Picked up a record player today so that I can finally play the albums I've been buying over the last few months. Wanted to see what stores you would recommend for the best selection? I went to Cactus earlier today and right now I'm enjoying Radiohead's The Bends which sounds amazing. Any other stores in Houston I should check out? What about online?
For online buying, I recommend Soundstage. Great selection, and top quality. Keep in mind, however, that they are more of a 180 gram audiophile store. Also, what kind of turntable did you get? And what are you using for the phono preamp?
Thanks for your input. I'll be sure to let you know when i create a thread asking for opinions on SACD.
I got the Sony LX250. It's cheap but it sounds good and gets good reviews. A friend of mine has the same model and that swayed me to get it. It has a built in preamp.
Sound exchange http://www.soundexchangehouston.com/map.html best place to find the rare stuff. I can't walk out without buying something
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CaseyH again. but, try online, musicdirect.com, or acousticsounds.com, both excellent sources of vynl, some of it used, but in pristine condition.
Thanks man. Two albums I've been looking for on vinyl with no luck for the past couple of months are Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport, and Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile. They both seem really tough to find.
Good thing you found something you like for the right price. It's also cool that you have the flexibility to play around with different cartridges, preamps, and tonearms to suit your taste (Although you may not want to go that far down the rabbit hole just yet)
Half Priced Books has a fairly good selection. I would also recommend hitting the thrift circuit. It's very hit and miss but you would be amazed what you can find there, often less than a buck.
Black Dog around the corner from Cactus had a nice selection of older Lp's, just a bit pricey though.
Seconded. A lot of folks don't realize the value of some of dad's old vinyl when trading away here. Even better, most of the employees don't know either. Whereas at a true "record" store they will gouge you if they know it is semi-valuable.
Thirded. 1/2 Price Books can be a gold mine if you dig hard enough. Also try and get cool with the vinyl buyer. A lot of times he/she will do specialty buys according to the genre or type of artist you like. I've purchased close to 1000 pieces at the store at 529 and hwy 6 over the last 2-3 years Definitely try your local Goodwill or thrift shop also. If you don't mind spending the money check out Vinal Edge off of Veterans Memorial or the Cactus Music over off of Portsmouth. Also check out The Sound Exchange off of Richmond and Hazard. Kind of a cool fact but my cousin and I came within an inch of buying that building in '97 (from his father in law who owned pretty much the whole block) for our recording studio but we backed out at the last second because we found a better location
Go to Traders Village. I haven't been there in a good while but there use to be a couple of stands selling vinyl.
