adamha21

Getting too many records and swapping in a few different components so I had to make some changes to the setup. I decided to actually get a rack for components and now have moved my record cleaning station to on top of the Kallax.

I picked this up yesterday. Wow, sounds great! Explosions is exploring new territory instead of the same old schtick.

I'd rather hang out with a friend who likes good music and we jam out to it, rather than a guy who has a super expensive setup and just likes to show it off. Yeah, I definitely spend time and money in what I play stuff on, but that's as much fun as buying records to me. No egos man. I couldn't give a shit about that.

Yeah, I do agree with you about upgrading components. That's half the fun for me to swap things in an out and hear big differences. Although, sometimes those can be bad differences ha! My integrated amp is a Marantz PM5004 and I was using the inboard phono stage on it that I had read was pretty good all things considered. I purchased a Musical Surroundings Nova (1st gen) with the switch to go battery power for about 3 hours. I got a really good deal on it from Audiogon. I don't know if you guys shop for gear on that site, it's mostly for audiophiles, but I've found some damn good deals on used gear. The turntable I'm super excited about. Clearaudio Concept. It was also on Audiogon and it didn't have a cartridge. Local guy in Seattle was selling it and had it offered super cheap. He didn't particularly want to ship so that factored in. It had the MCRU linear power supply upgrade and a custom made dust cover that he had made in Seattle. I'm kind of dubious as to how much sonic improvement you actually get from a power supply, but whatever. The point is, I made the drive up yesterday morning and bought it from him. He listens to mostly electronic and said he preferred digital and since he was having another kid decided to give up vinyl. I tried to hide my excitement because I absolutely got a steal. I happily put my 2M Bronze on it last night--super happy with the results.

Yes! Nice

Do any of you guys know the story with the Shoot the Freak version of Sines? Is that just a Sheath press that was imported to NZ or is that a completely different pressing cut at 33?

Thanks dude, I appreciate it! Now ITTCT just need to come to Portland on their next tour!

It's no full on Caspian post...but ya know, I try.

I know.

Just finished my ITTCT variant collection. Only missing a test press for S/T and Red Forest which will 99.9% never happen.

I just played my splatter copy this AM and I can confirm it sounds excellent. I haven't cleaned it yet, but pretty quiet and man is the bass deep.

Conspiracy pressing is superior in every way. Honestly, grave face one sounds average and vinyl is really thin.

Are these ever being pressed on vinyl? It seems like news of that first dropped 1.5 years ago.

There are a couple of current reissue labels that I think sound absolutely fantastic. Stuff I own that was pressed at RTI typically sounds great. Fuzz Club is a label that I've had nothing but terrific sound from. I know that 60's - 80's typically are just better quality pressings and sound better across many genres. Has anyone had experience with different cartridges or phono stages that really bring out the best in many of the current recordings? I guess that's what I'm most interested in. How can I maximize the recording with tweaks to my system based on others experience that they are happy with. Just gives me some ideas to try or research.

I do think the S/T album by ITTCT is another one that stands out as sounding superb on vinyl. It seems to be real hit and miss.

I agree with you on Cloudkicker...his albums do sound fantastic on vinyl. That's a good example. I was thinking that production/mastering/recording could definitely have something to do with it. But even big names like EITS sound like their vinyl is just a digital port...which it probably is.

I do...most of the variants. That's one of the better pressings, but some of the variants are absolutely terrible. Awful noise/clicks/pops.

Just posted over in the Red Forest thread because it got me thinking about some of my other post rock records I own. My current setup is not very kind to my Post Rock collection. When I started collecting a couple of years ago, I had an Audio Technica turntable and I couldn't tell the difference and thought things sounded great. Now, I have a better setup, but it doesn't seem to bring out the best of post rock. It could be because I have really gone heavy into collecting records from the 60's-70's of rock, prog, kraut, jazz that sound absolutely fantastic on vinyl...but, I digress. I feel much of my post rock sounds dull on vinyl in comparison. It's not a matter of "noise" and quiet pressings. I find the dynamics, tone, openness of the music to be mostly disappointing. Love the bands and music, but I have a hard time distinguishing better sonics on vinyl with many of these recordings. Some sound like digital ports and some sound even better digitally than the vinyl pressing. I guess my question isn't some dumbass "does anyone else feel this way?" But rather, if you are satisfied with the sound of your post rock collection on vinyl, what is your setup or what tweaks have you done to be able to maximize your enjoyment in really making the recording come alive?

Coming from a guy who loves ITTCT and collects all their variants anyway....you aren't getting Red Forest for superior sonics because it pretty much sounds like shit on vinyl. It's just very dull and doesn't have much life to it...and some variants can be very noisy. Digital definitely sounds better sonically. I'm at a point now with my setup, that it's become so transparent. A great recording and press will sound unreal. Shitty recording or press, there is no reason that vinyl is better and I'll take digital any day. This seems to be a bigger problem with Red Forest than the Trees' other albums. Honestly, I think this is true of most of what comes out of Pirates Press nowadays. I haven't been impressed with much of anything Mylene Sheath or SoS (as far as sound, not packaging or service) have put out in a long time.

This pressing sounds great. Spinning my copy right now. Great job, SV!

You are right, I used to have them about a foot away from the wall, but pushed them back about 1-2" to the wall purely for practical reasons of being easily able to access one of the shelves. I haven't noticed a sonic difference, but I'd rather have them further from the wall.What's your current setup?

The evolution of my storage area. Some custom tweaks that you can't see -- the installation of a backing on the IKEA Kallax with spacers on each shelf and the hooks installed on the side of the Kallax for cord and dust cover storage. Pretty pleased with what I have going on right now with the small area that I have. Also a bonus shot of my record clean area as well.

The evolution of my storage area. Some custom tweaks that you can't see -- the installation of a backing on the IKEA Kallax with spacers on each shelf and the hooks installed on the side of the Kallax for cord and dust cover storage. Pretty pleased with what I have going on right now with the small area that I have. Also a bonus shot of my record clean area as well.

I wish I was at that show tonight....