Macman007 despairs of the future on vinyl
Oct 13, 2019 19:47:21 GMT
Post by Mediocrates on Oct 13, 2019 19:47:21 GMT
I have 9 shops (used and new, target, FYE, Walmart, Best Buy, local Brick and Mortar music/vinyl, monthly regional LP Fair 1st Sunday of every month) not to mention Ebay, Amazon, Discogs, Music Direct, Analogue Productions, Amoeba etc. I purchase from, and ALL will accept LP/CD returns for either exchange, refund, or store credit, depending on your desire and situation. Most of the more common titles new or used can be sourced locally at above cited locals. More esoteric expensive audiophile pressings, including multi sided 45 RPM re-issues from a single LP are typically available online only, though there are exceptions. Again, anything purchased with issues, beit warps, scratches, surface noise poor pressing quality are easily exchanged, especially from Music Direct and Amazon, who are the easiest and most flexible to deal with IME.
I suppose I've been lucky, since 2003, I've only had to return 2 albums due to issues, one being the Pink Floyd 4 Lp box set Echos, which arrived with the spines damaged on 3 of 4 LP's (looking like the album was dropped from some distance on the spine area), the albums and inner sleeves tearing thru in the center, and Derek and the Dominos 'Layla' which recently arrived warped. Both came from Music Direct and are 17 years apart in purchasing. I was allowed to keep Echos for my trouble along with a replacement copy, Layla was exchanged after a replacement arrived, which happily remained un warped. I blame handling for the damage to Echos, and seasonal heat for the warped Layla MoFi, which I waited 2 1/2 weeks to arrive initially. For my trouble with Layla, I was issued a partial credit along with a replacement for my troubles, second day shipping at no extra charge , for my troubles and the initial the long wait. Neither issue has in any way dissuaded me from making future purchases online, and truthfully I appreciate the professional customer service I was extended. Amazon shipped me the wrong album once, again the issue was handled professionally and quickly, with a replacement arriving inside 24 hours, along with a post paid return sticker pre-addressed UPS sticker for the album I was shipped in error.
Local shops tend to be priced a little high on new vinyl, to be expected, compared to Amazon and the bigger online sellers. FYE is the most over-priced, but they often will match Amazon's prices if I ask, the others such as Target and Walmart are priced within a dollar of Amazon, Best Buy's prices smack in between the 3. Walmart was gracious enough to exchange Led Zeppelin IV 2014 Jimmy Page Remaster double LP and Beatles Sgt Pepper 50th anniversary double LP as both had creases in the jackets, but perfect vinyl within, which is more of a case of me being picky over the jackets than anything else.
From where I sit it's much easier to exchange vinyl with issues that back in the golden days of the 70's and 80's. No questions asked, no assumptions made or blame assigned, just a smile and exchange, credit or refund as the case may be. Prices are largely in line with what you'd expect to spend on anything compared to 30 years ago. The stores and manufacturers have to make some money, or else what is their motivation to reissue/remaster, press, ship and stock new vinyl otherwise? I'm happy to pay a dollar or 2 more than online sources for the convenience of purchasing locally versus online, that whole instant gratification thing we Gen X'ers are all known for. Quality control isn't near as bad as many folks make it out to be, and vinyl's overall pressing and sound quality for the stuff I've been buying post year 2000, is significantly better than the stuff I was buying 15 years before 2000.
The only thing I take issue with, regarding the vinyl situation, is the greed factor, the insane prices people are asking for when the resell something they purchased a few years before which has gone out of print. People put stuff up on their shelves just for the brag factor or to look at it and never pay it. When they do chose to sell, prices are often double, triple or more than the original sale price only a matter of a couple months or years before. Beatles In Mono Vinyl box set and the individual LP's are the number one example of this type of madness. Where I was financially unable to purchase any new vinyl or gear due to my wife's health crises between 2015 and 2018, I missed out on the Mono box and several other vinyl box sets released, along with other band's or solo vinyl releases or reissue/remasters during in that time period. Additionally I wasn't able to make any gear purchases till this year, deciding to upgrade my entire analog (vinyl) front end just this Summer. Thankfully, the person who sold me my VPI Prime Signature worked with me so that I was able to afford it with most of the available upgrades. However, being able to afford much of the great releases the last 5 years or so, especially those out of print, is proving to be much more of a problem for me.
