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cosanostra

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Interested in what everyone has been buying, what equipment you're using and if you're into finding original pressings or are happy with new represses.

I'm into a lot of different genres but I don't touch trance / progressive house, modern pop music, mumble rap / pop rap / rnb or classical. 

So what's sounding good?

 

Yesterday I got this.

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/26023246-Mogwai-Come-On-Die-Young

 

Their 2nd LP and its a remaster on heavy white 2xLP. I've got an old 90s  CD copy that I played the absolute **** out of at the time but this new copy sounds infinitely better on my rig. Always preferred Young Team which they've also just repressed. I was smart enough to buy that on Vinyl when it first came out. Those originals on Creation are at least $500 AUD at the moment.

If the repress sounds anything like the CODY repress, I might have to grab that as well. My old copy is a bit noisy at the start of Like Herod.

 

Also got this.

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/24606527-Black-Sabbath-Black-Sabbath

 

Seems to be a lot of criticism around this pressing but mine sounds pretty good. No problem with the colours and the mastering is sharp and punchy.

Classic LP that most guys into thar sort of music will already have. The first 7 Sabbath LPs are all excellent. 4 is my favourite. Black Sabbath's heavy cocaine period made some great tunes.

 

 

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As you know I listen to lots of different stuff. I seem to confuse the staff at the record shop I use with the mixed genres I buy at the same time. Last purchases were an album of Charlatans tracks remixed by The Chemical Brothers, Genius Of Modern Music Volume 1 by Thelonious Monk, and Home Cookin’ by Jimmy Smith. An expensive visit. 
Turntable wise I’ve got a London Acoustical Developments turntable. They were a short lived company based in (obviously) London in the 80’s that’s only claim to fame is that John Peel used them. Really solid deck with a Jelco tonearm on them. A bit of an odd mix of a heavy direct drive motor with a high end hifi arm. I’ve had it for over 30 years and they’re rare as hen’s teeth but not really worth a great deal due to their obscurity. 
In terms of presses it can be a bit hit or miss. I don’t buy into the premium price for 180g stuff though. 

9914010F-CEC7-41C9-A6D0-0243214A71D0.jpeg

Edited by Tazio
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1 minute ago, cosanostra said:

@Tazio

You use a pre-amp with that?

What cartridge?

 

Pre amp into a Cambridge Audio amp. Rather oddly the cartridge is a Shure in a Pickering head shell. The weight for the stylus is pretty heavy by modern standards. I think they originally shipped with Stanton cartridges. They were after the studio and radio market apparently but it is difficult to get a lot of info on the turntables. 

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Just now, Tazio said:

Pre amp into a Cambridge Audio amp. Rather oddly the cartridge is a Shure in a Pickering head shell. The weight for the stylus is pretty heavy by modern standards. I think they originally shipped with Stanton cartridges. They were after the studio and radio market apparently but it is difficult to get a lot of info on the turntables. 

 

I've got one of these.

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/row/en/products/hi-fi/851/851a

Got a sweet deal on a demo model but it sometimes randomly turned itself of. So annoying. The shop took it back to get repaired but in Western Australia there's only one certified CA engineer so that was about 6 months ago.

The shop allowed me to borrow any amp in the shop until then. Always wanted to check out a nice valve amp so I've had a Primaluna EVO200 since then.

Like this

https://www.primaluna-usa.com/primaluna-evo-200-tube-power-amplifier

 

It's fully amazing. There's no way I'm giving it back. They said they'd work out some sort of deal if I wanted to keep it. I have the money and they're good guys so I'm pretty sure it'll be here to stay.

 

Don't think I'd go back to a solid state amp after getting used to the valve sound. It's incredible how different everything sounds. I keep on noticing different details in tunes I've played a million times.

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I had an old Leek valve amp for years until it died and wasn’t financially viable to get it repaired. Then I had a NAD amp that I loved that now needs repaired as I think the built in pre amp has gone. The Cambridge was a temporary replacement until I got the NAD repaired but I’ve not got my arse into gear yet so just living with what I have. Due to space I got rid of a set of old Tannoy speakers I had for years and now have a set of the original Wharfedale diamond bookshelf speakers. Amazing little things that sound so much bigger than they are. Shame the brand name has been cheapened over the years as they were a great company at one time. 

Edited by Tazio
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Wharfedale is still pretty good I think. 

My speakers are Dali Oberon 7s. Really like them but they're floor standers I have on my desks (I know, I know) to keep them away from kids.

