Anime soundtracks on Vinyl/CD and sound systems/equipment

[Girls with Guns]

I wanted to start a new thread here for people to post up their Anime Vinyl and CD collections, what they are currently buying, and what systems they are using to play their media on. Please feel free to show everyone here what you have been up to regarding Anime Soundtrack OST media and your audio systems!

I recently decided to move my vintage stereo system out of storage and set it back up in my living room, so I wanted to pick up some new vinyl to try out on my turntable - specifically, a few new anime soundtrack LPs. With that in mind I ordered two vinyl LP anime soundtrack releases and received them from Crunchyroll this week. One of the LP soundtracks is from my all time favorite anime series, and the other is from my all-time favorite Girls with Guns anime. I still have my somewhat unique Technics SL-7 "Close-and-Play" linear tracking turntable I bought while in college in 1981, so I,m anxious to see what some anime OSTs will sound like on my vintager system.


The Apothecary Diaries Original Sountrack LPs
Noir Original Soundtrack LPs

 

[Otomo]

Glad you got Noir.
I did see it was reduced but didn't get round to mentioning it to you.
Although, I assumed you would buy it if you didn't already have it, based on previous posts.

 

[Girls with Guns]

Yes, I would like to start buying more anime LPs; I actually just ordered the Josie: The Tiger and the Fish LP set yesterday as well. I just hope my turntable still works properly - it will probably need at least the rubber drive belt for the linear tracking arm replaced from dry-rot after 45 years. It did still work about 7-8 years ago before I had to put all of my stereo equipment in storage when my parents moved in with me. It's a shame I didn't start buying anime LPs sooner because I've missed a lot of awesome anime soundtrack LPs over the past few years, especially ones from the UK; I was really drooling over some of the titles when they were released.

The SL-7 is one of Technic's "clam-shell" linear tracking turntables that will play an LP in any position - mounted vertically on a wall, or even upside down. One of them can be seen as a prop in the 1982 movie Blade Runner, mounted on the wall in Decker's apartment. I got all excited when I first saw it featured in the movie, since I had just recently purchased one myself.

 

[Girls with Guns]

Oh come on, RadFem - you didn't even have time to read that whole post before you liked it - that wasn't even 10 seconds, lol!

 

[cfx]

Yes, I would like to start buying more anime LPs; I actually just ordered the Josie: The Tiger and the Fish LP set yesterday as well. I just hope my turntable still works properly - it will probably need at least the rubber drive belt for the linear tracking arm replaced from dry-rot after 45 years. It did still work about 7-8 years ago before I had to put all of my stereo equipment in storage when my parents moved in with me. It's a shame I didn't start buying anime LPs sooner because I've missed a lot of awesome anime soundtrack LPs over the past few years, especially ones from the UK; I was really drooling over some of the titles when they were released.

The SL7 is one of Technic's "clam-shell" linear tracking turntables that will play an LP in any position - mounted vertically on a wall, or even upside down. One of them can be seen as a prop in the 1982 movie Blade Runner, mounted on the wall in Decker's apartment. I got all excited when I first saw it featured in the movie, since I had just recently purchased one myself.

Because I'm old I remember these turntables, though I didn't remember specifically which the SL7 was until I looked it up. I do remember that one having seen it again, but the ones I primarily remembered were the SL10 and SL15, the fully square ones that just had a window on top rather than the sort of half acrylic dustcover design of the SL7. Of course they made a whole bunch of different models of these that were cheaper and not as nice looking as time went on. The 7/10/15 I think are pretty timeless designs that still look like something that could've been made today:
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/technics/sl-7.shtml
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/technics/sl-10.shtml

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/technics/sl-15.shtml

I never had one of those, but I had a SL-M3 at one time; based on when I see it was made I guess it was the late 1980s:
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/technics/sl-m3.shtml
Better pictures here:
Technics SL-M3 Turntable Repair & Service | LiQUiD AUDiO

Before that, while in college I had a SL1200MkII. I haven't had a turntable since the early 1990s, and finally sold the remaining vinyl I had last year, after holding onto it for years not knowing what to do with it, as it was basically worthless where you couldn't even give it away for many years because no one wanted it. I had quite a bit of anime music on vinyl, all Japanese releases.

 

[RadFemHedonist]

Yes, I would like to start buying more anime LPs; I actually just ordered the Josie: The Tiger and the Fish LP set yesterday as well. I just hope my turntable still works properly - it will probably need at least the rubber drive belt for the linear tracking arm replaced from dry-rot after 45 years. It did still work about 7-8 years ago before I had to put all of my stereo equipment in storage when my parents moved in with me. It's a shame I didn't start buying anime LPs sooner because I've missed a lot of awesome anime soundtrack LPs over the past few years, especially ones from the UK; I was really drooling over some of the titles when they were released.

