Hey everyone. After inheriting a bunch of old records, I started dipping my toes into this whole vinyl thing and... I think I'm hooked. I'd like to step a bit farther into this, but the deeper I get the more there seems to be to read up on. I'm beginning to get a little paralyzed by it, so I thought I'd ask for some direction from more wizened vinyl-loving elders.
I initially had one of those little suitcase players with the garbage tinny speakers. Then I got some self-powered speakers that greatly improved my willingness to use the device. Especially for old records that haven't been particularly well cared for, when I was already accepting some pop and static, that made me start using it more. Then I upgraded the turntable to an Audio-Technica one - one of their entry-level budget-type devices - and that made me go all in.
So at this point, I have a collection of over 200 records, new and old, and I almost exclusively listen to them these days when I'm in my office. The stylus that came with the turntable wore out, so I bought a new one, upgrading to a microlinear stylus. Sounds fantastic.
But now I want some passive speakers that I can control through my receiver, and I'm finding that to be a more expensive item with a lot of options I don't really know how to parse through. So that's a good place to start. What's a good set of small-ish passive speakers (to fit on or near the shelf I have the turntable on) that a guy can buy on a budget?
I have also noticed a lot of static and pop and... "sparkle"? on even brand new records. This I attribute to static electricity. I live in northern Colorado, the air is exceedingly dry here, and I can hardly walk across a room lately without picking up enough static to power my house through the winter. I have some anti-static inner sleeves that are nice, but they don't really get rid of the charge on the records. There seem to be a ton of different products for taking that out, but it's hard to know what the best thing is to buy, and some of it gets quite expensive pretty quick.
What else am I missing that will improve my vinyl collecting and playback experience? Best ways to clean old records? Take the warp out? Things I don't even know I need to know yet?
I don't pretend to know how to accomplish this. I may be completely wrong here, but two things that have to go:
There's almost certainly more to do as well, but those things stand out to me. Also, it seems hard to believe that we could make any progress on these fronts given the current situation.