Is It Time To Sell My Vinyl Rig?

Not getting the surgery, too many risks.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Eventually I will invest (inheritance) in a better analogue rig. The ASR Basis Exclusive phono stage is on my radar. Maybe a top off the line VPI from Audio Classics. I do like the Tri Planar tonearms but not sure what tables they fit well with. The Lyra cartridges are a solid choice. But it's all speculative at this point. Really hope I can find a way to keep what I've got.

OP, really sorry to hear that health issues would cause such a sacrifice, but of course health must come first. Get well soon.

speedy healing, grace and peace to the OP

@ghdprentice

Thanks for sharing your lifetime pursuit of hi-fi.  We agree on vinyl, and I've invested only 25% of the amount you have.  The idea of converting sound into a long groove on a flat rotating disk is well over a century old, but considering the advances in analog recording and playback equipment in the mid-1900s, humans still haven't come up with a superior medium.

Rewarding, isn't it?

ghdprentice,

I understand your situation and I’m glad your experiences are as such. I could not come within a fraction of what you’ve invested in your analogue gear. My total investment where it pertains to equipment, including tweaks, cables, etc..is about $55,000.00 retail. If I were to spend $30,000.00 on a table, cartridge, phono stage, etc...then yes, my analogue rig could outshine my digital source in most situations with one clear exception, newer recordings. When I buy a new cd, the likely-hood that it’s available in any other format is about zero.

Currently, my cartridge is a mono MC cartridge and my record collection dates from that golden age mono period of the mid to later 1950’s. I prefer the denser resolution of mono to stereo vinyl and this also allows me to focus on the more arcane, older pressings that most other collectors don’t own nor even know about. With $30,000.00, I’d buy a table with multiple tonearms and both stereo and mono cartridges but I would still be selective to insure that I’m getting the most from budget.

Anyway, my current digital front end is excellent and when I play a quality, recently recorded file, I’m not left wanting for anything else. So at this point, the question is whether or not I’d miss not having my table or phono amp and the answer to that is that I’m still not sure. Of course, I would rather have than not have. Maybe I’m just materialistic but that rule pretty much applies to anything I hold valuable. Would I rather have a German dictionary than not; yes, I’d rather have the dictionary. But I was recently told by my doctor to get an exam regarding surgery to correct a deviated septum and if I can’t afford the surgery without selling my gear, then unfortunately I may have to sell. My exam is this Friday.

As far as selling my collection, it will be sold as a collection, not pieced out... or willed to a relative or friend.

I am now retired and have a collection of 2,000 albums. I upgraded all of my equipment. At this point my analog end cost $31K and my digital end cost $41K... I have to admit the analog side sounds a little better than the digital side. I will probably put another $10K into the analog end, pulling it ahead by a good degree. But even as it is, it is fun to listen to the digital end when I feel lazy, and is really fun to spin a disk when I am feeling like being involved. It is also fun to hunt down a new record. I have a collection I have continually added to since I was 15 years old. At some point I might have gotten rid of the vinyl, it would have been a huge mistake. Now retired it constitutes a record of my progress and interest in music. My experience is that for any given cost level vinyl out preforms digital. Up to and including $100K+ range. Depending on your system it might not if there is a non-synergistic piece of equipment. But vinyl, depending on the recording quality, in general has the greatest potential. I say this and enjoy my Aurender WE20se with all else being Audio Research Reference components. Not as if my digital end is crappy.

I shudder when thinking of selling my vinyl, if only because it would become like a second job just to get rid of it.

Fortunately, I love the collection and have no intention to sell it soon.

(I also find I enjoy the sound at least as much as my digital set up, and overall more).

@goofyfoot  - You're correct, they're typically collecting older/vintage/classic analog recordings...

reubent, if you process the entirety of what I said, my comment was reflective on the point that 95% of new classical recordings are in a digital format. I'm sure that you have friends who love classical and collect classical vinyl but they are collecting vinyl from the 1980's and earlier with some exceptions. If recordings are only offered in the cd or digital file format and you insist on only purchasing vinyl, then you're not collecting newer classical recordings.  As I said, there are a few exceptions where a classical label might release a recording as both a cd and as a vinyl lp but it's exceptionally rare. Additionally, some companies will remix and reissue vinyl but those recordings were made decades ago. Aside from that, go to the ArkivMusic website and see just how many cd releases are offered as compared to how many vinyl releases are offered.

@goofyfoot  - 

Those audiophiles who say they opt for vinyl over cd’s are not making classical music the core of their record collection.