I have my 1210mk2s for DJing but pretty much exclusively listen to my Rega Planar 6 turntable. Got an Ania Pro cartridge on that. 

The best purchase I made was this pre-amp and umbilical power supply.

https://goldnoteusa.com/product/ph-10/

Honestly my best piece of gear in terms of sound quality. Felt like a veil over the sound was lifted and everything just improved massively. Expensive but completely worth it. 

 

Pre-amp and cartridge make the biggest difference to sound quality IMO.

 

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Spitonastranger

Currently bought all the John Murry LP's and recently bought all of Pavement back catalogue. Now looking at Bicep, Grandbrothers (difficult to get, any suggestions) fout tet and getting Baxter Dury's LPs 

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Off the shelf, plug-n-play Guy, but adore the warm sound this lot affords me.

 

Yamaha Amp A-S701

Yamaha Tuner T-D500

Yamaha CD Player S300

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo Turntable

Tannoy Revolution XT F6 Floorstanders

 

36Kg weight for an Apm...Jesus! The Yam is a Lightweight at 11.2 Kg.

 

 

Hi Fi.jpg

Screenshot (22).png

Edited by OBE
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Picked up this old 1970s Thorens from a charity shop a wee while back. Slowly nursing it back to health, sounds fantastic.

 

Currently got a NAD amp and some nice floorstanders, but very tempted to move up to an old valve number. 

Screenshot_20230221_190041_Gallery.jpg

Edited by Craig_
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4 hours ago, Spitonastranger said:

Currently bought all the John Murry LP's and recently bought all of Pavement back catalogue. Now looking at Bicep, Grandbrothers (difficult to get, any suggestions) fout tet and getting Baxter Dury's LPs 

 

Bicep the Irish house / techno guys? I'm a big fan. Satisfy and Just are tunes I absolutely rinsed about 7 years ago. The Four Tet mix of Opal is an amazing tune too but kind of a rare record so you'd have to fork out a bit for that.

I'm a massive Four Tet fan too. Got pretty much every LP and EP he's put out for 15 years. Some of those are quite rare and expensive as well.

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4 hours ago, OBE said:

Off the shelf, plug-n-play Guy, but adore the warm sound this lot affords me.

 

Yamaha Amp A-S701

Yamaha Tuner T-D500

Yamaha CD Player S300

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo Turntable

Tannoy Revolution XT F6 Floorstanders

 

36Kg weight for an Apm...Jesus! The Yam is a Lightweight at 11.2 Kg.

 

 

Hi Fi.jpg

Screenshot (22).png

 

Not only 36kg but it needs to be switched off for 12 hours before you move it because of the temperature it generates. The sound quality is unbelievable though. Just need to keep my kids away from it.

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4 hours ago, Craig_ said:

Picked up this old 1970s Thorens from a charity shop a wee while back. Slowly nursing it back to health, sounds fantastic.

 

Currently got a NAD amp and some nice floorstanders, but very tempted to move up to an old valve number. 

Screenshot_20230221_190041_Gallery.jpg

 

Do use a pre-amp or am in built amp one?

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I'm keeping an eye on this thread, because it's something i'd like to get back into. 

I get obsessed with stuff and end up spending fortunes, so i'm holding off for now. 

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6 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

Not only 36kg but it needs to be switched off for 12 hours before you move it because of the temperature it generates. The sound quality is unbelievable though. Just need to keep my kids away from it.

 

:biggrin2:, Hence the fireguard design, no need for a heat source in that room if it gets chilly...Wow!

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Spitonastranger
9 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

Bicep the Irish house / techno guys? I'm a big fan. Satisfy and Just are tunes I absolutely rinsed about 7 years ago. The Four Tet mix of Opal is an amazing tune too but kind of a rare record so you'd have to fork out a bit for that.

I'm a massive Four Tet fan too. Got pretty much every LP and EP he's put out for 15 years. Some of those are quite rare and expensive as well.

Suddenly got into house techno were before couldnt listen. I think vinyl and a decent system really brings it alive. Still searchiung for some fout tet stuff. Grandbrothers are bringing a new album out bt the older stuff is difficult to get or expensive 

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9 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

Do use a pre-amp or am in built amp one?

 

I've got a pre-amp, think it's a Pro-ject one. Do you reckon an upgrade would make much difference?

