Vinyl Guy

My 70’s favs

Jackson 5 Greatest Hits
Silk Degrees
Saturday Night Fever
Eagles Greatest Hits

 

If there's a pantheon for this category, joining the Go-Gos would be Luscious Jackson and The Bangles.

 

The Bangles' original songs were much better than the schlocky covers their idiot management kept shoving on them (particularly the moronic "Walk Like An Egyptian," the 80s version of "Ahab The Arab"). They were so obsessed with making Susanna Hoffs into a sex bomb superstar they let the group overall wither.

Many of their covers were very good, especially early on in their tenure, but the management got lazy and over-relied on them in the hopes of launching Hoffs as the next Madonna.

 

Always wondered who drew the short straw among Sabbath roadies and had to pose for the cover, wielding a sword in his pajamas.

Been getting into the early Sabbath records/CDs lately ... their first four albums all hold up really well. "Into the Void" is a great song. And of course, "War Pigs," off Paranoid, is one of their best.

 

Vinyl records outsold CDs for the first time since the '80s

 

The Black Sabbath covers were pretty damn cool. I spent a lot of time as well wondering what the hell was going on with Paranoid until I read the album was supposed to be War Pigs and the guy was supposed to be a literal war pig.

 

Re ELO - Randy Newman got them.

 

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" would be my choice, double album with a lot of classic material.

 

Oh man, this topic scratches me right where I itch. TSP, you made some good first choices. And your turntable may make some audiophiles laugh, but if it works for you, then it’s a good buy.

I had the good fortune of starting with my parents’ collection. Had everything from Dave Brubeck (still with receipts inside from 1961) up to Barry White and Kenny Rogers. Quite an array, needless to say, which was good.

In college is where my collection took off. Although I was an English major at UConn, I was involved with a number of music programs and thus had good friends with wide tastes. And I had a jazz show at WHUS. So more discoveries there.

And now, 22 years later, I have close to 1,000, about half of which are jazz from, say, 1952-67. I’d suggest any time you go on vacation, look for used vinyl stores. That’s what my wife and I do, and I know quite a few in New England, if you’re ever up this way. Check out labels, depending on what genres you like. For me, being jazz, it’s Impulse, Blue Note, Columbia ...



(Not sure why that came out sideways, but as you can see, I’ll need more space and soon).

I have a Technics SL-1200 that I bought at Skippy White’s in Boston probably 20 years ago and it’s served me quite well. Now I am researching vacuum tube amps. McIntosh seems a real good product but they are expensive. Also need better speakers.

I also have a 1905 Edison machine that plays wax cylinders, and a 1917 Sonora phonograph that my wife’s great-grandparents bought new. For that, I have around 100 78s that were my Italian-born grandparents’, so those bring back lots of memories. There is also a 1928 Steinway Duo-Art reproducing piano, but that’s not vinyl. Needless to say, music of all forms (mostly older) is played in this house.

Good luck on your journey. You’ll be amazed at what you find, and how much you can get for not a lot of money. The pops and hisses add much more to the listening experience, in my opinion.

 

If you're going down the tube path do your due diligence as it sounds you are. Tube gear has followers who will die on the Fisher hill, the McIntosh hill, the Single-Ended hill, Audio Research Hill, Dynaco hill and so on.

Make sure you buy from a reputable seller and that you have access to a local tech who can do repairs as needed. Shipping is also a factor, I wouldn't buy an Mc gear without a custom crate and fully insured. The faceplate will break without a crate. I've seen it firsthand and there are lots of stories online about it. There's a builder for crates as well as repro faceplates. Audio Classics in Nebraska if memory serves, but a search will show you.

I have a friend who is a Mc guy. He loves power and the look. I'm more of a less power is more guy when it comes to tubes. Pairing speakers with the amp will come into play as you know. A lower power tube amp can work well with vintage Dynaco speakers, for example. Go high power and vintage ADS can handle it. Get really down the wormhole and go horns, open baffle or do a build.

Get into 'which cables are best!' at peril to your budget. Phono carts are something else as well. The stylus does wear out.

Keep doing research and if at all possible listen to different pieces of gear or systems. Putting an ear on things really can help you decide which path you're going to follow. We all process differently, what sounds nice to me may very well be fingernails on a chalkboard to someone else.

Class D power amps are gaining traction of late it seems. They can be had for under a $100 online. Need a preamp with it, but for under $200 its done and has a very small footprint. There's lots of information online about them.

 

My player arrived today. Wasn't expecting it til Friday. I had it delivered to work, so it was received by someone else. Her comment was, wow, your very cool looking turntable arrived! So I have that part down. Now for hearing how it sounds. Almost brought my records with me; will have to wait til I get home now.

 

Have you ever heard of this company for a Tube Amp:

Glow Audio

Founder gave me a complimentary full set up 10 yrs ago.