Your uncle was right: Vinyl records sound amazing and are super cool. If you're just starting your vinyl-collection journey, here's everything you need to know.
Your Led Zeppelin-loving uncle has been harping on about the superior warmth and fidelity of his vinyl collection over Thanksgiving dinners since you were a kid, but it’s time to face the facts: Sometimes old people are right. The resurgence of vinyl’s popularity over the last 14 or so years is no joke. With sales of the waxy medium in 2021 reaching their highest level in 30 years , even with pandemic-driven record store closures, vinyl is the preferred physical form of music in the U.S.
Buy some records Record collecting has looked a little different over the past couple of years, largely due to the pandemic forcing many record stores to either close, go out of business altogether, or greatly adapt their operations to more online-focused models. Look past the dust for deep scratches or particularly long ones you can feel with your finger as you run it across the grooves. If you’re just not sure, most record stores will have a listening station set up, so use them and decide for yourself if it’s up to par. If not, try another copy, or look for that title elsewhere. If the record just looks dirty, you can ask the store to clean it for you. If they have a cleaning machine, they’ll often do it free of charge.
These days, you don’t have to go anywhere to find your favorite band’s vinyl. Though we still recommend checking out vinyl in person before purchasing, there are solid online resources. For new vinyl, we first recommend checking out the online ordering options for your local record stores. They often have great selections of new and used vinyl, and you can even give them a call before you buy if you have questions about a certain record.
You have no idea how well any used record was kept over its lifetime, and even brand new records have a residue left over from the pressing factory. You want none of this stuff touching your turntable’s stylus . There are a number of ways to clean a record, some of them totally automated and using sophisticated ultrasonic devices such as the expensive Okki Nokki, others very hands-on like the manual and readily-available Spin Clean.
Turntable it up For just a little bit more cash, you can get yourself a significantly superior turntable with quality, upgradeable parts that will last you for years to come — or at least until your obsession grows and you start mortgaging your house to fund it. We’re kidding , but let’s stick to keeping your wallet safe as you get started with this list of our favorite affordable turntables right here.
As we said, there are loads of ways to listen to your new record collection. We recommend starting somewhere based on your budget while looking for components that allow you to upgrade later, because, believe us, once you get the vinyl bug it’s just upwards from there. Store it! How you store your records isn’t just important for preservation, it’s an opportunity to build something that looks really, really cool.
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