The SL7 is one of Technic's "clam-shell" linear tracking turntables that will play an LP in any position - mounted vertically on a wall, or even upside down. One of them can be seen as a prop in the 1982 movie Blade Runner, mounted on the wall in Decker's apartment. I got all excited when I first saw it featured in the movie, since I had just recently purchased one myself.

Sir, do not question my speed-reading abilities

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Oh come on, RadFem - you didn't even have time to read that whole post before you liked it - that wasn't even 10 seconds, lol!

Come on old man, we're too slow to keep up with youngsters like @RadFemHedonist

 

[RadFemHedonist]

Now it all makes sense; all those likes vs all that text.

....Madam, I am afraid I will have to question thine skim-reading, as 'tis a talent I share. Truly, whoooo has time for long posts?~ The problem is, when one reads that fast, some things are inevitably missed. These things later lead to arguments.

Thus, I shalt test you, based on Girly-dono's post (you are NOT allowed to re-read): can a SL6 "clam-shell" table fuction upside down?

If you are unable to answer this, I am afraid you will not be able to like any post for a week.

OK so my answer would have been that I remembered the turntable he talked about could function upside down... but I went back to reread after and it was an SL7 lol, did you deliberately put the number down wrong or?

Also you're not the boss of me

 

[Girls with Guns]

Sir, do not question my speed-reading abilities

Haha, Ok - when I was in 8th and 9th grade the school offered a speed reading course that I took both years. They had speed reading projectors that projected scrolling lines of text on a screen, with a sliding window that moved across the text, showing only one or two words at a time. You could adjust that aperture speed up or down to a speed you could comfortably handle. You had to take a little 10 question test after reading each short story to see how much you comprehended. I got to the point where I was able to max out the projectors speed, which was I think 700 words per minute. This turned out to be perfect training for me to read subtitles, so it takes me little effort to read multiple lines of subtitles on the screen and still have plenty of time to view what's going on in the video. That training has really contributed in making me a sub-only anime viewer.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Never a dull moment with you guys around, I have absolutely no idea what this SLR table you guys are on about is (and no @Girls with Guns, this is not an invitation to enlighten me!), but I have had a proper chuckle at that act of aggression comment of yours @Aion (Retired)

 

[Girls with Guns]

Never a dull moment with you guys around, I have absolutely no idea what this SLR table you guys are on about is (and no @Girls with Guns, this is not an invitation to enlighten me!)...

You should definitely attain enlightenment, it is quite good for the soul...

So here is my SL7 turntable, along with my Hitachi DA-5000 CD player from 1983, fresh out of storage, all dusty and musty yet. I want to be able to play anime soundtrack LPs like the Noir and Apothecary Diaries albums I just bought. I'm sure the SL7 will need a good internal cleaning and re-lubing, a replacement drive belt for the tone arm, and maybe a re-capping - I've been watching some restoration videos on YouTube. So Geriatric, you have now become enlightened, or of some such similar disposition...

 

[Girls with Guns]

I'm in the process of setting up some of my vintage stereo equipment upstairs in the living room, after it's been in storage for the past 7 years or more. I found that both my turntable and CD player need new belts and internal cleaning and lubricating, which is no surprise with them now being 45 years old. Fortunately, there is a Vintage stereo store right in my town, just 3 blocks from my house, and I made a visit there on Saturday.

I decided to buy a second turntable to have on hand as a backup, and to use until I get a chance to service my primary turntable, a Technics SL-7 I bought back in 1981. I picked up a classic Pioneer PL-512 turntable the store had in stock; it was still in very good condition.

I spent all day Saturday and much of Sunday getting the equipment setup and working. I'm using my Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player as my CD player for now, since it has analog outs will also play SACD discs, of which I do have a few. I'm still arranging things and need to figure out where I'll be placing my speakers. Here are a few pics of my "new" turntable and vintage stereo setup as I have it now. The first LPs I played on it were the Noir Soundtrack and the Apothecary Diaries OST albums I just recently picked up at Crunchyroll, and the turntable and speakers both sound so freakin' awesome - I'm ecstatic that I was able to finally dig my equipment out of storage and start using it again!

