Beginner's Guide to...VINYL?

[cmr924]

Hello GMG Forum members!

I have been an occassional follower of the wonderful genre of classical music, and recently, my computer was stolen.  Alas, all my music went with it as well.

I am also a collector of vinyl records, mostly jazz, but want to expand to classical music.  Starting from scratch, what would you recommend to a beginner for vinyl?  Hopefully, I could find it online somewhere.  Most of the lists I have seen are for CDs, and I have had a lot of trouble finding specific vinyl pressings to match them, so I don't know if they would be recommended or not.

I won't write any of my specific tastes, as I really just want an all-out beginner's list for vinyl.  Thanks a lot!

[DavidW]

I don't listen to vinyl, but I see them all the time on ebay, so that might be a good place to look online.  I wouldn't be surprised if you could buy records here on gmg as well btw.

[david johnson]

i recommend these labels -

nonesuch
london
rca living stereo
dgg
philips
angel
mercury

do not hesitate to buy mono recordings.
some columbia/epic are pretty good, but those engineers seem to me to have compressed the dynamic range too much.

dj

[Szykneij]

I don't listen to vinyl, but I see them all the time on ebay, so that might be a good place to look online.

I pick up a lot of vinyl from ebay. In general, I don't buy many individual albums because their heavier weight and the difficulty of packaging them safely make their shipping costs much higher than CDs, but I've purchased many large lots and collections where the individual cost per record is quite small. I've discovered more new music this way than any other method. Of course, doing this requires plenty of storage space.

[Shrunk]

Some links with good info below:

http://www.classic-choice.co.uk/collectorsguide.asp
http://www.classicrecords.co.uk/guide.htm
http://www.classical-lps.co.uk/
http://www.high-endaudio.com/index_ac.html  (The views of this last one are a bit "heretical" compared to those of most LP collectors, but it's an interesting read.  It's an audiophile site, so he's mostly judging records on sonic qualities, but he also has a list of favourite discs based solely on performance.)

In addition to those, a few other online venders, all highly recommended:

http://www.mikrokosmos.com/
http://www.spiralclassics.co.uk/
http://home.bluemarble.net/~arsnova/
http://www.classicvinylcollector.com/
http://www.classicalcollector.com/
http://www.watsonrecords.co.uk/

The above are probably more reliable re: condition grading than Ebay, but I've generally had good experiences there, as well.  As Szykniej points out, the problem there is that shipping can often cost as much as the LP itself if you're only buying one at a time.  It's easier to find groups of records you want from the above venders, but again shipping from Europe to North America or vice versa can get pricey.

If you're just coming into this new, the prices on original pressings of some of the rarer titles might make your eyes pop, but I find that later pressings sound quite fine, especially with the UK labels (Decca/London, EMI) and usually go for a fraction of the price.

Recommending specific titles is probably too big a task for a site like this.  I would suggest getting the first two editions of the Penguin Stereo Record Guide from a used book site like AbeBooks.  You can also go thru any of the classical CD guides, like the Penguin or Gramophone.  Any recording from pre-1980 or so would most likely have been initially released on vinyl.

I'm curious:  Are you specifying vinyl because of cost issues, or because of a preference for the medium?

[Daverz]

I'd try to find a local record shop if possible.  Buying from ebay can be very expensive and sometimes very disappointing.  Unfortunately, that may be the only resource if you live outside a large metropolitan area.  Another online source is gemm.com.

A good place to pick up info on records and equipment is the Vinyl Asylum forum.

angel

I avoid Angel pressings except for the older blue and red labels.  They are generally disappointingly noisy in my experience. 

[techniquest]

Sometimes charity shops can be good (though you have to sift through an awful lot of Geoff Love, Max Bygraves and Reginald Dixon in order to find anything reasonable...)
Also 2nd hand music shops can be great as can library sales and antiques fairs. I recently picked up the Inbal recordings of the Scriabin symphonies as a 4-disc boxed set for £1. Now that's what I call a bargain!

[david johnson]

I avoid Angel pressings except for the older blue and red labels.  They are generally disappointingly noisy in my experience. 

those are the ones i have.

dj

[Daverz]

Sometimes charity shops can be good (though you have to sift through an awful lot of Geoff Love, Max Bygraves and Reginald Dixon

I'm guessing that those are the UK equivalents of Herb Alpert, Billy Vaughn, and Mantovani.

[Shrunk]

I avoid Angel pressings except for the older blue and red labels.  They are generally disappointingly noisy in my experience. 

Agreed.  Better to go with the UK EMI pressings, usually with catalogue number prefix "ASD" or "SLS".  For some reason, the US pressings are vastly inferior.  Just to further confuse matters, EMI also had an "Angel" imprint, with catalogue prefix "SAN", and these are usually quite desirable.

The US version of the Decca label, London, OTOH, is usually quite good and cheaper.  There is some controversy among vinyl afficionados whether there is any difference at all between Decca and London.  Some swear that Decca pressings are better, while others insist they are the same records with only a different label attached.  It's easy to get engrossed in such minutiae if you want to.

[Szykneij]

Some links with good info below:

Excellent links! Thanks for posting them.

[Teresa]

Hello GMG Forum members!

I have been an occassional follower of the wonderful genre of classical music, and recently, my computer was stolen.  Alas, all my music went with it as well.

