vinyl 180g?

soundfreak1

What are the diff types of vinly recordings ie: 180g ect and what is the diff between them. Thanks in advance.

brgman

It's the weight of the vinyl used.Most of the old stuff was 120-140 g depending on who pressed it.
If you can recall the flimsy records that were "flexible" you will find the 180g to be heavy and stiff.Very stout.

hochpt21

brgman wrote: »

It's the weight of the vinyl used.Most of the old stuff was 120-140 g depending on who pressed it.
If you can recall the flimsy records that were "flexible" you will find the 180g to be heavy and stiff.Very stout.

I believe your right. I've even seen some 200g advertised, but don't own any.

My super crappy Crosley player that started me on this journey (not ashamed to admit it) had trouble with 180g.

My current player is fine of course, and I do like the added 'heft'

brgman

What kind of trouble?

hochpt21

It would squeak with every rotation and the speed was inconsistent (think a car running out of gas...or a student driver braking and hitting the gas).

Regular albums played fine for my setup at the time.

brgman

I guess the extra 40 or so grams dragged it down.Interesting.

soundfreak1

brgman wrote: »

It's the weight of the vinyl used.Most of the old stuff was 120-140 g depending on who pressed it.
If you can recall the flimsy records that were "flexible" you will find the 180g to be heavy and stiff.Very stout.

Any diff in sound quality? I remember being able to order " master " records ( having to do with 1st press off master tape and much better sounding) i guess simular to the diff between red book cd's and hdcd and sacd. Are they still available or diff grade of recordings???

soundfreak1

Going shopping for some vinyl today is there any diff in sound??? Ib the diff weights in vinyl??? Any suggustions on type??

brgman

soundfreak1 wrote: »

Going shopping for some vinyl today is there any diff in sound??? Ib the diff weights in vinyl??? Any suggustions on type??

Some say 180 and 200g are better.Some say it doesn't matter.
Personally i love the heavier vinyl and think it's better all around.YMMV

nspindel

The weight of the vinyl is only one factor affecting the sound quality of the record. Certainly the heavier the vinyl, the less resonance you get within the record itself, therefore fewer vibrations making their way to the needle and muddying the sound. But a good clamp or weight can do a lot to better couple the record to the platter and remove a lot of that resonance. The heavier vinyl will also be much more resistant to warping.

But at the end of the day, a quality pressing of a quality recording wins every time, regardless of the weight of the vinyl. I've got albums from the 70's and 80's where the vinyl is quite light but the sound is outstanding, and I've got 180g "new" vinyl that has a lot of background pops and clicks.

soundfreak1

Just got back to the house with the M97xE mounted in its shell, table set up, seven new discs to spin! Im going in now.

agfrost

Fully agree with this post, which is what I've experienced as well.

nspindel wrote: »

The weight of the vinyl is only one factor affecting the sound quality of the record. Certainly the heavier the vinyl, the less resonance you get within the record itself, therefore fewer vibrations making their way to the needle and muddying the sound. But a good clamp or weight can do a lot to better couple the record to the platter and remove a lot of that resonance. The heavier vinyl will also be much more resistant to warping.

But at the end of the day, a quality pressing of a quality recording wins every time, regardless of the weight of the vinyl. I've got albums from the 70's and 80's where the vinyl is quite light but the sound is outstanding, and I've got 180g "new" vinyl that has a lot of background pops and clicks.

nspindel

soundfreak1 wrote: »

Just got back to the house with the M97xE mounted in its shell, table set up, seven new discs to spin! Im going in now.

I suspect you will be very happy with that Shure. Remember, like anything else, it takes a cartridge some time to break in and open open up. Make sure you play it for about 50 hours before deciding if you're happy with it, but I'm sure you will be.

soundfreak1

nspindel wrote: »

I suspect you will be very happy with that Shure. Remember, like anything else, it takes a cartridge some time to break in and open open up. Make sure you play it for about 50 hours before deciding if you're happy with it, but I'm sure you will be.

You can stick a fork in my a** im well done! Alan parsons sounds great, hiroshima is astounding. So far so good!!

nspindel

Told you :cheesygrin:

Eventually you may wish to upgrade, but in the meanwhile start saving up for a cleaning machine. Cleaning your vinyl will give you a bigger boost in sound quality than any better cartridge will at this point. Enjoy!

soundfreak1

nspindel wrote: »

Told you :cheesygrin:

Eventually you may wish to upgrade, but in the meanwhile start saving up for a cleaning machine. Cleaning your vinyl will give you a bigger boost in sound quality than any better cartridge will at this point. Enjoy!

