bjorn

I would say the hate against Pirates is overblown. I think the main issue was with many of their splatter/haze/etc. records having a grainy residue. Some of their records are a bit noisy, and they used to sometimes have a low level whooshing sound (this might have been a DMM issue... but I haven't noticed this in years). But honestly, the majority of what they put out sounds quite good. Maybe most importantly, I have personally never experienced an off-center pressing from them, and that is the defect that I find to be the most infuriating and detrimental to the sound of the record. Compared to the garbage quality I've seen from places like United, I'd rather take something from Pirates/GZ any day.

If you have a bit of time and like building stuff, you could build your own high-end speakers. I did this a few years back, and it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done, and the speakers sound better than anything I would have been able to afford otherwise. GR Research has kits which will give you some of the best components you can get; you just build the cabinets.

I think your interconnect between your cart and preamp could have an effect on this setting.

Quiet! If it were possible for me to pick a favorite SP song, this might be it. Wish I could have been there. I've seen them three times, but it was never on the set list.

I think a worthwhile upgrade would be a better stylus. Nothing wrong with the Blue, but swapping in a Black stylus, for example, should reduce distortion and get more out of the grooves. I don't have personal experience with the those Ortofons, but after using a JICO SAS for a few years I don't think I can ever go back to an elliptical stylus, they tend to distort noticeably more.

I was able to score a UK Hut pressing of Siamese Dream for $35 or something, maybe 12 years ago. The US pressing floating around at that time was terrible, but the Hut version plays beautifully, so this was one of the smarter buys I've made. I'd grab a reissue just to have a less delicate copy to play (jacket is kind of thin). Hopefully they go back to the original color scheme though.

Now that I've sat out the first few, this set of releases is getting increasingly painful to miss out on as a fan. I wish they would at least put the tracks on Bandcamp or something.

Boy, those went fast. Didn't even last an hour. I'm happy with my Broken Circles copy, but this was tempting.

Listening to mine now. Yellow marble variant is really just straight yellow in my case, but it sounds good. I'm not completely through yet, but this record is a beast.

I’m not going to bother with this. I’ll just be content with the cd, but I am curious if the vinyl master will alleviate some of the clipping that is all over the digital version (probably not). That would actually make this box a bit more interesting.

I have the 2xLP and it sounds excellent. It sounds massive with practically no surface noise.

Spinning my clear rust copy now, sounds amazing. Also extremely happy to be able to listen to the record on release day.

I had a similar issue with my amp picking up powerline data signals, luckily switching to another outlet solved the issue right away.

You can't really go wrong with either Pro-Ject or Rega, though from what I've read, Rega's are perhaps a bit less user-friendly because you have to use spacers if you ever need to adjust tonearm height. Based on personal experience, I'd also avoid decks where you have to lift the platter to change speeds, unless you are OK with adding a Speedbox at some point soon. Probably the best thing you could do is find a hi-fi dealer and try a few out for yourself. Since you're in Germany, there should be something not too far from you, and the trip would definitely be worth it. Another thing to consider is whether it might be worth saving a bit longer and jumping up to something in the €1000-€1500 range. Once you hit that price range, I think the returns diminish dramatically going up any higher. I did that a few years ago, and I will probably stick with that turntable until I kick the bucket. There isn't really anything that I can see breaking on it other than the belt or motor, which are easily replaced. I just don't see any reason to ever upgrade again.

Went with the standalone LP bundle, the box didn't seem like it was worth it, plus I find those a bit clunky to get the records out of. Excited to get these. I didn't really like them when they came out, but I've come to realize this more dissonant, exploratory take on black metal is way more interesting to me than the usual take on the genre. Fans of this should definitely check out the latest album from Norse: https://norsebm.bandcamp.com/album/ascetic-dissonant-black-metal?from=search&search_item_id=774770443&search_item_type=a&search_match_part=%3F&search_page_id=2019126438&search_page_no=0&search_rank=4&search_sig=e0bf15d4c6514228298a3de8bafbc17d&logged_out_menubar=true

My first table was a Pro-Ject and I loved it. The only thing I'd avoid is the models with rubber band motor suspensions, though I'm not sure if they still do this. Isolation was insufficient and motor hum would get into the signal. Models where the motor is completely decoupled from the plinth (RPM 1.3, 3, etc) would be worth considering in my opinion.

