[Closed] Should I buy a turntable?

If you have a turntable you can play records - thats the only reason to buy one. If you don't have any records you'd need to buy some of those as well. 🙂 Until you've got quite a few records you won't be making much use of the turntable.

Its worth doing if you think its interesting - given that you could just plug your phone into an amp and listen to perfectly good music.

In my opinion, unless your equipment is fairly good, there wouldn’t be much point. But if you have a decent amp and speakers, then you should notice a nice , warmer sound from records.

Vinyl has more resonance. Can't beat some crazy heavy dub reggae on vinyl.

But, no.

What with the price of records now, no.

I love mine, but I already had hundreds of LP's.

Get a nice amp and some decent speakers instead. 🙂

But if you have a decent amp and speakers, then you should notice a nice , warmer sound from records

Though less accurate. Depends what sort of sound you like really.

Got a decent Yamaha amp and DALI speakers.

Think I'll stick to my CDs!

LPs are £20+ a pop.

There are many arguments for and against but I just love sitting down and watching a record go round, I find it stops me flitting around and makes me properly listen. Just bought Smokers Delight by Nightmares On Wax and it came with a record insert that had perforations to make it into roaches, I like that.

I am still buying vinyl but don't currently own a working turntable!!

I just love owning records, a lot of the stuff I buy now is very limited pressings with digital downloads (like on bandcamp etc).

I will get around to replacing my turntable at some point.

kayak23
Subscriber
Can’t beat some crazy heavy dub reggae on vinyl.

Amen to that!!

I was in same position as you about 2 years ago. Ended up buying a Rega Planar 1. Great option for me as didn’t know if I’d be into vinyl (both what I’d owned from 80-90’s and any new stuff I’d be buying). Rega is highly upgradable so if you do decide that vinyl is worth it you can upgrade at your leisure or sell on. I’ve since got new nagaoka mp110 cart, tango spinner sub-platter, belt & bearing and a Delrin platter. Couldn’t be happier. Enjoyed the upgrading over time as and when I can afford things and the type of music I enjoy is the better for being on vinyl with the system I have.

Turntable vs CD is nothing to do with the quality or sound of the music, although each has a distinctive sound associated with it, no, it's to do with the "act" of listening to music itself.

With CD, you can skip or repeat tracks, using a remote control without getting up from where you are sat, with a record, realistically, you put the needle into the run-in groove and listen, until the needle is in the run-out groove.

That makes the experience very different imo. When you listen to music on a record, the act of listening becomes a thing, and act in its own right, quite separate to the music itself.

Record players fall into one of two categories to my mind:

1) Shite.

2) Really really expensive and slightly less shite.

Playing a record can be an 'experience' and I get that, but as a credible source of hi-fi audio it's a format that should have died 30 years ago. The Chinese Tea Ceremony might be psychologically rewarding but it won't make your mug of PG taste any better.

I m thinking of going back to vinyl and don't have a turntable. The first time I had vinyl I bought the turntable and 1 album so did not have much choice in what to play. This time round I 'll just buy my favourite albums on vinyl, maybe 10 max. I can see record shops coming back in some form, maybe in coffee shops.

Yes, if you have the cash why not.  It is really nice to sit down on the sofa with a glass of whisky and listen to something. Although cd might be better sound quality it doesn't seem to be the same experience and I don't know why.  If I want something in the background I stream it or stick on a CD.  If I want to sit and listen to something I prefer vinyl for some reason

Yes.

We bought a turntable because we were getting lazy with Spotify listening.

Now we buy an album each on payday and the conversations leading up to what to purchase and wjat we've been listening to that has caught our ears.

Then we buy an album and give it our full attention whilst cooking or sitting in garden. We're absolutely loving it.

I still occasionally lust after one of these:

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@derek_starship - if you’re fascinated by the whole process of recording, producing, mastering and making a record, be it cylinder, disk, CD, etc, then you really need to get hold of Greg Milner’s book ‘Perfecting Sound Forever’, it’ll give you far more insight into the whole history of recorded music than you’ll ever pick up from magazine articles, or whatever, you’ll find a whole other side to the HiFi ’golden-eared’ brigade! I’m re-reading an ebook version now, having bought the dead tree copy a few years back.
And Cougars advice is pretty much what I was going to say, adding that I actually started off with a few vinyl singles, then bought cassettes because I had a little Phillips N2204 portable cassette player that I used to record borrowed albums with, using an old Bush record player.
Then I got into vinyl once I had some money, working up to a system in the 80’s based around a Logic DM101/Zeta/Audio Technica turntable/tonearm/cartridge combo, worth in the order of £2500! The pre-amp, power-amps, cassette deck, CD player, tuner and speakers probably doubled that at least.
I haven’t used it since around 1985, once I bought a Denon CD player, because vinyl albums were such utter rubbish they were unplayable.
I don’t miss having to keep the discs scrupulously clean, using carbon-fibre brushes, having really quiet sections spoiled by pops and crackles, having to get up part way through and turn an album over, when I could stick a CD in the tray, sit down, press play on the remote, and have music appear from a total silence, and concentrate on it with my eyes closed right through to the end.
Which is something I still do, although it’s often now through wireless headphones with the source albums ripped onto my computer then transferred to my phone, currently nearly 150Gb of music.
When a CD can be had new for sometimes less than seven quid for an older album, spending over twenty for the same on vinyl is daft, especially when you might find the disc isn’t as well mastered or pressed as you’d expected - a mate has bene buying vinyl recently after getting his Linn Basik turntable sorted out, and he’s has a number of albums badly warped, or otherwise compromised quality-wise.
It’s very much caveat emptor.