HELL im already looking at tt's LOL and i did look at a "clean spin" today for 124.00. This is gunna cost!

nspindel

I do know that people like the spin clean, and I've never used it so I can't really give you my impression of it. However, as an owner of a VPI, I cannot see how any mechanism can clean a record as well as one with a vacuum. And they are expensive. But if you're going to commit to vinyl for good, and you're going to start building a collection, when you consider the cost of the machine spread across your entire collection it's really not that much. The 16.5 retails for $600 (it can be bought for less....). Now that I have 300 records, when I consider the cost of the machine as $2 per record it doesn't seem like so much and easily is worth it.

soundfreak1

The $2 per albem isnt a problem the 600.00 is a mf'er.LOL

soundfreak1

HELL thats more (600.) than i have in any one piece of equip. I own. To wash records? Damn for 20.00 i can get 2 prepubisent teenage girls in bikini's to hand wash them as i watch. Oops did i say that outloud?

nspindel

Check out how much the VPI Typhoon sells for :eek:

soundfreak1

" moven too fast for the kid " deffinitly not that far in yet! Im not exactly beating them on a rock but not up to a couple grand for a washer aint gonna happen.

nspindel

I'm with you. By far the most popular vacuum machines are the 16.5 and the Nitty Gritty that's also in the same price range, don't remember the model. I've seen the 16.5 used sell for $350.

soundfreak1

nspindel wrote: »

I'm with you. By far the most popular vacuum machines are the 16.5 and the Nitty Gritty that's also in the same price range, don't remember the model. I've seen the 16.5 used sell for $350.

That might happen. In the future.

nspindel

Not trying to push you to do it now. Like I said, start saving, that's all I'm trying to tell you. Only point I'm trying to make is that the cleaning machine should be your next point of investment, since you've got a great starter cartridge that can take you a long way.

soundfreak1

You make a valid arguement. I will have to look out for one at the thrift store or sell something. Ive spent a fair amount of late!and i am stairing into an abiss called vinyl! God help me!

nspindel

We don't call it a rabbit hole for nothing!

rromeo923

I have KAB ev1 that is a bit more affordable and does a great job. Add a hand steam cleaner to the mix and it is amazing.

http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/rcleaner.htm

schwarcw

I own a VPI 16.5 and a Spin Clean. For entry level use the Spin clean does a great job.

Now, use it in conjuction with a VPI 16.5 and you have a real winning combo.

I like the fact that you can let areas of a record "soak" in cleaning solution in the Spin Clean. I have had some nasty dirt that was really stuck on some old records found in a garage sale. The Spin Clean "soak" overnight removes some real stubborn deposits of sticky **** with trapped dirt that the VPI could not touch.

Clean with Spin Clean, let dry, clean, vacuum, rinse, vacuum with the VPI. It's worth the work! Even some new vinyl sounded better after a thorough cleaning.

soundfreak1

rromeo923 wrote: »

I have KAB ev1 that is a bit more affordable and does a great job. Add a hand steam cleaner to the mix and it is amazing.

http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/rcleaner.htm

That may be a deal on the ev1.thanks for the tip

dromunds

Nspindel is right about some albums from the 70's and 80's sound better than the 180, 200 gr albums, but its individual. A lot of the 180, 200 gr albums sound really good, but I've bought some that sound like azz. I frequent a used record store a lot that has tons and tons of well-cared-for vinyl for very reasonable prices, often $3-$8, although collector albums can be astronomically priced. As an added bonus, they can sometimes inform me about things, such as which smaller labels were known for consistently high sound quality. That doesn't go so much for rock, but often it does for blues and other genres. George Grand also has lots of good quality records on the For Sale forum reasonably priced and best of all its for a charitable cause. When I got back into vinyl I hated getting up and flipping the record every twenty minutes, but now its not a big deal at all, I kind of like dropping the needle on the grooves and I really like the warmth of the vinyl sound.

soundfreak1

Ya dromunds i can (for now) use the tt for criticle listening and the cd for just everyday music .and when im lazy.