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3 minutes ago, Craig_ said:

 

I've got a pre-amp, think it's a Pro-ject one. Do you reckon an upgrade would make much difference?

 

The biggest gains in sound quality are pre-amp and cartridge. That's been my experience anyway.

I'm a big fan of Rega cartridges and turntables but they're not cheap.

It's a bottomless pit that you can throw endless money into.

 

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17 minutes ago, Spitonastranger said:

Suddenly got into house techno were before couldnt listen. I think vinyl and a decent system really brings it alive. Still searchiung for some fout tet stuff. Grandbrothers are bringing a new album out bt the older stuff is difficult to get or expensive 

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/16199199-Four-Tet-There-Is-Love-In-You-Expanded-Edition-Remixes

 

This one right here. Absolutely love it.

It's a triple vinyl Ltd thing but still accessible.

Great place to start if you haven't got it.

 

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CF11JamTart

Finally going to get a new turntable, as I'm getting back in to vinyl. 

 

I've got a decent Cambridge Audio amp and Dali (?) speakers. 

 

Current turntable feels like the weak link. On top of anything else, it gets jumpy on the inner-most tracks of 180g reissues. Fine on old vinyl records. 

 

I'm looking to spend 350ish. 

 

Does that seem realistic? Any recommendations?

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, CF11JamTart said:

Finally going to get a new turntable, as I'm getting back in to vinyl. 

 

I've got a decent Cambridge Audio amp and Dali (?) speakers. 

 

Current turntable feels like the weak link. On top of anything else, it gets jumpy on the inner-most tracks of 180g reissues. Fine on old vinyl records. 

 

I'm looking to spend 350ish. 

 

Does that seem realistic? Any recommendations?

 

 

 

 

Pro-ject, various models and prices...:thumb:

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I dealt in vinyl for many years. Market inflated massively during the pandemic and I made a fortune. Best deal - Bought the complete set of NOW albums from 5 different sources. Took me 6 months and £2300 to get it all together in conditions I wanted it in. Sold at auction for just shy of £7000 to a German collector.

 

Market has died on its arse since the pandemic finished so I’ve sold up and stopped doing it. Great whilst it lasted

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CF11JamTart
1 hour ago, JimmyCant said:

I dealt in vinyl for many years. Market inflated massively during the pandemic and I made a fortune. Best deal - Bought the complete set of NOW albums from 5 different sources. Took me 6 months and £2300 to get it all together in conditions I wanted it in. Sold at auction for just shy of £7000 to a German collector.

 

Market has died on its arse since the pandemic finished so I’ve sold up and stopped doing it. Great whilst it lasted

I'm one of those mugs who is on Discogs, picking up stuff that I probably had 20 years ago, but it got lost along the way. 

 

Just shelled out on Lloyd Cole and the Commotions "Rattlesnakes". 

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29 minutes ago, CF11JamTart said:

I'm one of those mugs who is on Discogs, picking up stuff that I probably had 20 years ago, but it got lost along the way. 

 

Just shelled out on Lloyd Cole and the Commotions "Rattlesnakes". 

I've just started cataloguing my collection on Discogs, all good on stuff with a barcode on the sleeve but a bit of a slow process on older stuff.

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CF11JamTart
11 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I've just started cataloguing my collection on Discogs, all good on stuff with a barcode on the sleeve but a bit of a slow process on older stuff.

I'll probably do that if I can ever be arsed. 

 

Loving Discogs though 

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On 01/03/2023 at 22:18, CF11JamTart said:

Finally going to get a new turntable, as I'm getting back in to vinyl. 

 

I've got a decent Cambridge Audio amp and Dali (?) speakers. 

 

Current turntable feels like the weak link. On top of anything else, it gets jumpy on the inner-most tracks of 180g reissues. Fine on old vinyl records. 

 

I'm looking to spend 350ish. 

 

Does that seem realistic? Any recommendations?

 

 

 

 

How much is a Rega P2? They're superb for the money.

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On 02/03/2023 at 00:45, Tazio said:

I've just started cataloguing my collection on Discogs, all good on stuff with a barcode on the sleeve but a bit of a slow process on older stuff.

 

I've put every one of my 6k records on discogs over the last 20 years or so. It's an outstanding resource and great for finding stuff that you'll get nowhere else.

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https://www.discogs.com/release/20067715-Nala-Sinephro-Space-18

 

This is currently blowing my mind. It's ambient / experimental jazz with lots of harp and little electronic bits. This girl is a straight up genius.