This is not necessarily correct. My best audiophile friend is an avid vinyl collector and 90%+ of his 6000+ LPs are classical. Also, have other audiophile friends here in Cincinnati who are primarily classical music fans and are primarily playing vinyl.

If you don't want to sell anything it's fine. 
Instead you need to rob a bank or something. 

The thing about my vinyl collection is that it's very unlikely the majority of my pressings have ever been reissued. A lot of mono Archiv Produktions from the 1950's so getting rid of them would mean never hearing them again. They're not worth a lot but they're rare, especially in excellent condition.

Your health comes first. And your family. I had tons of vinyl and a Thorens and I don't miss it much. The Sheffield LPs were awful nice though LOL

ehometech

I can check but classical titles are rarely all that valuable unless it’s a Johanna Martzy or something like that. The other problem would be selling that rare LP that’s worth $2,000.00. A record to me is only worth a lot if I’m able to sell it.

You’d better check first and comment after. If you have no rare records then selling them will not help you to rise funds much.

If you have some rare original pressing then you can always sell it as there is a high demand on them (this is the reason why it’s rare and expensive).

You can sell on ebay on on discogs.

Personally, if I were looking for a rare and valuable vinyl pressing in pristine condition, I’d look for a reissue from the Electric Recording Company. I know that many people really prefer an original but ERC is where I’d turn and they’ve reissued those $2,000.00 Johanna Martzy records. I’m obviously not in this hobby for the money so my thought is that if I were able to sell my phono amp, it would be at a noticeable loss.

Nobody cares about reissues, it will NOT affect the value of the original press! If you like reissues then buy reissues and sell the originals. You can sell rare record (if you have some) for much higher than you paid for them back in the day.

If you sell equipment then most likely you only lose money on it.

This is the difference between high-end gear and rare records for record collectors (not for audiophiles).

@dbphd   +1

Since Roon, I rarely spin anything. My Thorens TD 124 with its SME III arm is a visual icon I enjoy every time I’m in the room, so I have no plan to sell it.

$2,000 would pay for many concert tickets, or one record?  Lots of folks out there should do some self-audit.  If you're in podunk and live music doesn't make it to you, maybe there's some justification for it.  I just don't get it.

I can check but classical titles are rarely all that valuable unless it’s a Johanna Martzy or something like that. The other problem would be selling that rare LP that’s worth $2,000.00. A record to me is only worth a lot if I’m able to sell it. Personally, if I were looking for a rare and valuable vinyl pressing in pristine condition, I’d look for a reissue from the Electric Recording Company. I know that many people really prefer an original but ERC is where I’d turn and they’ve reissued those $2,000.00 Johanna Martzy records. I’m obviously not in this hobby for the money so my thought is that if I were able to sell my phono amp, it would be at a noticeable loss.

Check on popsike.com for the titles on your vintage LPs, one rare record can cost more than your phono stage, turntable or amp. You will see all auction finals to get an idea about records you can sell. 

Anyway, I’m trying to find a way where I can come up with the extra money without selling anything. My power amp has been at the tech now for three months so once I get that back, I’ll probably reacquire my appreciation for playing vinyl.

Some of late 50's and early 60's HiFi Jazz mono LPs fetch a lot of money. Those from Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Bill Evans, ... They sound better than Stereos with decent mono cartridges. Most non hifi mono recordings in that era would not fetch a lot of money.

Those audiophiles who say they opt for vinyl over cd’s are not making classical music the core of their record collection. Choosing a Faces record from 1971 rather than a cd is an incomparable comparison to collecting the classical music repertoire recorded in 2021.

I'm in kind of a similar position in that I have a decent rig (Thorens, Lounge, and Signet) with about 400 original records in excellent condition collected since the 60's (I've probably been more careful with my records than anything else I've owned!). Yet I find I spend almost all my time listening to Qobuz with a nice dac accessed through Audirvana. The sound is outstanding, and the convenience of being able to access almost anything I want using my iPhone without ever having to leave my chair is priceless.  I probably will hang on to it though in case the internet ever goes down.  ;)

I like my vinyl albums mono and stereo .Played on my good system. BUT I also enjoy my cds ,cassettes and RtR to.Its all good .Please you guys with a million dollar systems nothing will ever satisfy you.Have a nice life if you can ,Ever.