I am also a collector of vinyl records, mostly jazz, but want to expand to classical music.  Starting from scratch, what would you recommend to a beginner for vinyl?  Hopefully, I could find it online somewhere.  Most of the lists I have seen are for CDs, and I have had a lot of trouble finding specific vinyl pressings to match them, so I don't know if they would be recommended or not.

I won't write any of my specific tastes, as I really just want an all-out beginner's list for vinyl.  Thanks a lot!

My favorite Classical LPs for both sonics and musical performances are Reference Recordings PURE ANALOG LPS  Problem is they are all out-of-print and currently way over priced but Reference will soon be releasing analog LPs again. 

Of the In-print LPs I love Speakers Corner 180 Gram re-issues of Mercury Living Presence, Harmonia Mundi, Decca and Tacet recordings.  Also Classic Records re-issues of RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence.

Here is my list of recommended LPs from my website: http://www.analoglovers.com/id8.html 

[cmr924]

 

Thanks for all the replies!!

Would anyone be able to recommend specific records?  I'm tempted to buy wholesale lots on Ebay, but am worried I would be getting things from all over the board.  I'd rather have fewer ones that I love.  For example, does anyone know of any must haves on vinyl?  I can find a lot on CD but not vinyl it seems...

[Shrunk]

Thanks for all the replies!!

Would anyone be able to recommend specific records?  I'm tempted to buy wholesale lots on Ebay, but am worried I would be getting things from all over the board.  I'd rather have fewer ones that I love.  For example, does anyone know of any must haves on vinyl?  I can find a lot on CD but not vinyl it seems...

In terms of just performance, or sound, or both?

[cmr924]

Both.  Preferably performance.  For example, I really like the Rachmaninoff Concertos (especially the second), by Ashkenazy.  I love the first movement especially at right around 6:51.  What power!

[Fëanor]

Hello GMG Forum members!

I have been an occassional follower of the wonderful genre of classical music, and recently, my computer was stolen.  Alas, all my music went with it as well.

I am also a collector of vinyl records, mostly jazz, but want to expand to classical music.  Starting from scratch, what would you recommend to a beginner for vinyl?  Hopefully, I could find it online somewhere.  Most of the lists I have seen are for CDs, and I have had a lot of trouble finding specific vinyl pressings to match them, so I don't know if they would be recommended or not.

I won't write any of my specific tastes, as I really just want an all-out beginner's list for vinyl.  Thanks a lot!

cmr924, sorry to hear of your misfortune.  Backups of anything on computer media is essential -- of course maybe your backups were stolen too.  (A different location for backups is a good idea, preferably off-site.)

Classical on vinyl?  The big question is why.  There are very few new releases of classical music on LP nowadays.

• First, if you are a collector, the reason is to get rare recordings not available on CD.  I have no insight on this topic;  are there really so many of these not-on-CD recordings that it's an issue?  Personally I have no interest in grungy old mono recordings or the like -- just too much good stuff to choose from on CD.
• The second reason is cheap recordings, viz. all those used but pristine $3 LPs    The places to get these are local sources:  flea markets, estate sales, garage sales, and -- to much lessor extent -- 2nd hand emporiums.  However what you can get from these sources is largely the luck of the draw.  Buying LPs from eBay or other record vendors isn't cheap especailly if you factor in shipping costs.  Occassionally large collections come up for sale where the $/record is low, but if you disregard those of no particular interest, the price is effectively much higher.
• The third reason you get sometimes from audiophiles is sound quality.  Give me a break!  Yes is true that some early CD releases, not to mention early CD players, didn't sound great, but this isn't a problem in this day-and-age.  And who ever needed clicks & pops?  (If you buy any of this baloney, do check out Teresa's post;  I don't doubt that her vinyl recommendations are great.)

My conclusion is that classical on LP isn't worth considering unless you're a hardcore collector.

[Szykneij]

My conclusion is that classical on LP isn't worth considering unless you're a hardcore collector.

Based on my actual experience, I strongly disagree, but I'm not going to argue the point. Less competition means more bargains for me.   

[Fëanor]

Based on my actual experience, I strongly disagree, but I'm not going to argue the point. Less competition means more bargains for me.   

Have I got a deal for you. I have about 150 classical LPs mostly in excellent condition.  They can be yours for $2 a piece plus shipping; only proviso is you must buy them all.  Email if you're actually interested.

[Szykneij]

Have I got a deal for you. I have about 150 classical LPs mostly in excellent condition.  They can be yours for $2 a piece plus shipping; only proviso is you must buy them all.  Email if you're actually interested.

I have purchased lots similar to that for $ .50 per record, shipped media mail so that the postage cost was only an additional $50.00. That would come out to $125 total, or only 75 cents per album. Of course, I would want to see a listing of what you have before I made a commitment to buy. Look for a PM.

[Fëanor]

I have purchased lots similar to that for $ .50 per record, shipped media mail so that the postage cost was only an additional $50.00. That would come out to $125 total, or only 75 cents per album. Of course, I would want to see a listing of what you have before I made a commitment to buy. Look for a PM.

Folks in the US are fortune for "media mail".  Unfortunately I live in Canada where there is no such advantageous arrangement for shipping LPs, CDs, or the like.  From here, everything goes Parcel Post or Expresspost which is a lot more expensive. 

I will compile a list of my classical LP collection which I can send to anyone interested.