This kind of price gouging, for both gear as well as software (vinyl, tape, CD, digital High Res,DVD/ Blu-Ray-A) is what money have been complaining about for years now. Its what keeps many newcomers out of the hobby as well as those getting into it from moving up, many opting out due to insane pricing along with that arrogant air of exclusivity that sometimes pervades the high-fi culture as a whole. If High Fi is to survive, it needs new young blood to invest in it to keep it alive. Once the 'Boomers and us GenX-er's are gone, so will be huge portion of the funds which keep things alive and growing, It's a shame so many folks are so nearsighted, only interested in what is best for them right now. This is the same attitude now all over the Muscle Car/Antique/Custom car hobby, the greedy arrogance of so-called cork sniffers, charging high 6 and 7 figure prices for automotive examples only fetching mid 5 figures at best 10-20 years ago. People desiring to get into the hobby can't afford the insane prices for the newest modern hot rods pouring forth from Detroit today either. V8 Challenger, Charger, Camaro SS, or Mustang GT's start at mid-40,000$+ and quickly rise to 90K$ and even more. Corvette, which initially was to be a budget American sports car that offered what the best Germany or Italy possessed from their 6 digit cars. Today, the price of admission for a new 'vette starts at 70K then rises quickly. Who under the age of 65, that isn't well invested or retired, collecting a huge pension, can truthfully afford these types of prices, the cars, the gear, any of it?..
Not me, or most of my contemporaries, all of us who are now in our mid-50's and barely keeping up. It's a problem that is all over the map. I feel that the money which drives many of these hobbies, once designed to be accessible to just about anyone, are today only accessible to those well heeled, of or over a certain age, or from a certain specific demographic, which is dying out quickly,... even more so as each day comes and goes. To my mind, these things are the much larger problem than a pressing quality or where/which recording master it is sourced from. AS long as it sounds great and remains affordable to those who are interested, what else matters, really? Are we all that stuck-up that we feel that we are the only ones able and allowed to afford the pleasure of quality music in our lives? The same question should apply to the automobile analogy above? What happened to these cars being available and affordable for the lower middle class-working class, younger enthusiast? Accessable is what the Pony cars were designed to all about. Shove the biggest baddest engine under the hood,, along with a manual trans, tall gears, big tires and brakes coupled to a strong yet inexpensive lightweight chassis and body, making it financially accessible to Joe-anybody from Any Street USA. The Japanese audio gear was designed to be the same thing, an affordable high quality option for those who couldn't afford European or American Hi-Fi prices, but wanted the best quality nonetheless. This too has also disappeared from the scene today.
My wife and I always agree on one thing, if nothing else. We both weep for the future, once we are old and gone. Things have changed drastically, and not necessarily for the better.,.. in our opinion anyway.
I suppose I've been lucky, since 2003, I've only had to return 2 albums due to issues, one being the Pink Floyd 4 Lp box set Echos, which arrived with the spines damaged on 3 of 4 LP's (looking like the album was dropped from some distance on the spine area), the albums and inner sleeves tearing thru in the center, and Derek and the Dominos 'Layla' which recently arrived warped. Both came from Music Direct and are 17 years apart in purchasing. I was allowed to keep Echos for my trouble along with a replacement copy, Layla was exchanged after a replacement arrived, which happily remained un warped. I blame handling for the damage to Echos, and seasonal heat for the warped Layla MoFi, which I waited 2 1/2 weeks to arrive initially. For my trouble with Layla, I was issued a partial credit along with a replacement for my troubles, second day shipping at no extra charge , for my troubles and the initial the long wait. Neither issue has in any way dissuaded me from making future purchases online, and truthfully I appreciate the professional customer service I was extended. Amazon shipped me the wrong album once, again the issue was handled professionally and quickly, with a replacement arriving inside 24 hours, along with a post paid return sticker pre-addressed UPS sticker for the album I was shipped in error.
Local shops tend to be priced a little high on new vinyl, to be expected, compared to Amazon and the bigger online sellers. FYE is the most over-priced, but they often will match Amazon's prices if I ask, the others such as Target and Walmart are priced within a dollar of Amazon, Best Buy's prices smack in between the 3. Walmart was gracious enough to exchange Led Zeppelin IV 2014 Jimmy Page Remaster double LP and Beatles Sgt Pepper 50th anniversary double LP as both had creases in the jackets, but perfect vinyl within, which is more of a case of me being picky over the jackets than anything else.
