Commitment isn’t only money. I slowly upgraded and collected albums for nearly 60 years. My commitment was to vinyl because there was no alternative. Then a few years ago I was able to upgrade my digital rig to sound as good or better than my vinyl rig... so now it only a very expensive dust collector.
|
Let us put this question into a more enlightened perspective. Commitment is not just about dollars and cents. So no one thinks I am trying to dodge the bullet, my most expensive turntable, a VPI HW 40 now sells for north of $20K, the cartridge, SoundSmith Hyperion is now $9K(?), the phone stage Conrad Johnson ART Phono is $28K or some such. and that is just one. I also have an Technics SL1200GAE, several cartridges for it and in a second home another VPI TT, SME arm w/AT20 and PS Audio phono stage all worth a bunch. All that has nothing to do with my commitment really. I am looking at a record collection that started with some Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan and Jimmy Smith and and and all bought with paper route money when I was 14 years old. I am now 77. That is commitment. It is not about money, it is about passion. It is about goose bumps. In another thread the question was asked what was your first concert experience. Mine was in the 6th grade band. I was one of the drummers. That is commitment. Guys that spend 7 figures on new systems don't impress me at all. Money has nothing to do with it.
|
Oy vey. A lot. My main system is in my system profile here. A lot of that turntable equipment was purchased back in the aughts, when I moved to Texas full-time at the beginning of 2017 I needed to use the big Minus K bench top isolation platform, added a second arm pod and arm, more cartridges, had a custom compressor silencer box built to my specification, and retubed the phono stage with true NOS tubes. But the biggest "investment" (I’d call it an outlay, none of this is an "investment" in financial terms) is the record collection, which reflects 60 some years of buying LPs. Most of those were purchased before the Big Bump™ in vinyl pricing, but some were rare, others sought after in the collector market and expensive even at the time (now worse, and hard to find at least in top playing condition). So, yeah, I should be "committed" but have loved every minute.
|
Merrill Williams REAL table, Tri-planar arm, Dynavector and Hyabusa cartridges, Zesto Reference phono stage. So about $ 40K retail.
|
Zero.
Sold last 'table and all records back when CDs came out.
CDs, SACDs, HDCDs only since then.
Happy camper.
|
Linn LP12 Klimax without the phonostage, Koetsu Rosewood signature cartridge, Audio Research Reference 3 Phonotstage ~ $40K I also added a Silent Running Audio Ohio Class vibration platform which made a significant sonic improment. ~$3.5K
|
CKR1969 - $80k! That is LOVE for vinyl! Well done.
|
im all in, Burmester 175 with AT Opus 1, $80k
|
About $4500. $1700 for a Marantz TT-15S1 turntable, $1200 for a Hana ML moving coil cartridge, $1400 for a Sutherland TZ Vibe phono stage, plus interconnect (not sure which one I'm using).
|
$3750 - Music Hall Steath TT, Clearaudio Smart Phono V2 , Ortofon 2M Bronze , Triode Wire Labs phono cable, Herbies & Les Davis mats, Stack Audio EVO isolation feet
|
Probably around $2K. I’m mainly a digital guy. My analog is actually kept in a second system because it is more commensurate with the gear in that system than the main rig, and it’s also the room where the LPs are stored
|
$3150
Sota Escape , Ortofon Bronze , Sutherland KC Vibe mk II
|
-Thorens TD125 MKII/SME 3009 Non-Improved - $225/shipped/used
-OEM replacement rubber footers for TT - $20/new + shipping
-Musical Fidelity V-LPS - $99/shipped/closeout
-Grado Prestige Silver - $80 + shipping/new/discounted
-Grado Prestige Gold - $110 + shipping/new/discounted
-Grado replacement styli 2 x $65 + shipping/new/discounted
-Neuance custom shelf for TT - $225 + shipping (thanks Ken)
All purchased prior to sales tax being charged on interstate Internet transactions.
Not a whole lot, but it sure sounds good.
DeKay
|
Technics 1200G + Hana Umami Red cart + Herron Audio tube phono preamp came to about $12K or so.
|
Last year, I spent the equivalent of about $15,000 on acquiring a used Klimax LP12 and bringing it up to the then current spec. This included a new plinth, Karousel bearing and Radikal 2 motor/power supply upgrade. All in, that’s about half the cost of buying new. Just as good sonically and visually, but with the downside of not knowing how long the cartridge will last. I can’t see me ever changing anything else about it, given the cost of Bedrok.
|
