Who is you go to for top quality vinyl


I use to buy so many Japaneese and German  pressings locally when i was a younger man.
Now I only see them shipped from japan for crazy shipping prices on ebay(and weeks away ),
I hear all the great recommendations on specific labeled vinyl or mixes.I know its a collection, but where is your go too.
Thanks
oleschool

Showing 3 responses by sevs

oleschool, please let me commiserate on your lost collection (and house!), here in Malibu I go nuts each time temp in the Valley reaches 100 and I realize that one flick of a cigarette butt by a passing asshole or a "friendly citizen" starting another fire, and thats it for my collection!
If I may, does anyone have enything nice to say about Soviet-era pressings from Melodiya? Thats all I had when growing up, totally hated it for warped records, learned that LPs can be totally and consistently flat only after visiting Poland in late 80-ies and bringing back Jethro Tull, Genesis, DireStraits, PF... Was totally stunned when John Schwarts from Chicago ProMusica mentioned that Melodiya made excellent-sounding records!??!!? John is like God to me, but this one statement goes against all my personal experiences! Maybe he just wanted to make me feel better about my x-citizenship?
Also, check Art Dudley ramblings in a Stereophile few issues back about a lady from England who sells used LPs making notes how many pops/clicks there is. 
Here is the link to Art Dudley article about spiralclassics.co.uk :
http://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-160#VzYbU35pzuhwdsqi.97
the very idea of counting pops and clicks is new to me, but for those who already know what to expect from the specific LP in terms of surface noise and mastering quality, such info is a must, I guess...

I left all my LP collection back in Ukraine, and I agree that the pain of choosing which albums should be replaced can be numbed only by buying and restocking 'em all!! ;-)