Vinyl is does have a unique charm, however, there are a sadly a great many downsides, especially at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Problems with vinyl include: the expense; the cleaning; and anti static palaver; the storage; the setting up and fine tuning; the associated components (more expense); vulnerability; quality of second hand records and the quality of pressings on all records (particularly modern releases).

When the stars align, it is superb. If I had money to burn I would go for it. Unfortunately that's not the case, so I have spent the money that I have on trying to get digital to sound as good as vinyl ha!

LPs are £20+ a pop.

Not just pops, you get some crackle thrown in too.

It’s like classic cars and motorbikes, like shooting film cameras, it’s like tuning into black , white and every shade in between, that is analog and the other view is very digital , very black OR white , these things are quite individual and don’t often live well together unless it’s something like a Derelict Rolls Royce .
@kayak23 you could make a wonderful Rega plinth out of something lying around .

Yes, if you have the cash why not.  It is really nice to sit down on the sofa with a glass of whisky and listen to something

IndeedI think arguments over sound quality are irrelevant. You're enjoying yourself -  if something makes listening to music more enjoyable then thats worth your while. Music on vinyl demands your attention - you've decided you're going to sit down and listen to music for around 20 minutes - it puts the music in the foreground rather than the background.

An old friend used to only buy 7" singles (we spent a night on an east Lothian beach dancing to them on a fisher-price record player once) on the basis that a good 2 - 3 minute pops song barely gives you time to sit down when you play it - and if you're standing you might as well be dancing.

iTunes and Spotify is all very passive by comparison.

Cougar

Subscriber

Record players fall into one of two categories to my mind:

1) Shite.

2) Really really expensive and slightly less shite.

Playing a record can be an ‘experience’ and I get that, but as a credible source of hi-fi audio it’s a format that should have died 30 years ago.

I dunno you know.

A really good turntable is about £400-£500.
A decent amp, CD player or pair of speakers is pretty much the same, maybe a bit less.

The Chinese Tea Ceremony might be psychologically rewarding but it won’t make your mug of PG taste any better.

Again, I'm not sure you know.
I find that the process makes me want to listen to more music. I listen longer to vinyl than to CD, perhaps because I have to invest more into the process.

Sound quality?
Different.......
Definitely more information contained on a CD, specifically bass.
But the distortion inherent in vinyl seems to be of a nature that people find attractive.

If I compare the same recordings on CD and vinyl, I'll choose the CD. But if I have an evening to myself and a hankering for music, I'll choose vinyl every time.

The main advantage with vinyl is getting a different master to the CD.

CD’s are often mastered with lots of dynamic range compression to make them sound better in noisy environments like a car or subway, or just to make it louder than the other guy. Look up the loudness wars to see what I mean.

Vinyl is an inferior format in every measurable way, but if the CD has a DR of 5db and the Vinyl 10db then vinyl is likely to sound better on a proper system. You will have to crank the volume control on the vinyl but it will be so much smoother and dynamic than the CD.

I play my music digitally with a Mac and Arcam DAC. Some ripped from CD, some ripped from Vinyl.

Record players fall into one of two categories to my mind:

1) Shite.

2) Really really expensive and slightly less shite.

Don't agree. Had a £1k CD player and a £300 deck, played more vinyl. Got a £7k CD player, didn't buy any more vinyl 😉 But have heard a £20k CD player back to back with several similarly priced decks and was really surprised - did not expect that level of accuracy from a turntable.

Playing a record can be an ‘experience’ and I get that, but as a credible source of hi-fi audio it’s a format that should have died 30 years ago. The Chinese Tea Ceremony might be psychologically rewarding but it won’t make your mug of PG taste any better.

And yet, here we are, 30 years later, and vinyl is resurgent whilst CD is on the way out. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Playing a record can be an ‘experience’ and I get that, but as a credible source of hi-fi audio it’s a format that should have died 30 years ago.

