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Searching for Vinyl

A

atfqn

New Member
Hello fellow listeners. I am just getting into Vinyl for the first time and I was wondering where people are purchasing their records. Besides the obvious: craigslist, ebay, salvation army and local garage sales where could one go? With tower records out of business and most of the mom and pop places closed what are your recommendations? Anyone know of solid online sources/dealers/ebay sellers?

Side note: Open to all genres/suggestions - however I am really trying to find newer rock/indie materials.

Thanks guys.
 
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Unfortunately they didn't have what I was looking for. That was why I was looking for other sources. Thanks for the reply though.
 
Whenever I am looking for a specific title, I buy them from ebay...invariably from sellers with excellent reputations. I've found a few at yard sales and some from Value Village. Sometimes you might meet people who want to get rid of their entire collection, and if you tell them you are a collector, they might offer it to you.
 
you might wanna check your local radio stations as well. They might still have quite a pile leftover from when they made the switch over from vinyl to CD. I knew someone who did that and walked away with at least 6 crates worth of records.
 
atfqn said:
Side note: Open to all genres/suggestions - however I am really trying to find newer rock/indie materials.

Thanks guys.
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very rarely do I find this kind of material at garage sales or thrifts. Not knowing where you live its hard to recommend any local place but I'd conjuecture that most decent sized metro areas will have one or several independent record stores. For example here in Atlanta there are around 10 that I know of. if you're looking for an online source a good place is

http://www.musicstack.com/

sort of a buy it now listing of thousands of independent stores and dealers that sell on line with a feedback rating system.
 
Where are you located? Some people might have recommendations for good shops in your area, or in a nearby city.
 
I am in the Fairfax, VA area and I started down the vinyl avenue because of my new headphones and the rave reviews of others about the quality of vinyl. So after spending some serious time lurking around head-fi.org I now have headphones that have rendered half my mp3 collection worthless. Bit rates are lax or the sound is just plain awful - too surgical. When I had cheap equipment everything sounded fine :(

So here I am. I know very little about vinyl (though I am reading as much as I can) and it is tough to gauge prices with out numerous sources. Google yields a ton of "vendors" when I search but it seems like you guys would know what is best.

While I am here can anyone recommend the thorens td-125,140, or 160. Any thoughts would be great I have used the search already - that is how I whittled it down to those models but any info would be appreciated.
 
Well if you are in Fairfax, VA, then you and I are neighbors of sorts as I am across the Potomac in DC.

Your two main options are the two record stores left around here:

Orpheus Records in Arlington. Its about a block from the Clarendon Metro. A pretty good place and the owner is a character. I have gone there since I was 15 and he was in Georgetown. Anyway, watch out for his eccentric pricing system. Good bargain bin. Mostly used, but some new.

Joe's Record Paradise in Gaithersburg. Great place. More new stuff than Orpheus, but still lots of used. Great staff.

Then there is:

Olson's Books: all have a small new vinyl section. Very small, but usually has something decent.

Second Story Books at Dupont Circle: Medium sized used section. Not bad.
 
baj81 said:
you might wanna check your local radio stations as well. They might still have quite a pile leftover from when they made the switch over from vinyl to CD. I knew someone who did that and walked away with at least 6 crates worth of records.
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That had to be a while ago. Do you think there are there radio stations that still have records lying around?
 
atfqn said:
When I had cheap equipment everything sounded fine :(
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:smoke: I know the feeling.

I don't know if he'd have anything you're after, but ebay seller gr8tunes is out of Georgia. I've purchased several times and been very happy. If you take time and look through his stuff, he has a lot of sealed albums with sawcuts or holes, basically NOS items.
 
I really appreciate that Jack Lord thanks for the heads up. You too Ozmoid, I didn't know what I was missing till the headphones told me. But then after all of the headphone/and other vinyl forum stuff I talked to my dad about vinyl and now I feel terrible for making his thorens something something into a playdo pie when I was 4. :( He doesn't mention it anymore but I feel like I should find him a replacement of sorts for his 50th.
 
ozmoid said:
:scratch2: What headphones did you buy that made you abandon your mp3 player?
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Nothing special they aren't grados or bose or anything just audio technica a900s. I am a complete neophyte but they sound spectacular to me and not to mention quite a step up from the a500s I used to own. Stupid audio bug bit me now I want some warm jazz. At the moment my pc is my driver and my chaintech AV710 mixed with these head phones are killing me... They are too clear. The flaws are in my media and sound card I am sure.

I want to get a Marantz 2270/2275 and a thorens TD-125 to see what audio should really sound like (at least on a limited scale - I am no snob, I just want to enjoy what I am doing). Currently just waiting on the right combo to come by - not to mention the right music - always on the lookout for something that has melody and rhythm.
 
Nice! Good that you have a focus for what you're after, too - you may be able to stave off the "thrift-shop addiction" for a little while. :D

If you're not completely off CD's just yet, take a look at yourmusic.com - they're an AK sponsor (sign up through the banner in the forums list) and CD's are just 6.99. Since you're looking for warm jazz, they carry the Blue Note: Perfect Takes disc, that's a good place to start.

ANd BTW, Welcome to AK! :music:
 
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