Music on Vinyl Commentary

I grew up in a musical household. My dad was a jazz drummer, although not by trade. All my friends and myself at one time or another dreamed of a satisfying musical career. Although not in my inner circle, others in our larger Detroit clique have “made it” to some degree and I’ll bet some of you reading this are familiar with their accomplishments. Naturally, an extension of this passion has been the attempt to record and reproduce music as accurately as possible.

My first symptoms of the audiophile affliction were manifested when I took the majority (all?) of my high school graduation loot and bought what, at that time, I thought was a pretty sweet system: Technics linear tracking turntable, Akai tape deck, EPI speakers, and…I can’t remember the receiver. At that time, 1985, I was really enjoying my new albums by Pat Metheny, Steve Smith (drummer from Journey), Jeff Lorber, Al Dimeola, Leo Kotke, Maynard Ferguson, Joe Pass, and all my Dad’s 50’s & 60’s Jazz.

As I grew older, and my equipment died, I neglected to replace it. I focused on career and family. During that time, my audiophile “pilot light” remained lit. I occasionally picked up an issue of Stereophile and, when walking past the local Hi-Fi shop in Chicago, made time to stop and re-calibrate.

Then, a few years ago, when our Sony receiver died, I decided that I had deserved and had the means to embrace the hobby and passion that been dormant for some time. After buying the local fare (Marantz integated amplifier & SACD, Linn monitors) from my dealer, I was hooked. Not only did I re-kindle my desire to learn about the technical nature of the hobby but, began to re-unite with old artists and new by way of new CDs and SACDs.

To make a short story long, I’ve since committed myself to the Vinyl => SET => Single Driver “philosophy” and, here’s the point of the thread:

In the last year, I must’ve bought over one hundred used albums, mostly from the 70’s and early 80’s, primarily jazz and some extensions like New Grass (pre & post Bela Fleck), fusion, Sting, etc. Not only have I been blown away by the analog version of the album I had been used to hearing on CD but, I HAVE FOUND MANY ALBUMS THAT I DON’T THINK HAVE EVEN BEEN RELEASED ON CD.

Isn’t it amazing that there is a large portion of GOOD musical history that so many will never be able to hear and that a few of us will be privileged to? As I peruse Ebay, local record shops etc. I’m amazed to find so much great music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that I can only assume have not been released on CD.

I think it would pretty cool if there was a source (Fremer’s Music Angle, Audiogon Thread, TAS, etc.) that would review albums in many Genre’s of releases NOT available on any format but vinyl. I would like the treasure hunt aspect of finding such an album and being able to hear something rather unique.