Back to basics: Meet Pranav Bhagaloo, a young passionate vinyl record collector

He was born a millennial and is part of the streaming-generation, but Pranav Bhagaloo is an audiophile and the first year law student says nothing matches the depth and soul that vinyl records bring to life in music.

His immersion in a vinyl adventure has seen him go to great lengths to technically measure up mediums against one another.

Bhagaloo concluded that beyond the scratchiness of a record, there’s very little difference in quality between retro and today. Bhagaloo is also a musician and loves his guitar. He said that few pleasures compare with musical discoveries like the Beatles, on record.

And he has been discovering a lot of old school artists on his journey. He confessed though: “I am a hardcore Taylor Swift fan, too.”

He said a lot of his collection comprises gifted music as new records are expensive, at about R800 for a freshly pressed album. Bhagaloo’s relationship with vinyl became a commitment when his uncle sold him a second-hand turntable.

This fuelled a search for components which became an adventure he shared with his dad. He said: “There was so much deliberation that went into it.

“We debated whether to buy bookshelf speakers, what amplifier to acquire and so on.

“But the coolest thing was that we discovered that not a lot of paraphernalia must be shopped for to get a pretty awesome sound out of a record.”

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His record collection totals just under 100 albums, many handed down from friends of his parents. He has probably only bought about 20 records, but the music passed on has helped him discover artists and music previously unknown to him.

He said: “I thought that I knew Simon and Garfunkel’s music, but there was so much more to discover than I’d imagined.

“They really made some incredible music and I discovered songs that I have never heard of before.”

He added that for some reason, listening to music on a record makes you want to finish the song and not skip it as easily as on a digital platform.

But he had to get used to picking up the arm and dropping the needle on the track he wanted to listen to.

He said more people would probably turn to vinyl if it wasn’t for the extra effort and lack of mobility. And while spinning vinyl is a bit of a novelty for him, he believes the depth and richness that a record offers will turn it into a lasting passion.

– news@citizen.co.za