Record collecting versus hoarding

How about Greg living in the tent?

Records are meant to be listened to. Just like cars are meant to be driven. Artists want their music to be listened to. Mine were bought one by one and have to be in some sort of rotation to earn their keep.

@mitchagain - that is a very interesting theory. The audiophiles should theoretically be more careful(anal) about their collection, but that doesn’t explain all of them, especially the equipment hoarders. 17 turntables? Come on man.

I am definitely careful 🤤 keeping my collection spreadsheet up to the minute showing label and estimated value (should have  kept amount paid and purchase date, but by the time I started the spreadsheet, it was too large tor that).

Anybody else have a spreadsheet?

@fdroadrunner - if it takes you a couple minutes to find a record, I think you are in need of intervention. If you have 5500 titles either you listen a hell of a lot more than 15 hours a week or there are hundreds (thousands?) that you never listen to. Sounds like you really like Revolver. I think your "safety copies" may inch you toward the hoarder category, but at least you have rationale.

Anybody else keep a spreadsheet?

Not interested in moving my spreadsheet to discogs. Right to privacy and all that.

If I ever sell any, it's mostly just bringing to my local record store, and sold one or two on eBay. I am registered on discogs just so I can get market value of records I look to buy.

BTW, 98% of my records are bought new, so I don't have a RCM. I don't agree with those who say you have to clean them right out of the factory. I brush them to remove dust before every playing. A long time ago I was told by a well known respected dealer in my formative years that if a record is clean, don't wet it. That's when I stopped using my Discwasher brush and fluid (remember those?) and went to the Audioquest and Hunt style brushes.

To test my theory, I took a few records to a dealer who had a RCM (I think it was a VPI) and brought a few of my oldest frequently played audiophile records and played them before and after cleaning and didn't notice a difference. Nor did the dealer trying to sell me the machine. He admitted it was mainly for all the people who buy used records below NM out there.

I guess @mijostyn goes against @mitchagain’s  theory of big collections being owned by lo-fi systems…..

It was just the higher the hi-fi, the smaller the collection. Kind of a predictive theory. The extreme is one stereo dealer I know complaining that the crazy audiophiles that keep him in business only want to play Brubeck’s Time Out and see which wire sounded better. That’s the extreme.

It kind of makes sense in that the larger collections were built in most cases by acquiring other collections where  the acquirer has no control over the SQ of each record. Audiophiles would not typically be happy with that.

 @lewm - I have tolerance for everybody, just not for those that have multiple copies of the same record and never listen to them who buy with the intent to scalp (except of course the dealers). Let anyone who wants a record get it for MSRP or less (Amazon).Those that are just disorganized or unaware hoarders can do what they do. You sound like you are aware of your hoarding, so like you say, you are not a hoarder. Personally, if I have to go down to the basement to get a record to play, it will never get played. My efficiency (anal if you must) mindset dictates that any record in my rotation (97% at this point) is within 1-2 steps of my turntable. Not bending down or opening a glass door is preferable, but not possible for about 2/3 of them.  

+1 @mkiser - 2200 is a lot, but it sounds like you use and value each record or you toss it. I only sell on line if it is particularly valuable or for some reason my local record store is trying to steal it from me.

@mitchagain - I think for the most part, your circle of friends is representative. There are always exceptions. For example, my brother in law has 2-3K records all bought individually, and a very expensive set up (top of the line multi arm VPI, new CJ electronics, Vivid speakers) but he doesn't eve brush his records for dust before playing them, and I have even seen him remove dust from the stylus with his hands! He has cash to burn I guess as is not particularly into optimizing what he has purchased. That's a new category of audiophile, which is kind of oxymoronic, not really trying to constantly improve the sound.

+1 @whart 

I consider that to be like stamp or coin collecting. I'm used to those kinds of records mainly sought after to be profited from. 

I am not a history buff (or collector of anything - I hate wasting anything - if I don't use it, I get the itch to get rid of it), but I guess anything rare or old can be collected for historical purposes. I've heard of all kinds of things being collected for no other reason than collecting them (usually for profit-short or long term) vacuum cleaners, toasters, the guy who mentioned bikes, typewriters, really anything.

I still think the artist would have preferred to have his music listened to rather than sitting in a museum. If they digitize it and make it free to listen to or download, that would be ideal before storing it away.

@lewm - that would drive me nuts...how can you remember what is upstairs and what is downstairs? To each his own.

