometimes? Cheers
Lagonda, I get a bit weary w constant jibes at the sonics and pressings quality of anything other than golden age classical and jazz. I agree w Ked, Audiophile Bill and others that pressings matter, and they even do w pulp titles like early Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath. The reissues of these from the last decade are truly appalling, whereas my original Deccas of the first three Lizzy lps are truly stellar.
With classical, I'm an ingenue (LOL, I wish), and I'm happy to log onto Ebay, put in a search for a composer, and refine: Prices - Low To High, to find hidden gems, and diamonds buried amongst the coal.
I have a few reference books to help me w composer searches and favourite recordings, and I'll gradually educate myself to focus my searches more cleverly.
But I've bought boxsets like Bach organ works, collections of R. Strauss, that don't seem to be particularly collectable, and which sound fabulous.
For me, I'd rather buy broadly and cheaply at this moment, and in time become cleverer w my searches.
Getting into streaming could be useful here, I could certainly "try before I buy" cross referencing a desirable performance on lp via Tidal first.
(...) The point I am making still though is... Why did audiophiles like you who have been focused on purchase of LPs for four decades miss the big recordings and performers when they were much lower priced and more widely available? With or without the internet, that information system is missing something big. And it is not like there weren't people out there who were sharing the information.
“buy broadly and cheaply...”
Marc![]()
The definition of "big recordings" is something that varies along time and in this place it becomes mixed with collecting and investment. Then the whole system grows like a snow ball. Extremely expensive turntables make it roll faster and bigger.
IMHO the high prices are in part due to the chronic impatience of audiophiles, that always want something for yesterday, as we say. Also once people are persuaded they are making a good investment they are more open to paying a lot. And using the benchmark of our hardware price as a justification for vinyl price looks perfect.
I had those original Lizzy albums to, left them with my brother for safekeepingLagonda, I get a bit weary w constant jibes at the sonics and pressings quality of anything other than golden age classical and jazz. I agree w Ked, Audiophile Bill and others that pressings matter, and they even do w pulp titles like early Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath. The reissues of these from the last decade are truly appalling, whereas my original Deccas of the first three Lizzy lps are truly stellar.
With classical, I'm an ingenue (LOL, I wish), and I'm happy to log onto Ebay, put in a search for a composer, and refine: Prices - Low To High, to find hidden gems, and diamonds buried amongst the coal.
I have a few reference books to help me w composer searches and favourite recordings, and I'll gradually educate myself to focus my searches more cleverly.
But I've bought boxsets like Bach organ works, collections of R. Strauss, that don't seem to be particularly collectable, and which sound fabulous.
For me, I'd rather buy broadly and cheaply at this moment, and in time become cleverer w my searches.
Getting into streaming could be useful here, I could certainly "try before I buy" cross referencing a desirable performance on lp via Tidal first.
Bill, I've bought some reference books to help me, the Web will point me to fave recordings.
I'm starting at a point of embarassingly poor knowledge on all things classical. Hence my scattergun approach so far.
Re spending on tweaks, guilty as charged. Tbh I could have stayed w my first system from 1997, never spent a dime more on it other than stylus retips, and had 10k moderately pricey stellar additional classical lps by now.
Not at all...this comes from your not knowing the LP buying community but the audiophile community. Larry (Astrotoy) never bought the "big recordings" after they were considered big. He ended up with 15000 Decca and EMI before they became collectible. General knew the performers and performances, and bought out many pressings before they became famous. Of course he like many also collected Decca and EMI back in the day when they were available at 20 quid. If you knew the performers and performances, you would have put your money behind them in your younger days, instead of another theory today.
Many LP collectors are not audiophiles at all.
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