From where I sit it's much easier to exchange vinyl with issues that back in the golden days of the 70's and 80's. No questions asked, no assumptions made or blame assigned, just a smile and exchange, credit or refund as the case may be. Prices are largely in line with what you'd expect to spend on anything compared to 30 years ago. The stores and manufacturers have to make some money, or else what is their motivation to reissue/remaster, press, ship and stock new vinyl otherwise? I'm happy to pay a dollar or 2 more than online sources for the convenience of purchasing locally versus online, that whole instant gratification thing we Gen X'ers are all known for. Quality control isn't near as bad as many folks make it out to be, and vinyl's overall pressing and sound quality for the stuff I've been buying post year 2000, is significantly better than the stuff I was buying 15 years before 2000.
The only thing I take issue with, regarding the vinyl situation, is the greed factor, the insane prices people are asking for when the resell something they purchased a few years before which has gone out of print. People put stuff up on their shelves just for the brag factor or to look at it and never pay it. When they do chose to sell, prices are often double, triple or more than the original sale price only a matter of a couple months or years before. Beatles In Mono Vinyl box set and the individual LP's are the number one example of this type of madness. Where I was financially unable to purchase any new vinyl or gear due to my wife's health crises between 2015 and 2018, I missed out on the Mono box and several other vinyl box sets released, along with other band's or solo vinyl releases or reissue/remasters during in that time period. Additionally I wasn't able to make any gear purchases till this year, deciding to upgrade my entire analog (vinyl) front end just this Summer. Thankfully, the person who sold me my VPI Prime Signature worked with me so that I was able to afford it with most of the available upgrades. However, being able to afford much of the great releases the last 5 years or so, especially those out of print, is proving to be much more of a problem for me.
This kind of price gouging, for both gear as well as software (vinyl, tape, CD, digital High Res,DVD/ Blu-Ray-A) is what money have been complaining about for years now. Its what keeps many newcomers out of the hobby as well as those getting into it from moving up, many opting out due to insane pricing along with that arrogant air of exclusivity that sometimes pervades the high-fi culture as a whole. If High Fi is to survive, it needs new young blood to invest in it to keep it alive. Once the 'Boomers and us GenX-er's are gone, so will be huge portion of the funds which keep things alive and growing, It's a shame so many folks are so nearsighted, only interested in what is best for them right now. This is the same attitude now all over the Muscle Car/Antique/Custom car hobby, the greedy arrogance of so-called cork sniffers, charging high 6 and 7 figure prices for automotive examples only fetching mid 5 figures at best 10-20 years ago. People desiring to get into the hobby can't afford the insane prices for the newest modern hot rods pouring forth from Detroit today either. V8 Challenger, Charger, Camaro SS, or Mustang GT's start at mid-40,000$+ and quickly rise to 90K$ and even more. Corvette, which initially was to be a budget American sports car that offered what the best Germany or Italy possessed from their 6 digit cars. Today, the price of admission for a new 'vette starts at 70K then rises quickly. Who under the age of 65, that isn't well invested or retired, collecting a huge pension, can truthfully afford these types of prices, the cars, the gear, any of it?..
Not me, or most of my contemporaries, all of us who are now in our mid-50's and barely keeping up. It's a problem that is all over the map. I feel that the money which drives many of these hobbies, once designed to be accessible to just about anyone, are today only accessible to those well heeled, of or over a certain age, or from a certain specific demographic, which is dying out quickly,... even more so as each day comes and goes. To my mind, these things are the much larger problem than a pressing quality or where/which recording master it is sourced from. AS long as it sounds great and remains affordable to those who are interested, what else matters, really? Are we all that stuck-up that we feel that we are the only ones able and allowed to afford the pleasure of quality music in our lives? The same question should apply to the automobile analogy above? What happened to these cars being available and affordable for the lower middle class-working class, younger enthusiast? Accessable is what the Pony cars were designed to all about. Shove the biggest baddest engine under the hood,, along with a manual trans, tall gears, big tires and brakes coupled to a strong yet inexpensive lightweight chassis and body, making it financially accessible to Joe-anybody from Any Street USA. The Japanese audio gear was designed to be the same thing, an affordable high quality option for those who couldn't afford European or American Hi-Fi prices, but wanted the best quality nonetheless. This too has also disappeared from the scene today.
My wife and I always agree on one thing, if nothing else. We both weep for the future, once we are old and gone. Things have changed drastically, and not necessarily for the better.,.. in our opinion anyway.
