Stephen Mejias

What the hell are you waiting for? There's a Rega P1 WITH a BELLARI VP129 TUBE PHONO PREAMP on A-gon right now for $150. You've spent more than that on a dinner where you didn't even get laid.

Doug,If tinkering is the goal, then by all means, tinker away. However, if musical enjoyment is the goal, then a digital front end is the most efficient way to get to the point of musical nirvana without hopping on the endless upgrade bandwagon.

Dave,Let's not confuse the compression used in recordings with the capabilities of the media.

Murakami knows too: "Rummaging around in old shelves of LPs is one of the few things that makes life worth living, as far as I

An album represents a concentrated effort from a group of people, or sometimes, just one person. It sits there with an amazing amount of potential waiting to be unleashed. With the large cardboard cover of a vinyl album, you also get a tangible part of that collaboration that is bigger than your head. I sometimes look at my record library and think what a magnificent reservior of expression sitting in the space of a few shelves. It can give you hope just to see it - a potent high that never lets you go.

It's funny that you post this blog. By the end of the show (amazing show btw Kathleen is awesome) I knew I would be there. I had been scoping, thinking maybe just maybe I could get into vinyl, but I didn't know anyone that had a "record player". That is until you started writing about vinyl. It seems so wonderful, tactile, civilized. Then like a sign from the heavens, as I was walking home from the show someone had put out a 70

Christian can get a bird with a big beak to play his records. The kind of a bird the Flintstones used back in the day. Be sure to get the MBC - the Moving Bird Cartridge for your preamp. The Moving Beak Cartridge just doesn't cut it. :D

from "Chance Traveler" in Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanHow funny. I just read that excellent story yesterday! Thanks Michael. I totally agree with Murakami.I sometimes look at my record library and think what a magnificent reservior of expression sitting in the space of a few shelves.I know the feeling, exactly. Just this morning, I walked into my living room, where so much vinyl was scattered about&#151on shelves, on my couch, on the floor&#151and I thought to myself that the albums brought a sort of greater happiness into my home.I have ordered a turntableWhat a great story, Christian. Congratulations. And I agree: it was surely a sign. There was nothing you could do, but follow.Christian can get a bird with a big beak to play his records.Oh Alex.

Michael,Yes," exactly. The Flintstones had the older bird model:

Nice: the one with the turtle. That's the portable version.

The Flintstones tried to make it a portable, but it proved impractical. The bird stand has to be aligned just right. Else you get a lot of crow and flutter.

Hello Stephen and everyone else- Ok, this vinyl thing is starting to take its toll, even on me. (i.e., to convert, or not to convert.)But, scrolling down to the first review on the main page tells me the ride would be bumpy....as in a 750.00 cartridge...I don't think I would have the stomach for such an experiment!But I really would love to hear how my system sounds with vinyl!Signed, Jerry the vinyl neophyte

I converted about 8 months ago and I never looked back. Yes I dropped a pile of money, but now when I go out to forage for music my 30 or 40 dollars buys me ten to twleve albums as opposed to two or three. And the selection is infinitly larger. hell man, people give me records just because they don't want to throw them away. Getting back into vinyl is the best move I ever made.

Jerry,I mentioned this before that vinyl is a bottomless pit. It's a whirlpool that sucks your money in and never stops. I'm not even going to argue the point of whether the sonic qualities of vinyl are better than digital. I'm simply going to tell you how it's going to go down:You'll buy a turntable setup, something like Rega P1 for $350 and you'll think it's great, but then you'll figure you'll need a new cartridge, which in turn will lead you to getting a new arm, which in turn will lead you to a new platter, which in turn will lead you to a new phono stage, which in turn will lead you to a some sort of a leveling device, which in turn will lead you to a damping device, a new arm, a new cartridge, a new phono stage, and on and on and on.This doesn't even take into account the other upgrades down the chain such as amps, speakers, cables, etc. This is a whole new level of expenditure, complexity and variables that open up.It's much simpler (IMO)

I ran out of room...It's much simpler, less time consuming and less expensive to create a system based on a digital front end. If you like to tinker, and you have the money to tinker, than that's a different matter. But if you want to create a satisfying system and just enjoy the music, then I don't think vinyl is the way to go. My 2 cents

Alex- I think one COULD go down that road of endless upgrades, but today that's not the only way to go. You could do the same with ANY component- speakers, amps, cd players- they all can endlessly be upgraded. The thing is with a turntable is that you can incrementally upgrade and not have to do it all at once, which is not the case with other gear. But the thing Stephen and some others here are onto is that it's FUN. Like the gear head who loves tinkering with his hot rod and then gets to drive it around after- there is something in the process. Plus- there are great deals to be had in the used record market- crazy deals! I got a stack of LPs a week ago- mint, no noise and paid a quarter of what'd it cost new! Now, that's fun!

Yeah, you are right about a digital front end and saving money. Because the stuff sounds so bad you won't want too spend anything on it!I'm not talking about the equipment, I'm talking about what digital allows the suits to do to the dynamic range! It's like magic, it disappears....