Valve or solid state: choosing an amplifier
What each kind does well, what it costs to run, and how to decide by listening rather than reading.
How we grade a pre-owned record
What Near Mint, VG+ and VG mean in our shop, and why we play every record before grading it.
Grading is the most important thing we do with a used record, because you are trusting a word in a listing. Many shops grade by looking at the vinyl under a lamp. We look, but we also listen, because a record can look clean and still be noisy, or look scuffed and play beautifully.
Every record that comes in is cleaned on our vacuum machine first. Then Mitali, who has graded records here for nine years, plays it end to end on a deck kept only for grading, with headphones. She notes skips, clicks, background hiss, and any warp the arm rides over.
Near Mint means it plays like new with almost no surface noise. VG+ means light marks and a little noise in quiet gaps, but nothing that distracts. VG means noticeable crackle in quiet passages, though the music comes through. Good means it plays all the way without skipping, and the price reflects the rest.
The sleeve is graded separately. A Near Mint record in a worn sleeve is listed as exactly that. If a record does not match its grade, bring or send it back within seven days and we will exchange it or refund you.