@mijostyn - not to be personal, but bathroom music? Also, once you have the better record version of the title do you get rid of the inferior copies (not counting ones that are part of a prepackaged collection or "special" copy?

@mitchagain - I am a completist when it comes to trying to get all the records I would like from a particular artist (pop/rock) and really any record I would like in the bop/hard bop/post bop category. I'm pretty picky in what I like, which is why my collection is in the low 300s. If I really like the album, I will see about getting a higher quality copy. Most of my records are audiophile versions, so that doesn't happen very often The only groups that I have/like all their US releases are the Beatles and Steely Dan. None in the jazz category. I do rationalize some (especially the more expensive) records thinking what they will be worth when my wife or kids sell them when I kick the bucket. I do not like the word collector (as you probably can tell). 

I've been hearing more and more about Bill Evans - never got into him as a solo artist (of course he plays on KoB)  - any suggestions Mike?

@lewm - if I can't get a record within 5 seconds, it is a major problem. Since I go through a series of rotations by music type and section, it never happens. I recently updated my rotation (I had to get another stackable bin due to expansion) to make it easier for me to equitably play the artists I only have single records from, so that will make it take the full 5 seconds. I know I am nuts... I do still listen to something that I just feel like listening to or vary the rotation a bit, but the point is I listen to all my 97% rotation records at least every 3-4 months or so. If someone wants to say once a year, that would make the max number of records that seem reasonable to me is about 1000. I think your disorganization or not knowing exactly where a record is or having to go down the basement to get a records would be unsettling for me, but if you're OK with it, that's great. Maybe you like some records better on one of the two systems for some reason.

@torojano  - time to throw out the 25 cent records, but at least you're not scalping.

@mijostyn - Mike - I didn't mean singing in the shower.... Anyhow, I think you moving your duplicate records of inferior sound quality into storage is problematic. Why not sell them to a record store and let someone who doesn't own that title enjoy them of maybe if they are really good 2nd best copies, others may want to upgrade their copy to your number 2. Plus, put a few bucks in your pocket to pay for new records. I'm with you on CDSs - don't have my player hooked up to my stereo and play them in my garage or car. The ones I like best out of my 150-200 or so have been rebought on vinyl if available. I was forced into them like a lot of others in the late 80s/early 90s when vinyl was not being produced in any quantities in the US. I resisted as long as I could. I hear SACDs are damn good, but a high quality SACD transport, DAC and power supply would probably cost more than an excellent turntable/cartridge/phono stage. 

@td_dayton - sounds like you are a dealer. There must be hundreds of records you never listen to. Would you or would others consider an audiophile?

@lewm - I am always looking for new ones to add, it's just hard to find ones that I like that are available on vinyl. And yes, If I play one of my "non-rotation" records (Michael Jackson, etc.), I do remember what I liked about it, and why it is no longer in the mix. I don't know if I call that delight, more like surprise.

The problem is, I don't want to take away from my records on heavy rotation. I have been adding at a faster clip than before the pandemic, that is for sure. Ergo, the new record bin just added that holds 50-60 records.

@lewm - i meant that listening to any records not worthy of being in my rotation takes away from those in the rotation. The heavy rotation is just that the artists with more titles get played more since all titles are theoretically played equally. I know that some of the ones I don’t like as much will end up getting skipped over when they were probably due for a spin. Not a perfect rotation, but good enough that no record would go a year without being played.

that’s really my point. If you don’t like a record enough to play it at least once a year, you really don’t like it. Unless you like everything or don’t listen to your favorites often.

Agree Lew. The only problem is there are some records I really like that sound crappy that have never been reissued, and I refuse to pay Better Records prices, so unfortunately, they are in the rotation. Luckily there are not too many of these.

@lewm - depends on what you consider unplayable. If it just doesn't sound good, I still will play it. Luckily I don't have any I consider unplayable, but have a few that I would buy if reissued or available new. The rest will stay, unless they are a top favorite of mine and then I will splurge on a Ultra Disc One Step or UHQR (or other improvement) even if I have an audiophile pressing. These are few and far between - so far only Aja, Royal Scam, Pretzel Logic (maybe), Runours, Somethin' Else and Hotel California.

And no, I am not an analogue kook, just someone who wants the best SQ possible on vinyl. Wish I had the space for a reel to reel, just to see how much better that sounds than vinyl, but at $500 a pop for the tapes, I'm not inclined to pursue it anyway if I did.