Most of what I listen to are recent classical recordings or remastered classical recordings. I would say that 95 percent of classical releases today are in digital format. I doubt that vinyl will gain traction in that genre. If I do listen to popular remastered reissues like MOFI, then I still prefer the digital release over the vinyl. But I doubt there are many art/classical music fans who purchase more vinyl than cd’s unless they are nostalgic for recordings from the 1980’s or earlier. Plus, the quality of most classical recordings from today are phenomenal. If I were to choose popular music and jazz as my primary focus, then vinyl would be more prioritized but it doesn’t make sense to focus on vinyl if nothing ever gets released that way.

Oh one more thing and this is an exception I think to the rule.
If you listen to music from 90’s, 2000’s and modern pop and such then I tend to agree (since this was recorded digitally) that digital most likely could provide better results than vinyl. Digital is science and with a good system with good reconstruction filters, dithering, modulators and such you will achieve outstanding results.
If OTOH you listen to rock, swing, blues and such from the 80’s back then with vinyl you could experience more natural sound than digital, notice I say natural, digital pragmatism states there are no distortions if well implemented on good digital and there will be some distortion on vinyl due to not exact setup, equipment, phono stage and such.
Separate topic with digital sources, I use Tidal and Qobuz, I resample to 1411 PCM and / or 256DSD sometimes, audio from the 70’s Led Zep for example, I don’t like the new released remasters, don’t know why I just don’t like what I hear, I prefer the Redbook from older digital editions, when resampled (or upsampled like others say) to me it sounds better. Is it colored? I don’t know, maybe, but it sounds right.

@goofyfoot I can only speak for myself, started this last year to purchase vinyl as I only had about 30 to 40 total in 2019, I think I’m at 400 give or take now, they are not hammering you it is just that apparently when we value vinyl and we get obsessed with it we developed some FOMO and we get in a quest to get as much as we can, but for this you need to appreciate it and respect the setup and things you do to implement it, it is a lot of work to get it right

I come from a very good digital rig (which I still use) and the convenience and the quality is there so I know exactly how you feel but vinyl could sound (and this is the problem I have describing these things) could sound so simple, relaxed but natural at the same time, it is different that digital and hard to explain.

My first 40 vinyl were new pressings (all or most from digital masters) my 41st vinyl in 2016 or so was a Wish you Were Here UK pressing from 70s I think, there I realized not all vinyl was created equal.

Last night I listened for the 1st time to a recently purchased Shades of Deep Purple 1st pressing (Japan) near mint, no noise, very very dissapointing sound in detail or dynamics, not your typical expected result. Then I played a recently purchased 1st pressing of Houses of the Holy, when The Rain Song started I got a tear falling down my cheek, not even when I was 12 listening to that specific record I had heard or experienced what I heard last night, to me that record (of my favorite band) is priceless because the emotion it conveyed.

I’m not saying do this or the other, just relating my experience, if you have a good digital then you need an equal quality vinyl rig and actual good vinyl pressings (not from the loudness wars) to compare, if you don’t have the commitment it is absolutely fine, I don’t criticize but I think it is what others are trying to say above.

Good luck man on whatever you do.

Have you considered stereo records? 

You can always check auction finals at popsike.com 
It will help you to realize current value if you have anything rare. 

It appears that I’m getting hammered on about not collecting more records than the two hundred that I own. In my defense, the vintage vinyl that I own, which typically dates from around 1957-ish are all in very good to pristine condition. I have some hard to acquire mono vinyl that still have vinyl shards around the edge from when they were cut. It is difficult to grow a collection under these standards. I do own new vinyl reissues from labels like Analogphonic, Speakers Corner, etc... and while these are new and sealed when bought, more often than not, a vintage copy is all that’s available. I have the same standards whenever I purchase 7 inch 45 rpm’s. So yes, I don’t own two thousand records but where it comes to finding difficult, vintage, pristine vinyl, I think I have a respectable collection. That being said, I’m pretty sure that I’ll keep my collection and possibly the Thorens but sell my ASR phono preamp. When my trust fund kicks in, I’ll shop for the high end ASR phono pre amp and I’ll add a nice tonearm and mono cartridge to the Thorens. I’m just wondering how low I will have to go in order to move the phono stage.