Opinion masquerading as fact. It's preference, that's all.

I must admit I occasionally have a hankering after a turntable as I have a box of singles and about 30-40 lps/12”s that I haven’t been able to play for the last 20 years or so I guess. Some I’ve never managed to replace on cd.

I have a planar three somewhere (well, my ‘wee’ brother has it) but it’d need an overhaul, new stylus (if not cartridge too...) and an amp...

The last time I had it set up I remember being all excited, playing stuff for an evening or two then. Getting bored....

The most abiding memory of vinyl for me was having to get 4 or 5 versions of ACR’s Force before I got one that played both sides (and even then it had a couple of major pops...).

20£ a pop and all that storage space, err, nope.

But I admit that the listening experience was mor intense (the 20 odd min max time frame) and that an LP cover is a thing of joy in comparison with a cd...

IndeedI think arguments over sound quality are irrelevant. You’re enjoying yourself – if something makes listening to music more enjoyable then thats worth your while. Music on vinyl demands your attention – you’ve decided you’re going to sit down and listen to music for around 20 minutes – it puts the music in the foreground rather than the background.

That's not a format issue, that's psychological. You could make an event about listening to an album on Spotify if you chose to.

CD’s are often mastered with lots of dynamic range compression to make them sound better in noisy environments like a car or subway, or just to make it louder than the other guy. Look up the loudness wars to see what I mean.

Again, that's not a format issue, it's a problem with individual releases.

Don’t agree. Had a £1k CD player and a £300 deck, played more vinyl. Got a £7k CD player, didn’t buy any more vinyl 😉 But have heard a £20k CD player back to back with several similarly priced decks and was really surprised – did not expect that level of accuracy from a turntable.

You're arguing about players costing twenty grand and disagreeing with me that this isn't expensive?

You spent £7k on a CD player, they saw you coming. 1s and 0s are 1s and 0s irrespective, what's important is the DAC and I would be astonished if you could tell the difference double-blind between a £300 player and a £20,000 player.

And yet, here we are, 30 years later, and vinyl is resurgent whilst CD is on the way out. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Mostly it makes me think that people are idiots harking back to a rose-tinted past. If you're listening to music with 50-year old ears then you're deluded if you think that you're well placed to judge hifi.

CD is on its way out because it's been supplanted by mp3 et al.

Opinion masquerading as fact. It’s preference, that’s all.

Opinion masquerading as opinion, I said as such in my opening sentence.

I concur! That is one gigantic horse you're riding Cougar.

The cause of the affect is not relevant, it undeniably exists for a great many people and it brings them a lot of pleasure.

Should I buy a turntable?

Yes, you should. Vinyl records are an excellent way to listen to music. If you're lucky (I am) there will be a small local record shop near you that will have a good selection of new & second hand records that are sensibly priced too 🙂

Opinion masquerading as opinion, I said as such in my opening sentence.

Your "opinion" seems to be that people are idiots. Classy.

You’re arguing about players costing twenty grand and disagreeing with me that this isn’t expensive?

No, just pointing out that your statement that cheap turntables were shite, and really expensive turntable were a little less shite was not in line with my own experiences.

You spent £7k on a CD player, they saw you coming.

Nope, had already worked there for a decade, so they saw me every day. Built it myself out of reject parts 😉

Mostly it makes me think that people are idiots harking back to a rose-tinted past. If you’re listening to music with 50-year old ears then you’re deluded if you think that you’re well placed to judge hifi.

Your rude statement indicates that you're either uncertain of your own argument or just seeking to belittle people.

I've got a very old and tatty Garrard SP 25 MK 2 that's followed me in every move. I've never had a courage to throw it out. It still works fine, it's in tune with my guitar so the speed must be about right.

The lastest thing to be played on it was one of junior's techno releases. A proud father moment. It's a really good pressing, far better than the last vinyls I bought myself which hav the clicks associated with recycled vinyl with micro fragments of label in them.

Playing an original album on the two formats, CD and vinyl, is very different. It's not just the difference in format, it's the way the production has been changed to suit the format. Vinyl compresses naturally and the original mix was sometimes done to get the most impact from the format within it's constraints. Slade's "wall of sound" worked so well when played on vinyl then transmitted to the average teen listening on a transistor radio and has a vibe very different to CDs mixed for the sub-woofer era.

OK so my ears are old and have suffered from Marshall/Hi-Watt stacks and sitting behind noisy competition engines with no sound protection, but I can hear the difference and I quite like it. Play it loud !

I have over 1500 albums on vinyl and about 200 on CD. I think i can hear a difference, but that may just be in my head. Often any difference is in the mastering rather than the format. I had a brief stint of being "an audiophile" and it sucks, you spend all your time listening for imperfections and trying to compare, then spending more money and trying to convince yourself its better rather than just enjoying the music.