My Vintage Stereo System:

Onkyo Integra TX-85 Receiver (1984)
Onkyo Integra EQ-35 Audio Equalizer (1985)
Pioneer PL-512 Manual Turntable (1979)
Infinity Quantum 5 (Q5) Speakers with 12" Dual-Coil Woofers and Emit Tweeters (1979)
Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray Player (2010)

I also just bought some reproduction turntable stands for my Technics SL-7 from a seller on Etsy and they arrived a few days ago. The SL7 is able to be mounted in any position, even vertical on a wall, so the main draw for me having the stands is to be able to view colored vinyl spinning hypnotically on the turntable while sitting down across the room. I always wanted a set of the original stands from Technics, but they were going for $350 even back when I purchased the SL-7 in college in 1981. Original Technics stands I now see on eBay are selling for $700-$800 a pair! The set I got from Etsy are 3D-printed reproductions and only cost me $79. I did notice the seller raised the price on his listing to $130 right after I bought the pair from him, so he probably hadn't sold any for a while and needed to update his pricing, lol! At least I saved myself $50, lol! I think I am going to paint these stands black to match the base of the turntable:

 

[Otomo]

I zoomed in. Very nice but in the second picture. They just go up to 10.

 

[Girls with Guns]

I zoomed in. Very nice but in the second picture. They just go up to 10.

Not sure what you mean - that my volume is only set at 10? That is because the Infinity Q5 Speakers are only 4 ohms, so even having the volume set at less than the 10 o'clock position, the music is almost uncomfortably loud, and pulling a good bit of power from the receiver, which can put out up to 130 watts per channel @ 4 ohms. I had the volume up to 20 (12 o'clock) briefly and my ears were splitting!

I received my 3rd Anime Soundtrack LP from Crunchyroll a few days ago on 3/8, in an order that I placed last month ahead of the upcoming CR Store lockdown. I'm listening to the Josee: The Tiger and the Fish Soundtrack LP as I'm typing this. Sounds so good!

I also ordered 5 more Anime Soundtrack LPs from All the Anime last night, gonna pay a fortune for them with tariff fees, though...

Elfen Lied Vinyl Soundtrack - AllTheAnime.com exclusive "Neon" variant £29.16
COWBOY BEBOP: Songs for the Cosmic Sofa - 12" pink and dark blue marbled vinyl LP £24.99
Neon Genesis Evangelion Original Series Soundtrack - 2 x 12" blue & black marbled vinyl LP £33.33
My Happy Marriage Original Soundtrack vinyl £33.33
Little Witch Academia Vinyl Deluxe Edition - Black vinyl variant £49.99

 

[cfx]

Not sure what you mean - that my volume is only set at 10?

I believe that he's joking, referring to the scene in This is Spinal Tap where they go on about how their guitar amplifiers are superior because they go up to 11 (the knobs are actually labeled this way) and when asked why that is important, the answer is something like "It's one louder, innit?"--I probably misremember the exact words.

I don't think I was ever aware Technics made stands for those turntables, or at the very least I completely forgot it.

That OPPO display on the TV for playing CDs is about as boring and amateurish looking as the one on my Sony BDP-S1700 blu-ray player. You'd think they could come up with something a little more elegant. At least you get a track and time display on the player, most newer things including mine don't have any kind of player display anymore.

Those Infinity speakers are fascinating, with both a regular dome tweeter plus the EMIT tweeter. I don't recall that setup in general though I know their big tower ones that came in four pieces for the pair were like that, but maybe I've also just forgotten. With yours being from 1979 they're a bit older than the ones I am more familiar with which would have been during the 80s. Your EMIT tweeters look a bit different than what I mostly remember too. I'm a little surprised they weren't mirrored where one speaker would have the EMIT offset to the opposite side. What are your woofer cones made from? I remember Infinity got into polypropylene that was translucent, almost clear but yours look like they're not that.

 

[Girls with Guns]

Ha, I never saw spinal tap, so I was totally in the dark on that joke, lol... But then, I guess I've got you all beat, since as you can see, the volume on my Onkyo Integra goes up to 40!

And yes, I believe there were Technics stands originally available to fit all or most of the SL versions of their linear tracking turntables, but they were too salty to buy new... I believe they actually cost almost as much as the dang turntables themselves.

I only had the Television hooked up to the Oppo because in order to setup the Analog-out RCA jacks for line-level stereo you had to go into the on-screen setup and change about 4 different settings - set Output to analog stereo, set Volume from Variable to Fixed, turn off HDMI audio, and turn off Dynamic Range Control. I'm not normally going to have the TV on when playing music.