This answer is from another question on a similar subject >
I knew someone who owned a wooden powerboat i.e. >
https://www.classicwoodenboatplans.com/shop/barrelback-custom-19
He said either you get it or you don’t. Of course, fiberglass boats are infinitely more practical & convenient. All it takes is desensitizing yourself to the depth of beauty represented by the living thing, wood is when raised to such an art form. All the sheer, enveloping, penetrating complexities & nuance - once you begin to surrender to seeing it, you’ve opened up entirely new vistas in yourself.
Yes, I’m leading up to saying it’s the same with vinyl vs digital (in a well-sorted system much more so of course) but the mechanics of it are never that simple to those, intent on being in denial. It works like this: If you try & listen to the differences you’ll definitely hear them - the tricky part to digital lovers/apologists whatever, is connecting that to their emotions. The human imagination is so amazing/powerful etc. that it allows us to override that connection. G-d bless you if you’ve convinced yourself that makes you happy. It’s an accommodation that is as convenient as the guy who persuades himself the surplus beauty of wooden boats is irrelevant. I have a Meridian 808 cd player AND a record player. I’m not a chronic liar who forgets what the truth actually is. I still enjoy my digital but it’s missing stuff vinyl has, no question. If you tell yourself you don’t need it/can’t hear it, that becomes your reality soon enough. Whatever floats your proverbial boat, regardless of what it’s made of. I’ll defend anyone’s right to look at Da Vincis with dark sunglasses on. Calling it the same as w/o, not so much though.

So, you prefer your digital setup, only have 200 albums and need funds for surgery. It appears you've already made your decision, sell the vinyl rig, get the surgery!

I'd keep the albums in case you get back into vinyl in future.

Well, brain tumor removal (or saving your sight, etc.) or turntable.  What a dilemma!  But!  How much actual surgery can selling an old Thorens really pay for?  Maybe a tooth extraction?

@goofyfoot if your vinyl collection is only around 200 LPs, you have already decided some time ago on which medium you like to listen to. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. People into vinyl, without almost any effort, will amass a collection of thousands easily and passionately. It matters not-at-all! You don't have enough interest in it to worry about.

I’d fight to the end for vinyl. I’d much rather suffer the fate of The Black Night before ever considering giving up my vinyl:

https://youtu.be/ZmInkxbvlCs

Sorry, Carmen McRae for those of you who care.

A small private record shop in Paris had a Carmen McRay “Alfie” mono pressing on Mainstream records and they were asking 45 EUROS. I pain 8 dollars for my copy here in the states. I asked the owner why the price was so high and he mentioned that it was a hard to find title. 

Chakster wrote, "And I have to mention that rare American records are much cheaper in the USA than in UK, Europe or Japan."  From my experience shopping for LPs in Tokyo, I have to agree, and I would add that the LPs need not be very "rare" in order to sell in Tokyo for ~2X more than US prices, comparing to for example to used LP prices at the Capital Audio Fest, which I attend with some regularity.  Last time I was in Tokyo, I was shopping at Disc Union in the Ochanomizu section of Tokyo. I have been buying from DU for more than a decade, ever since our son moved permanently to Tokyo and I started making annual or semi-annual visits.  Two years ago this month (no trip last year due to pandemic), I was standing in DU holding a mint condition Chris Connor mono LP on the Bethlehem label that I realized was selling for about $25.  I know for a fact that I can buy such LPs at the CAF from any of my favorite vendors, for about $8 to $10.  Same situation for Julie London, June Christy, and some others I was searching for that day.  Anything from any of our greatest artists, like Miles, Dizzy, etc, will be $25 and up at DU.  Not nearly as appreciated by US market.  This says more about our culture, or lack thereof, than it does about economic differences.

mikekollar

Vinyl: Massive steps to press a piece of vinyl then goes on a little platter where a tiny little needle picks up the information stamped into a groove and every little snap, pop, glitch will remind you.... its f'ing vinyl ...

You've obviously been traumatized by exposure to really bad LP playback. I'm sorry, but it happens.

Vinyl: Massive steps to press a piece of vinyl then goes on a little platter where a tiny little needle picks up the information stamped into a groove and every little snap, pop, glitch will remind you.... its f'ing vinyl. Highly over rated..... sorry...... I sold all of that crap years ago and don't need to go into a long dissertation about the superiority of the proper setup in the digital world. Sell it all and then if you want to go back to an analog source...... Pre recorded reel to reel tape is the new vinyl. All of the analog sound you might be looking for without all of the vinyle audible wear and tear. Expensive, but true.

I sold my vinyl outfit and replaced it with leather, wait, wrong forum.

"Do I need psychoanalysis? Yikes!"

Maybe to start with a pet first?

One factor in this debate I rarely see discussed is HOW folks listen to the music.  Are they sitting still and focusing or busy doing other things?  The way I listen is a solo endeavor - it's not really socially acceptable behavior I can share with friends present, i.e., I sit alone in the sweet spot with my head inclined toward the floor to get the best imaging.

Do I need psychoanalysis?  Yikes!