I would have jumped on this, but the single showing here in Austin is at the Ritz, so of course it was already sold out before I even knew about it.

They added a second showing in Houston, so who knows, they might do another one in Austin too.

Just got one of these today. I love it!

Also tallied up my purchases for the year... I added 50% to my existing collection in 2016 alone. Now sitting at just over 300 records. I have a handful on the way for 2017 already, but I'm going to need to cut back big time.

Shit, I thought my buying was bad! I got my player December 15 and in the bot over a year I am a bit over 100 so far.

I should note that I FINALLY got around to hearing my Agalloch colored vinyl reissues from the End Records and damn those sound good. I believe they are sold out...... not that all you Bowie and Kink fans are looking for some folk metal.

Thoughts on cheaper (under $100) vinyl washing contraptions like these:



Worth it, not worth it?
Do they even work?

I own one, I've used it for literally hundreds of records over 3-4 years, and here are my thoughts:

Very good for basic washing, as long as you are quick to change the water/solution.

The function is laborious at first, and then when you get the hang of it, it actually becomes kind of fun and relaxing.

The main thing that made me look for another option is the simple fact that you're cleaning records in dirty water. The concept is that the dirt should fall to the bottom, but it's going to contaminate the water.

I now have and use a 3D printed RCM from Squeaky Clean Vinyl, which is a great little kit that I bought for about $120. I think he has a newer version out there now, but it is a huge improvement over the Spin Clean.

So can't you just make your own cleaner/water/solution for cheap and change that out for each couple of records instead of using the same "contaminated" water over and over again?

Mikael is saying that you'd have to replace the water after every few records because of how dirty it can get. He's not saying that you'd use the same contaminated water for eternity, if that's what your asking. you could definitely make your own solution, though. Nothing stopping you from doing that.

I think the RCM from Squeaky Clean Vinyl looks awesome. I'm interested, but I don't have the room for that. For now, though, I'm very happy with the In The Groove record cleaner Supermallet recommended. Way better than the shitty brush I was using before, anyway.

I've heard that the In the Groove adhesive can stick to records, making them even worse.

The how-to video I watched (which was kind of comical) specifically said that it was a "new design" that eliminated that issue. I haven't seen a problem with mine in that regard yet, but I've only used it a handful of times so far.

I've had these on order since October, but I finally got my brand new pair of Blumenstein Orca single driver speakers (hidden for big):



They are gorgeous and they sound as good as they look. Tons of resolution and detail, excellent coherency and imaging. The big downside is that such small drivers can't move much air for the bass response, as a result I'll add a subwoofer to my system down the line. But I'm not in a rush, because these have a velvety tonality to them that is completely seductive. A perfect complement to the VPI. Now all I need is a tube power amp and my system will mostly be complete.

Quick Discogs-related question for y'all.
In Discogs, my buyer's address is a PO BOX.
His PayPal address is a real address.
They're in the same town, though, so I'm not too worried, but...

Do you usually ship to the Discogs address (PO Box) or to the PayPal address?

edit: Buyer said the PayPal address was fine. PayPal themselves seem to agree (of course) for seller protection.

I use one of these and clean in the sink making sure to immediately dry my records with a microfiber cloth after: https://thevinylstack.com/manual-cle...nyl-one-stack/

I don't see the point of the spin clean. I knew right away you'd just be washing your records in dirty water. I guess if you keep replacing the water but I still feel like there's little control over it.

My wife would kill me if I left records drying in our draining board.

Oh? You ARE still married! Seriously those are sweet speakers and I love the setup.

Thank you! My wife supports my audio addiction even if she doesn't share my enthusiasm, although she's always very nice to say how good my gear sounds.

I use a Spin Clean. I do everything in our finished basement so no wife acceptance factor.

I spin clean and thins a Spin Clean cloth to do preliminary drying, then the record gets set on a microfiber towel, and I use another Spin Clean cloth to thoroughly dry both sides while flat. The record gets transferred to my drying location with the sleeve.

It works great most of the time. The really dirty records get way better but not fully clean.

I'm just afraid that if I got a record cleaner, Spin Clean, vinyl Stack, whatever, my OCD would take over and I would just sit there cleaning record after record, more than even listening to them...

I have like 2000 records. I would do like 30 at a time while listening but once they are all done, you don't have to worry about them anymore. Just a brush will be needed. Now I have a "to clean" stack and they don't get filed until they are cleaned and listened to. At first, I was doing it all the time to catch up but now I'm just down to my "to clean" stack.

Thoughts on a decent pre-amp, ideally available through Amazon prime?

Not on Amazon, but the Schiit Saga is an exceptional preamp at a very reasonable price: http://schiit.com/products/saga

Man, thanks but that's more than the turntable cost (uturn pro plus).

I don't think I'm quite at the same level as some of you guys.

A few things:

Finally gave my wife mondo vinyl of monster squad. She adores it. Sounded great too! Only complaint is it plays at 45 and nothing indicated that. If it wasn't for a song with singing I wouldn't have known.

All the cleaning talk, how do u sink wash? I was gonna get one of the above cleaners but don't have that many dirties. Maybe 5 that I got used and don't skip. But full of snapps n pops.

And thanks again for the suggestions above for vinyl sleeves. I'm ready to buy but which ones do I get? Id rather have some larger ones that fit these fat 2 lp gatefold releases. Any suggestions?

How does this affect thick gatefold releases that are 2 or more lp?

Things can get tight with those. I just ordered some oversized outer sleeves and two-sides inner sleeves for 2 record sets. All of these are Sleeve City USA products and can be purchased from Amazon or their website.