I really love the sound of those infinity Q5 speakers, I'm so glad the Emit tweeters are both still working after all these years. The 12" Watkins woofer cones are just standard paper cones with foam surrounds and the dome "tweeter" is actually a midrange speaker. I do have a pair of Infinity SM-152 large floor standing speakers from the early 1990's I'm using as the rears in my home theater room in the basement. Those have the black poly cones on the 15" subwoofers. Wow, I just looked up the SM-152 and they are selling for anywhere between $1200 and $1800 for a pair now! I think I only paid $250 for the pair about 15 years ago! I also have a pair of massive Cerwin Vega 380 SE speakers with 15" woofers as the front mains in my theater, I see those are going for just as much as the infinity rears - $1200 a pair! Pics below from eBay, but mine are the same, with grills included:

 

[cfx]

Haha, yeah if you haven't seen it then it goes over your head, if you have that's maybe one of the most memorable scenes so I was pretty sure I knew exactly what was being referred to.

As expected, I got the wording wrong. I was so sure at least that he had used the very British "innit" but nope on that too.

In my defense, I'm old and I haven't seen it in probably 30 years or something.

I wondered if maybe the domes were for midrange, but at least in current design, when that is done it's usually a larger dome than the more typical tweeter sizes which yours look to be. Of course there's 1001 ways to design a speaker.

Yeah you only need the display for setup. On these newer players like I have you pretty much need it for anything since the player has no display. I don't really intend to use the blu-ray player for CD, but it's sitting here attached to the HDMI input on my computer monitor just so I can test discs sometimes to make sure they play when I get scratched discs, and because it's convenient at the moment and my other stuff is also not set up, I've used it for a few CDs.

 

[zrdb]

I have a pretty interesting setup myself as I upgraded my system a few years ago during the height of the covid pandemic. I have a Denon AVR-S950H receiver which is probably more than I need but I got it because it has 8 hdmi inputs and I have a lot of stuff plugged into it. I have a pair of Cerwin Vega SL12's for my fronts, a pair of Yamaha NS6490's for my surrounds, a BIC F12 subwoofer and a nice sounding center channel 3 way speaker. For play back of various media I have 3 Sony bluray players including one that's hardware region modded, a BD-C5500 bluray player, an Oppo DV983H and a Samjunk DVDHD960 for my dvd playback. For cds I use an old Panasonic DVD-F87 5 disc carousel which just happens to be an excellent cd player but a piss poor dvd player. For playback of stuff off my numerous 2.5" portable hdds I use an sbc running Coreelec. It might not be the most sophisticated or expensive setup but it works really well for my needs. The thing I like about my SL12's is the fact that they're good all around speakers for almost anything that I'd play plus they have 12" woofers. . For video I use an older 42" Panasonic plasma that has better pq than 95% of the junk out there today.

 

[Girls with Guns]

My next door neighbor, who is also a big anime fan, came to visit tonight to enjoy our favorite Girls with Guns anime, Noir - but, we didn't watch the actual anime; we instead listened to the entire Noir soundtrack double LP on my vintage turntable and stereo system, which I finally was able to set back up in my living room over the weekend. My stereo equipment had sat forlornly in storage in my basement over the past 7 years or so, to make room for my elderly parents who had to move in with me. Now that they are both gone, I am working on getting my "revived" bachelor pad setup for entertainment once again!

I sat my neighbor down in a recliner centered directly in front of the two large speakers to obtain maximum audio absorption; we both slowly sipped large mugs of hot tea as we intently listened at generous volume to all four sides of the Noir double-album. We both love the Yuki Kajiura soundtrack from the anime, so we quickly became totally enveloped in some wondrous vinyl auditory bliss!

 

[Girls with Guns]

So now I've gone and gotten myself into yet another new hobby, all because I dug my old stereo system out of storage a few weeks ago and set it back up in the living room, and then picked up a Pioneer PL-512 turntable from the local vintage stereo shop this past weekend.

I'm now collecting anime soundtracks on vinyl LP.

Today I received my 4th anime soundtrack LP in the mail, this one from Amazon. These OST collections on vinyl sound so absolutely amazing on my stereo system I've already become completely addicted to them. So much so that I have an additional 16 anime LPs on order right now - I'm getting a big jump-start right off the bat!

I'm hoping to do some small photo spreads for my anime LP sets just like I do with my anime steelbooks, so here are some pics of my fourth Anime OST LP:


Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack Vinyl - Limited Edition Color 2 LP Gatefold set

I also ordered some replacement suspension feet for the Pioneer turntable; the feet that were on it when I purchased it were mismatched and hard as a rock from dry-rot. Here is a pic of the turntable with the new feet and Cowboy Bebop Side A loaded and ready on the platter: