At the end of last month, we asked you, our hi-fi-loving readers, how big your vinyl collections are. We asked for some general feedback on the state of the vinyl game, too, and you absolutely delivered!
Lots of you replied to that story and our social posts with your experiences and opinions, and while each response was of course unique, a few general themes emerged.
Firstly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, lots of you own a lot of vinyl. But even those with huge collections invariably had a break from vinyl during CD’s heyday.
Many were brought back into the fold as a result of the so-called ‘vinyl revival’, which of course also introduced plenty of people to vinyl collecting for the first time.
But this period of vastly increased vinyl popularity is clearly a bit of a double-edged sword, with many of you complaining that prices have risen sharply while the quality of pressings is not what it used to be.
As a result, many of you are buying older records second-hand as you feel the quality is better.
Four-figure collections aplenty
We’re not surprised that many of you have vinyl collections consisting of hundreds of records, but the number of you with thousands of pressings is startling.
Readers including ‘Srdjan Stojanovic’, ‘bkshah’, ‘Danny J’, ‘Ju ju 2’ and ‘Hubie Greene’ all have collections of around 1000 records, but even this is fairly conservative compared with some.
‘Bhose’ says, “I have around 5000 records,” which they’ve “been buying since I was 10 (in 1979)”.
Interestingly, Bhose is one of the few respondents who said that they don’t frequently listen to their vinyl:
“I've never bought vinyl to regularly play it and listen to it. I bought and buy it to have my music in its 'prime' format, and I listen to recordings I've made from the original vinyl, on cassette tape back in the days, then CDs later, to now.”
Reader ‘Steve Topp’, meanwhile, has a collection of “just over 4800 albums”, and they have a particular, fairly niche area of interest:
“I have two stereo systems in my house. They each have a stereo and a mono turntable. I really specialise in collecting Mono ’60s rock and jazz albums. The Mono albums played on the Mono cartridge turntables sound truly amazing. It's like you are in the room when the recording was made.”
Then there’s ‘Jponti5056’ who, along with their husband, owns “over 4000 albums and 200 78s”.
“We add to our collection almost weekly (we just purchased two this week),” they explain.
All of these numbers pale in comparison with the collection of 'Tomas Vydra’, which pre-Covid was “approx 20,000 vinyl and nearly 40,000 CDs”.
He has more recently had to reduce the size of his collection by about half, but that still makes it the largest of all our respondents. His occupation might have something to do with it: he presents a show on Prague’s Radio 1 where he plays tracks from vinyl.
"Since 1994, I have a show on Prague's Radio 1 where I spin vinyl records from the ’60s and ’70s. It's on every Saturday from 11.00 am until 1.00 pm (CET)."
One person who might give Tomas a run for his money is ‘Batman6770’, who says, “I have been averaging [buying] 15-20 records a week for years now.”
Despite seemingly having a Bruce Wayne-sized budget, ‘Batman6770’ still has to disguise how much they spend on vinyl:
“I’ve got lots of tricks to obscure the true amount I’m spending on these records from my wife! Things like transferring cash to PayPal, buying gift cards while grocery shopping and, of course, getting the mail before she gets home! Luckily I have so many records now that it’s impossible to notice these new additions!”
Reader ‘Driveshaft’, meanwhile, has a unique approach to collecting:
“I have just under four feet of space on my shelf for my records, and I'm strict about keeping it that way. That means for every new record that comes in, an old one has to go. It's a cruel practice, but effective. It keeps me from becoming a pack rat and holding onto something just to keep it.”
Lots of you parted with your vinyl collections to buy CDs – and are still re-buying the records you sold
We sensed a lot of regret in the comments on our story.
Many of you, perfectly understandably, went all-in on CD and sold most or all of your vinyl to build your collection on digital disc, and are still trying to buy back again the records you sold.
Reader ‘RDeschain’ says, “I had a decent vinyl collection as a kid, but I let it go in the mid '80s when I got into CDs. A few years ago I decided to get back into vinyl with the goal of replacing those records I had as a kid. It quickly grew into a quest to gather as many of my favourite artists' work on vinyl before it disappeared for good.”
‘PedroB’ tells a very similar story:
“I started buying vinyl in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Did that thing in the ’90s where I sold a lot of it and re-bought it on CD. Around 2005 when I stopped travelling for work I got back into vinyl.
"Since then I've upgraded my turntables five or six times along with my speakers and amps. Now I'm retired due to ill health, but pre COVID I was buying an album almost every day, brand new, or second-hand. At least 300 per year. I was also buying albums I'd replaced with CDs on vinyl again!”
‘PCookie’, meanwhile, has had to say goodbye to their record collection not once, but twice:
“I had about 300 LPs as a teenager, but they were all stolen when I was a student at uni. I re-bought some plus a new lot, but then sold most when CDs came out. I bought 100s of CDs and still have those, but I now also have about 100 LPs. I’m adding to those slowly but still buying the odd CD. I also stream a lot!”
Increased costs mean many of you are reducing how much vinyl you buy
It might be a term that many record collectors hate, but the so-called ‘vinyl revival’ is definitely responsible for bringing many lapsed collectors back into the fold. That has to be a good thing, but it also seems to have pushed up prices.
Commenter ‘Nick’ says “new records, especially 12s and 7s, seem very expensive – I think this is due to the high cost of pressing very limited numbers – so I don’t buy many. £20 for a 7-inch is way too much.”
‘Gothicdave’ agrees: “Vinyl is becoming very expensive, with the newest styles, such as liquid or gel-filled records, coming in brand new at scary high prices of up to £80 or £90.”
Our friends across the pond are struggling with high prices, too. This is what ‘6ea6peoplejuice’ has to say:
“Lately, I've been buying less per year, as the prices are getting kinda high. Pre-2020, a single disc record was around $20 (USD). Lately, it feels like we are paying $30+. And sometimes, when ordering directly from artists, shipping is another $8-10. High prices won't stop me from buying records, but they will cause me to buy fewer.”
Several readers, including ‘Charlyarg’ and ‘Frank Andrews’ have even resumed or increased their CD purchasing, at least in part because of high prices for vinyl.
Another commenter, ‘Paul L’ expands on that point:
“I still buy vinyl, though about 80-90 per cent of the albums I buy these days are on CD, mainly because I've invested more heavily in the CD side of my system, but also because CD offers better value, and the quality of vinyl pressings (plus, in some cases, the cash grab of multiple colour variants) has turned me off.
“I'll continue to buy vinyl for special releases by artists whose music I love, or albums with no CD release, but only where the cost doesn't feel disproportionately expensive compared to other vinyl releases.”
Most (but not all) of you feel older vinyl is better
The question of vinyl quality comes up a lot in the comments, with many people complaining that modern pressings aren’t up to the standards of the old stuff.
Reader ‘Dogtown16v’ believes it’s the quality of the materials that’s the problem: “Since I’ve been buying new vinyl I’ve noticed how rubbish the actual plastic is,” they say.
But for several others, it’s the format of the original recordings that is the issue. ‘Roger Harris’ states that “new releases are mostly digitally sourced (eg from a CD!) so there’s no point”.
While ‘AndyC405’ says, “I'm not always a fan of new pressings as they still manage to sound 'digital' (e.g. a bit harsh) at times (to me),” though they also feel that it’s still “worth it usually for the experience”.
‘james beaumont’, though, struggles to understand that stance:
“Seeing as most vinyl records these days are pressed from digital masters, I really cannot see the point in buying what are essentially giant CDs. When you take into account all the pops, crackles, skips, warps, weight, size and price, why anyone who understands the above would still give them the time of day is baffling.”
Back to commenter ‘RDeschain’, who buys older records for both quality and price reasons:
“I stick mostly to vintage for a number of reasons: that’s the music I love most; modern pressing quality isn’t great and is very inconsistent, while vintage record pressings are just better; and today's vinyl record prices are outrageous – I would rather take the $35 I could spend on one new record and go and find three nice used records instead.”
But it’s certainly not all bad news for modern vinyl, and it feels appropriate to end on a couple of positive comments.
‘Collinslw2’ is very appreciative of some of the very high-quality pressings that are now available:
“My hiatus from and return to vinyl made me acutely aware of the increase in pleasure generated by the advances in vinyl playback hardware and recordings,” they say.
“Today's higher-end turntables are a revelation for yesterday's vinyl, and today's high-end vinyl is way better than yesteryear. I've been back to vinyl for over a year and most of my collection is MoFi (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab), 45 rpm reissues. I also own two UHQR releases (wow, just wow), and quite a few 180g repressings.”
‘SLOWPAW STEVE T’ agrees, while also offering some specific recommendations and a bit of useful advice:
“In my experience, modern vinyl can sound amazing on my system. I’m happy replacing original records with modern remastered equivalents. The recent series of Atlantic Genesis and Yes 45 rpm reissues sound fantastic and are highly recommended; the Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin remasters sound better than ever; and the Harry Moss Beatles recuts made in the ’80s are amazing quality.
“I’m looking forward to more in the future of my favourite rock albums, but it is wise to check online reviews of remasters in general, as they don't always get it spot on.”
So there you have it – What Hi-Fi?’s readers have delivered their verdict on the state of vinyl. If you’re inspired by what they had to say, make sure you check out the rest of our Vinyl Week coverage.
MORE:
Many of our readers' thoughts are echoed by our own Chris Burke: Old is gold: why I massively prefer buying old vinyl to new
Freshly bitten by the vinyl bug? Check out our guide to buying your first turntable and this guide on how to set up a turntable
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