Also worth mentioning that it's on Warp records, the legendary  revered techno label that's home to Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada etc. Those guys really have an incredible eye for talent.

The 2nd side to this record in particular is amazing. Space 6 and Space 8 are my favourites. I reckon even guys who don't get jazz would probably like this.

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1 minute ago, cosanostra said:

https://www.discogs.com/release/20067715-Nala-Sinephro-Space-18

 

This is currently blowing my mind. It's ambient / experimental jazz with lots of harp and little electronic bits. This girl is a straight up genius.

Also worth mentioning that it's on Warp records, the legendary  revered techno label that's home to Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada etc. Those guys really have an incredible eye for talent.

The 2nd side to this record in particular is amazing. Space 6 and Space 8 are my favourites. I reckon even guys who don't get jazz would probably like this.

I’ll check that out tomorrow as I’ve a day off work. 

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41 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I’ll check that out tomorrow as I’ve a day off work. 

 

Definitely reckon you'll be into it.

You got anything new or any decent recommendations?

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13 minutes ago, cosanostra said:

 

Definitely reckon you'll be into it.

You got anything new or any decent recommendations?

The appallingly named Jockstrap are pretty interesting in terms of electronic type stuff. Also been listening to a bit of Squid who were recommended to me. One of those bands that some of it is really good and some of it sounds strangely familiar but you can’t work out where from. 

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41 minutes ago, Tazio said:

The appallingly named Jockstrap are pretty interesting in terms of electronic type stuff. Also been listening to a bit of Squid who were recommended to me. One of those bands that some of it is really good and some of it sounds strangely familiar but you can’t work out where from. 

 

Are they not on Warp too? Squid I mean. I've been ignoring the pop / post punk stuff they've put out over the last few years. 

Heard a couple of their things and it didn't make much of an impression on me. I've never even heard of Jockstrap but I'll take a look.

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the original dalry llama
On 01/03/2023 at 14:18, CF11JamTart said:

Finally going to get a new turntable, as I'm getting back in to vinyl. 

 

I've got a decent Cambridge Audio amp and Dali (?) speakers. 

 

Current turntable feels like the weak link. On top of anything else, it gets jumpy on the inner-most tracks of 180g reissues. Fine on old vinyl records. 

 

I'm looking to spend 350ish. 

 

Does that seem realistic? Any recommendations?

 

 

 

Rega Planar 1 - £299
Pro-Ject T1 - £299

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CF11JamTart
35 minutes ago, the original dalry llama said:

Rega Planar 1 - £299
Pro-Ject T1 - £299

Brilliant. Thank you. 

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the original dalry llama

Rega RP 6 turntable / Exact cartridge

Arcam FMJ A19 integrated amp

Arcam FMJ CD17 CD player

Cambridge Audio CXN V2 network streamer

Monitor Audio Bronze BX6 speakers
 

I buy most vinyl these days from:
 

1) Record label annual subscriptions - I currently have three:

Specialist Subject Records

Reckless Yes

Last Night From Glasgow

2) Bandcamp

3) At gigs
 

Piccadilly Records in Manchester is a favourite for buying stuff online.

Edited by the original dalry llama
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Generic Username

I think I got about 200 records in to adding my collection to Discogs before my brain collapsed in on itself. 

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8 hours ago, Tazio said:

The appallingly named Jockstrap are pretty interesting in terms of electronic type stuff. Also been listening to a bit of Squid who were recommended to me. One of those bands that some of it is really good and some of it sounds strangely familiar but you can’t work out where from. 

 

Really like Squid, although I do sometimes wish the singer would shut the **** up!

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10 hours ago, cosanostra said:

https://www.discogs.com/release/20067715-Nala-Sinephro-Space-18

 

This is currently blowing my mind. It's ambient / experimental jazz with lots of harp and little electronic bits. This girl is a straight up genius.

Also worth mentioning that it's on Warp records, the legendary  revered techno label that's home to Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada etc. Those guys really have an incredible eye for talent.

The 2nd side to this record in particular is amazing. Space 6 and Space 8 are my favourites. I reckon even guys who don't get jazz would probably like this.

 

Yeah, that's tremendous. Cheers for the recommendation, keep them coming! 

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2 minutes ago, Craig_ said:

 

Yeah, that's tremendous. Cheers for the recommendation, keep them coming! 

 

That last track - the long ambient one. 😌

Incredible stuff. Pretty sure it's space 8.

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