Servo wrote: 

 
Original sleeve was 6-sided. See later 4-sided sleeve where the "missing" area is filled in with black or purple(!).

 DaveInVA wrote: 
I don't think so.

Clipping corners, using a hole punch and other methods of permanently marking a LP sleeve was a common method of marking items for clearance.

 DaveInVA wrote: 
What?  No mention at all of Joe Grado's line of value cartridges?  What are they, chopped liver?

I've always liked having a separate phono preamp, not only because it allows better control of gain vs. noise, but because the RIAA de-emphasis section belongs apart from the linear part of the chain (IMO, of course).

My first "good" cartridge was a short-lived (because it sucked) design that used strain guage sensor.

No Virginia, diamonds aren't forever sometimes...

 cc_rider wrote: 
Do you mean the Telarc version?  "Digital cannons"?

Yup, that was a digitally recorded record, one of the first.  Yup, it sounds a LOT more impressive when you remove the limitations of vinyl.

 DaveInVA wrote: 
I'll second that.

BillG, are you watching?

 Zep wrote:  I have one,never played.

 Zep wrote: 
Yes the original release of those 2 LP's on the Island records label had the corners clipped. The one I played today is a later re-release and they used a standard jacket with that.

 black321 wrote: 
I just realized I forgot to mention cartridges. There are Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC). There have been other types such as Moving Iron (such as AKG) and Condensor (such as MicroAcoustisc). The most prevalent are MM and MC. There are 2 types of MC, Low Output (LO) and High Output (HO). While there are some very nice sounding MM cartridges such as the old Grace F9R (Ruby) the Moving Coil cartridges are generally better due to the lower mass of their design. When using a Low Output MC cartridge you need a preamp with a Moving Coil Preamp or Step-Up device (transformer). About 40 db of gain is needed for MM and approx 60 db for LO-MC. High Output Moving Coil cartridges are a compromise.  They need more coil winding to produce the higher output and that increases the mass. There are some decent sounding HO MC cartridges but they are not as good as a LO MC can be. The advantage of using a HO MC is that you generally need no step-up device or moving coil preamp. The catch 22 with using a LO MC is that the Moving Coil Preamp (also called head amps or pre preamps) or step up device has to be a good one or you are just wasting the cartridge. Most mid-fi receivers and preamps that have built in MC preamps are mediocre. In my experience the LO MC cartridges that have the best detail have solid Ruby or Sapphire cantilevers. Some have "Micro Reach" cantilevers which lower the mass even more. If you have a decent turntable with a lower medium to low mass arm then something like a Dynavector Ruby, 23MR, 17 series, Sumiko Talisman etc will work great. Some of these cartridges are not made anymore but there is a place called Soundsmith that can retip most popular MC cartridges and even make them better than they were new. Sometimes it pays to buy an old Dynavector with a bad stylus and get it rebuilt by him. He does an excellent job. As for new cartridges in addition to the Dynavector 17 I recommend the Denon DL-301MK2 for medium to low mass arm or the excellent for the money Denon DL-103 for medium to higher mass arms. Soundsmith also offers a line of excellent brand new cartridges he builds. Hope this rambling helps some!

 DaveInVA wrote: 
I had a copy of this (and "Shootout") where the UR and LL corners were clipped.

 cc_rider wrote: 
I mentioned that Telarc 1812 Overture in my original response to the OP. That took a really good tonearm/cartridge combo to track. There were many test records available that had trackablity test tracks for testing how well your tonearm/cartridge worked. I had a Souther SL-3 with a Dynavector Ruby and it had no problem with that track at all....Doesn't work well with a Dual 1229 and midfi Shure/Empire/Audiotechnica though....

 cc_rider wrote: 

 Servo wrote:
  Years ago one of my buddies had a chi-chi turntable, he kept the stylus weight dialed way down. It worked great 99.9% of the time, but the cannon booms in the 1812 Overture would launch the stylus into the air!

 jagdriver wrote: 
Yes that can be a problem especially if the records gets stored where it gets hot enough to cause the shrink to do what it does and shrink like in a storage place etc. Whenever I find a record where the shrink is getting tight I remove it. If the cover is still in nice shape I will then put it in a loose fitting 3 mil plastic sleeve to protect it. I just ordered 500 more of the sleeves and will eventually put all the lp's with good covers in the 3 mil sleeves and remove all the remaining vestiges of shrink as I go. I've bought "Sealed" recorded from online vendors that have been sealed from the 60's or 70's and upon opening them found they look like a Ripples potato chip because it had been stored somewhere hot and the shrink tightened up enough to warp the record.

 DaveInVA wrote: 
Aren't you afraid of the original poly shrinking and subsequently warping the LP? I remember this as being an issue back in the day, for which non-shrinking vinyl LP sleeves were marketed.

Traffic - The low spark of high heeled boys

Renaissance - Self Titled first LP German promo on white vinyl

The Shins - Chutes too Narrow - red vinyl

Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir

Please Note:
I started this Vinyl Only spin list in part because I was informed I was cluttering up the "If Not RP then what are you listening to thread" with my vinyl posts. Now the "Vinyl Only Spin List" thread is getting cluttered up with CD vs Vinyl "debate". This was meant to be a thread for people that enjoy music on vinyl so the debate is kinda off topic. Therefore I started a brand new thread called "Vinyl vs CD" and copied all the main debate posts to there. If anyone wants to continue in that debate please post it there.

Thanks!

Servo wrote:

 black321 wrote: 
Yep!  To have a bass note of any volume you want, without any pre-emphasis the bass note would cause the groove to walk all over nearby grooves.  Even with the RIAA filters, the amount of bass is limited.  Back when the RIAA spec was being written, instruments like the Moog Taurus, and signal processors like the original Eventide Harmonizer (which could produce sub-harmonics and deepen bass artificially) didn't exist, so the RIAA-standard vinyl record is forever limited to the RIAA "curve".  Some engineers spread out the track pitch to allow for larger undulations, at the cost of less play time.  The 12" 45 RPM EP is the epitome of this technique.  While it sounds great, it's for singles, not whole albums.


Excellent choice!  My first "good" turntable was a Rega Planar 3, with a glass platter.  IIRC I paid $350 for mine back in the early '80s.  If you buy the turntable, arm and cartridge all at once, your local dealer will probably cut you a deal where you get an appropriate arm and good MC cartridge (you want to get the best cartridge you can afford) for ~$1000.  Beware of package deals that bundle "MM" cartridges.  "MM" stands for "moving magnet".  You want a moving coil cartridge.  (Coils are lighter than magnets, and less mass means better response.)  If you need a MC preamp, good ones can be had for ~250.