You need to buck your ideas up if you only have 200 albums at 27!

My music buying has peaks and troughs. Living walking distance from Rough Trade helps. I spend roughly £50 per month but in November it was about £250 because of the Kraftwerk reissues. Still, this works out at £600 plus per year. When I was your age it was about £50 per week. I dont always find loads that I really like, I dont buy so many dance 12s anymore because I know that if they are designed for a club I dont get to play them that often at home. If the tracks are outstanding (to me) I will buy them and turn things up! I dont really buy back catalogue, I mainly go for new releases. If I chance upon a second hand record shop I will clear up a lot of back cat stuff. 20 LPs for my £50!

I tend to hang on to my kit. Buy the right piece and you dont need to change it. And once you get to a certain level any improvements cost a lot. I am happy to buy second hand and that helps.

Factor in money spent on gigs, money spent on my home studio (soft synths, MIDI controllers and software updates- I hang on to my Macs as I do my hifi consequently I dont have too much expense here). Money spent on building things that make a noise, recently a gainclone amp and some lunetta noise makers. Books and magazines about music/hifi- it all adds up.

From this I spend less on my hi-fi than the associated products.

If you add my LP's and CD's they comfortably exceed my equipment spend. I'd be worried if they didn't. But I probably spend more each year than either of these by going to actual acoustic-only (no PA) music events - I've got some excellent concert, opera and ballet gigs already booked for this year. Without doing this you're never going to know if your kit has good fidelity to what the original actually sounded like, or to a hypothetical sound which you think it might or ought to have sounded like.

Over the years, I have lovingly accumulated a sizable music collection, about 3500+ LPs and roughly the same in CDs, and that does not include what I've lost/lent over the years. On the other hand, my present hifi cost me a fortune (many years of hard work might eventually pay-off sometimes) and I think it's worth every penny.

Secondhand is your key to building a good record collection :) I miss Mole Jazz and Cheapo Cheapo records in Soho :(

I only have about 2000 CDs and very few LPs. I would probably buy about 10 Cds per month. Nearly all my Cds are first pressings which can get quite expensive.

As far as equipment goes, I am luck that I am into DIY and have very helpful friends in the business. I have spent a LOT of money over the years, but in the last 10 years my outlay has been minimal. Having said that, I am currently building a pair of speakers that are going to cost around $12,000.

It is hard to say as about all my equipment was bought as a dealer or used and my 3000+ LPs go back years. I have possibly 300 CDs. I probably got 20 or 25 last year.
More, I didn't count the HM retrospective set, it has that many by itself. But I don't buy regularly as I once did. Many of my favorite artists are no longer issuing new works as they are no longer with us. Alas, we turn into period pieces as we age. I spend a lot more on equipment but also sell at least as much of the things I already had. Spend an absurd amount of time fiddling with what I already have.

Hi Hans, Stan,

First pressing CDs are the earliest CDs that were pressed of a particular release. Although I do have albums that were released in the 90s (and even a couple in the new millenium :) ), most of my CD collection was pressed before 1986.

You are of course correct that the CD catalog has been re-released many times, with each subsequent one having more eq and greater loudness. The early CDs sound a lot more like the vinyl! Another interesting aspect is the effect of the pressings themselves - the earliest ones of the stamper (injection moulding machine) sound a lot better on my equipment than ones done a couple of years later. That means that I hunt down the earliest pressing that I can.

I have been collecting 1st pressings for about 5 years and have built up a good knowledge of release and pressing numbers and other factors that indicate the earliest discs. If you want to know more (although I am happy to answer), the best place is the Steve Hoffman forum, where most of the early disc collectors hang out. There is a wealth of information on there, including pictures of many of the early discs.

A Long rambling thread on early CDs

More First Pressing Pics

Keith Hirsch's site on first pressings

List of all the earliest WEA "Target" CDs with pics

Many of the collectors are not particularly interested in the sound of the discs, but just like collecting them. Some of the very early discs are rare and can command high prices on ebay. I often see discs I am interested in go on ebay for in excess of US$200 or US$300. Having said that, most of the more common early pressings sell for little more that other discs.

Many people seem to think that there were not many CD releases in the early days, but the early catalog is pretty prodigious. I forget the figures, but by the end of 1984 there would have been something like 10,000 titles available.

Hope this helps.

Regards

David

Certainly the very early Denon discs are possibly the best-sounding CDs I have heard, especially the recording of the Silbermann organ which Angus McKenzie used as an example for the superiority of digital over analogue.

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Hans

This is very interesting in that I was a very early adapter of CD and have some fairly early examples. I remember going to the Chicago CES the year before they were actually available, they were playing them but the electronics necessary for playback were contained in a very large external box. In general I much prefer new versions to the older ones so we obviously are listening to different music. For instance the new 'Will the Circle be Unbroken" is far superior to the early one, which I found unlistenable compared to the vinyl. The new Cat Stephens are quite good , although I was mislead by a "remastered" tag on one CD and got an earlier remastering which is truly dreadful. There are several others that have significantly improved the quality of earlier pressings, in other cases not so. So it appears that you must know the history of a particular recording to know which to buy. An early one of interest is THE FRIENDS OF MR CAIRO by Jon and Vangalis, I seem to remember that Malcolm Hawksford was using the space ship launch track to check speaker imaging but data retrieval for this period is imperfect.

Excellent post David, which I second from experience and some great sites posted too which are well worth a look.

Like David I collect the early CD pressings as well and spend more on them than I do hardware atm; as a member on the Hoffman forum too (DM as here) this is a read goldmine of info and well worth a visit

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"Quicquid Nitet Notandum"

I too spend too much, my wife has volunteered to be the chief prosecution witness. Fortunately, most of it is circular in fashion, I pick up interesting things at a good price and eventually sell them and get something else. I just bought a MF Kw Phono Stage for about 30% of the amount it sold for over here new and am looking at the matching line stage at the same price reduction. I am sure that there is better gear out there but I have found top MF gear quite good and available at good prices.

Bencat
A bit off topic but can I ask why you set a limit of a tenner? Does it help stop your spending spiral? My much mentioned Kraftwerk remasters were £20 on vinyl. If I didnt spend the money I wouldnt get them. The alternative is to wait and see if the price does go down or get a s/h one of uncertain history. Am getting value? Yes because there wasnt a way of getting them cheaper on the day. Would I do it again? Yes for the records I want. Perhaps CDs are different because you are likely to get them at lower prices. Then again when CDs stop being pressed will peoples buying change? (obviously if they arent buying so many with production running down! But we might buy more premium product?)