From handmade turntables from England, Germany and the Czech Republic to new and used vinyl covering everything from jazz and funk to pop and rock, Vinyl Republic – which opened several months ago – is a warm and welcoming space for the vinyl nerd of all ages.
But if you’ve never experienced the joy of rocking out to your very own turntable and speaker set, then part owner Graham Kennedy is all too happy to help. We ask him to take us through some of the basics…
I just want to play my old vinyl at home – what kind of turntable do I need?
There are two different types of turntables – belt driven and direct drive. Belt driven is for home use and direct drive is for DJ use – it allows you to scratch. Belt driven is better in terms of quality for home use, because there’s less vibration coming on to the platter [the round bit for the record] and stylus [the needle]. Whichever one you’re after, it’s best to go for a brand name.
Is that all I need to get started?
Nope – turntables play at a very low volume by themselves and the phono is the thing that lifts the sound to a normal listening volume. Most turntables don’t have a phono built in, so, you need to buy one. It’s one of those things where the more you spend, the better quality it’s going to be. Then you need an amplifier and speakers – or a pair of active speakers, which have the volume control built in.
Why is vinyl better?
I used to do a demo where I’d play the same piece of music on CD and vinyl. When demoing the CD no one leaned forward, but when I played the LP, people would lean in because the sound’s so much more detailed and engaging – more raw and open.
Am I a troglodyte if I love vinyl? Who’s listening these days?
There’s no demographic anymore. I had a gentleman come in recently who was buying a turntable for his eight year old’s birthday. He wanted to go sifting for records at junk markets with his son, who was into vinyl, and take him on a bit of a journey.