Turns out, I was able to solve the problem by switching out which wall outlet the amp was plugged in to. I realized that I had a wifi router node with a power line connection on the same circuit, so I think my amp was picking up some of those signals.

A midrange integrated amp in the $1000ish range would likely have a good phono stage built in, which would give you plenty of juice for your speakers and negate the need for a separate phono preamp (especially if you find one that also has a MM/MC switch). I'd look at models from Marantz, Rotel, Yamaha, Denon, Cambridge, etc. If you find a used one that's a little older (5-10 years), you'd probably end up paying $500-600, which would be a good value for your money. Also, I wouldn't pay too much attention to wattage. This is a misleading figure which manufacturers can manipulate, and doesn't accurately indicate how powerful an amp is. What I'm using now is only rated at 75 watts, but I can barely tolerate getting close to the halfway point on the volume dial, and it crushes other amps I've had, one of which was rated at 200 watts per channel. Wattage ratings on speakers are also not really helpful. It's actually safer to use speakers rated lower than the amp; under powering speakers would be more likely to cause damage.

Ordered the yellow one. Violent Sleep was excellent, so I'm curious about this one.

Thanks for the tip. Did it make a clearly noticeable difference in your system?

Lately I've noticed that my integrated amp (https://www.hifi-wiki.de/index.php/Denon_PMA-1510_AE) is producing some weird static noise. It's not a humming or buzzing, so I don't think it's a ground loop. It's kind of a quiet fluttery garbled noise. It doesn't get louder or quieter when I adjust the volume, and it's present on every channel, and it comes through both headphones and speakers. I've tried disconnecting various components, but that doesn't make a difference. I thought maybe it was coming from the computer I have connected to my DAC, but unplugging that makes no difference either. I'm pretty stumped. I've considered adding a power conditioner to plug everything into, but I'm not convinced those things actually do anything. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

Thanks, and I totally agree with you about the tactile difference between CD's and vinyl, there's absolutely no contest. I also think that in light of all the things that can go wrong with vinyl, there's something particularly satisfying when you get a beautifully produced copy where everything looks and sounds its best. To me, that's as good a reason as any to keep collecting. I can also add that as a guy in his forties who has been collecting music since his 10th birthday, I'm grateful I held on to as much as I did. I still have some tapes and CD's from my childhood, but there are a bunch I got rid of that I would really like to have back. And while these are ultimately just objects, they somehow add something irreplaceable to my life.

I've had similar thoughts from time to time, and the lousy quality (not to mention the soaring prices) of many pressings is definitely a factor. One thing I've done recently is to simply get rid of records that sound bad and just buy the CD instead. It's significantly cheaper, and while not quite as enjoyable as playing a record, it removes a lot of the annoyance with defective pressings. I adjusted my thinking a bit. Instead of viewing CD's as inherently inferior like I used to, I just accept them for what they are, a less charming format with nearly flawless sound reproduction on a smaller physical scale. True, I have a few records that, to me, sound better than CD's due to the different mastering, but let's be honest, people trashing the sound quality of CD's vs. vinyl have no clue what they're talking about. So when I get frustrated by the high prices or shoddy quality of a particular vinyl release, I just move on to the CD version and that helps me forget what I was annoyed about and just focus on the music. Ultimately, curating a physical library of all my favorite music is something that gives me a lot of joy, much more than streaming everything possibly could.

Here are some cool-looking Gorguts reissues. I guess Season of Mist will eventually put these up for the US. https://tentaclesindustries.bigcartel.com/product/tntcls-026-gorguts-obscura-limited-2xlp-vinyl-pre-order

New album "Nalepa" up for preorder soon. https://www.midirarecords.com/release/md-100-nadja-aidan-baker-nalepa/