The real appeal in vinyl is not just the music, but in the package. Bands put a lot of effort into getting the artwork right. Gatefold sleeves, lyric sheets, texture of the card etc. All of which are part of the experience. In comparison, little plastic cases and booklets (for CDs) or a single jpeg (FLAC / Wav / Whatever) are just crap.

So to answer the OPs question. If you want to own records, then yes get a record player. If its for the audio only then probably not worth it.

I concur! That is one gigantic horse you’re riding Cougar.

(and several others)

Yeah, fair enough, I was unnecessarily abrasive there and I apologise. I must've been having a bad day.

The point I was trying to make was broadly what Blackflag just said. Vinyl might sound different, and preferable to some, but it cannot sound 'better' by any measure. It probably wouldn't be overly difficult to recreate the vinyl sound from any digital source by adding in distortion and imperfections and shoving it through a graphic equaliser, whereas making vinyl sound like a CD / FLAC would be near-impossible.

As an audio format vinyl is pretty terrible, but as a media format it's great. I have a Laserdisc player and some of the discs I have for it are just glorious things, they're like double-sided CDs the size of LPs. But I'd be mad to argue that they were better quality than even DVD, let alone Blu-Ray. As much as I like them, if someone were to ask me "should I buy a Laserdisc player?" then my answer would almost certainly be "no." It's a dead format long since superseded and the only reason I keep hold of it is part nostalgia and part "it's a nice thing."

I've got one - and some old (80s) vinyl sounds shite even compared to best quality Spotify streams nevermind CDs! Some sounds fantastic though.

I just like owning it - the whole physical thing as already said. I like owning the turntable - it's a nice thing to look at, and I especially like spending 3 or 4 hours in the record shop browsing and buying stuff I'd never normally buy.

I only buy vinyl in physical format now, but 80% of my listening is via Spotify.

Vinyl might sound different, and preferable to some, but it cannot sound ‘better’ by any measure. It probably wouldn’t be overly difficult to recreate the vinyl sound from any digital source by adding in distortion and imperfections and shoving it through a graphic equaliser, whereas making vinyl sound like a CD / FLAC would be near-impossible.

Indeed. I have argued in the past that if you use a CD as a master and produce a vinyl copy the result will sound like vinyl, but the reverse isn't true, a CD created from a vinyl "master" will still sound like vinyl.

I like it, dont use it every time, but it's more of an occasion if that makes sense.

Nice glass of something and away we go.

I had about 50 LPS from when I was younger and have a decent old HIFI so recently bought one so I could listen to them again, bought 4 more albums since ( led zep 4, Dark side of the moon, Nevermind and kind of blue) and love listening to them start to finish with a half time interval to change sides

To the OP - get one. Its lovely. Dropping a needle on a new record, especially one that you haven't actually heard properly yet, is a great experience. then you get to actually sit and listen to an album.

I've been in heaven for 5 years now since getting a very modest set up. Love it.

But, yes, Vinyl is not cheap.

then you get to actually sit and listen to an album.

If you're not sitting and listening to albums that's not a fault of your preferred choice of medium (unless the medium is a box of singles or an iPod shuffle I suppose). I can do that with Spotify.

Cougar, easy there tiger, it's a different experience, as quite a few people have highlighted. Not for you, we get it, but maybe back off a bit on the crusade?

Cougar - what's your stance on classic cars, retro bikes and antique furniture!? 🙂

yes, Vinyl is not cheap.

Damn right, I've been amazed at prices for reissue LPs.
In fact these are often more than new releases, which proves that a lot if the current vinyl pricing is based on fashion and not on actual format cost.

Unfortunately long gone are the days of picking up great records for peanuts in charity shops...the mid 90s to the mid 00s were a golden period of chazza vinyl. No more, a few James Last and some Mantovani if you're lucky ☹️

Discogs is a good resource, the grading and pricing is generally far better than eBay. You can generally pick up originals cheaper than a new reissue, unless it's a rare one.

I had to disclose the worth of my vinyl on our house insurance last year ☺️ £20,000 at a rough estimate. Oops. Though I've only got a few that are worth over £100, and only 2 over 1k. 2000 odd LPs do add up!

In fact these are often more than new releases, which proves that a lot if the current vinyl pricing is based on fashion and not on actual format cost.

Nope, the format is ****ing expensive. When vinyl started to disappear years ago in the move to CD a lot of pressing plants closed. Now supply is well below demand. My band have brought out vinyl records in the last year or so and we lost money on all of them cos if we tried to sell them for what they cost to produce we'd never sell any 😉

but maybe back off a bit on the crusade?

That's unlikely, he pops up on every vinyl thread with the same responses.