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Vinyl LP and Turntable Discussion


RussTCB

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14 hours ago, AxlsFavoriteRose said:

so can anyone recommend a fairly cheap but kinda good turntable? :)

what do you consider "cheap"? can you list the max you have to spend and I think you will get a bunch of recommendations.

JMO but for new TT's  with a decent cartridge $300 is about the cheapest you will find for  decent quality ready to use package that will not ruin your LP's

Although this uturnaudio probably is a good quality for the price.

https://uturnaudio.com/products/orbit-basic-turntable

here is a good list of reasonably priced turntables 

http://www.vinylmeplease.com/the-best-turntables-under-500/

You should also check your receiver/amp manual to make sure it has a phono input for a moving magnet cartridge or you will need to buy a separate phono preamp for the turntable unless the TT has one built in.

Audio Technica makes decent copies of the old Technics direct drive turntables of the 70's- 80's and even has models with built in preamps.

http://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bin/product_search/turntables/turntables.pl?lang=eng

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thank you! i just have a lot of old vinyl and i have no idea what it all will sound like ( they have been through like 7 moves and a stay in a storage unit .)  so i don't want to shell out big bucks til i can assess the situation. some of those are exactly around the price range i was thinking of :) thanks again!

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for an affordable table, the Audio Technica LP120 is pretty hard to beat. You can find them online for under 200 bucks, brand new.

I used one for a few years and never had any issues with it and for 90-100 bucks, you can upgrade it with the AT120e cartridge and that is quite an upgrade and is super easy to swap out.

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2 minutes ago, Stiff Competition said:

for an affordable table, the Audio Technica LP120 is pretty hard to beat. You can find them online for under 200 bucks, brand new.

I used one for a few years and never had any issues with it and for 90-100 bucks, you can upgrade it with the AT120e cartridge and that is quite an upgrade and is super easy to swap out.

thank you! :)

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My deck was sitting in storage for over 10 years.

So now that I have somewhere to set it up and run properly, I pulled it out and took it to a local audio tech for some lovin' given it is from the late '70s and was in storage for so long.

He cleaned chassis, lid, platter and mechanism; cleaned tonearm, inspected and lubricated mechanism, motor and spindle bearing; fitted new drive belt; repaired broken end of tonearm;  replaced mains suppression capacitor; adjusted sub-chassis suspension; supplied and fitted new cartridge; tightened headshell-armtube interface; tested deck.

Parts: 1 x rubber drive belt, 1 x Ortofon OM 10 moving magnet cartridge & 1 x mains suppression capacitor.

I have it running through a Cord phono stage into a Denon AVR-X520BT receiver and out to a Bose Accoustimass 6 system.

Love the sound, so much better than digital source, and the process of using vinyl. I am hearing things in the music that I don't recall hearing before.

DSCN7372_zpsnwyscjm7.jpg

 

DSCN7376_zpstmtxfagd.jpg

DSCN7374_zpsimzitlza.jpg

 

I don't have a huge collection of vinyl, maybe a dozen or two from my younger days from varying artists from Springsteen, Dire Straits and Bon Jovi to Madonna & Hot Chocolate.

I got a copy of the Hilltop Hoods Drinking from the Sun / Walking Under Stars Restrung triple album from the Mrs for Christmas which sounds fantastic.

I'm keen to track down some second hand vinyl and also grab some new stuff. I no longer have any interest in purchasing CDs or even downloading for that matter.

 



 

Edited by The Doktor
coz pics no worky
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Welcome back to vinyl as I have a similar story to yours in that my old Technics turntable was in storage since the mid 80's until about 6 month's ago when I took it out opened it up and did some maintenance. It now runs flawlessly...........I found part of the fun was hunting for new vinyl so good luck building your collection!

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So I got an old TECHNICS SL-B202 turntable. I figure if I replace the belt and maybe the cartridge and needle it should be good to go, yes? 

 

Am I right to believe that I would only need to have an amplifier (thinking about this one: http://www.whathifi.com/onkyo/9010/review) and a decent pair of speakers to have a decent starter set up?

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4 minutes ago, st0n3r said:

So I got an old TECHNICS SL-B202 turntable. I figure if I replace the belt and maybe the cartridge and needle it should be good to go, yes? 

 

Am I right to believe that I would only need to have an amplifier (thinking about this one: http://www.whathifi.com/onkyo/9010/review) and a decent pair of speakers to have a decent starter set up?

yeah your picks are a bit too pricey before i see the the condition of the 200 + vinyl i inherited is in. maybe i should look for one for rent??

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5 minutes ago, AxlsFavoriteRose said:

yeah your picks are a bit too pricey before i see the the condition of the 200 + vinyl i inherited is in. maybe i should look for one for rent??

I wasn't giving advice, I was asking for it. So please ignore my post until someone who is a bit more knowledgeable about these things approves of it. :D 

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4 minutes ago, AxlsFavoriteRose said:

no problem. i am just checking out whatever is posted *shrugs*

OK. Just making sure you don't make the mistake of taking whatever I say here in this topic as good advice. I know next to nothing about these things.

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Picked up an Alice In Chains bootleg today, and recently got the last of the 'Hired Gun' Axl/DC bootlegs, so now I've got all 3 of them :headbang:

 

AxlsFavoriteRose, if you're looking for something cheap here's what I've got, a late 80's JVC AL-F350 with a Shure cartridge, through a kenwood receiver and 2 pairs of bookshelf speakers. It's a decent set-up for what I paid for it. Thrift stores and craigslist are your friend! :thumbsup:

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On 2/17/2017 at 6:27 PM, st0n3r said:

So I got an old TECHNICS SL-B202 turntable. I figure if I replace the belt and maybe the cartridge and needle it should be good to go, yes? 

 

Am I right to believe that I would only need to have an amplifier (thinking about this one: http://www.whathifi.com/onkyo/9010/review) and a decent pair of speakers to have a decent starter set up?

that turntable is a solid starter TT....a belt change and new cartridge may be all you need to get it working properly as it is a pretty basic unit and Technics made solid TT's.

The Onkyo amp you posted looks like it has a phono input so it should be plug and play with a turntable and a decent pair of speakers. just make sure the cartridge you get is a moving magnet type not a moving coil type as that would require an additional preamp to work.....Audio Technica makes good value moving magnet cartridges at a good price......good luck and let us know what you end up with.....

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3 minutes ago, classicrawker said:

that turntable is a solid starter TT....a belt change and new cartridge may be all you need to get it working properly as it is a pretty basic unit and Technics made solid TT's.

The Onkyo amp you posted looks like it has a phono input so it should be plug and play with a turntable and a decent pair of speakers. just make sure the cartridge you get is a moving magnet type not a moving coil type as that would require an additional preamp to work.....Audio Technica makes good value moving magnet cartridges at a good price......good luck and let us know what you end up with.....

Thanks for the input. I already received the amplifier and had already ordered an Audio Technica AT95EBL MM cartridge, a new belt and q acoustics 3020 speakers. I think I should be good to go then. I will keep you guys updated. 

I already started collecting vinyl for quite some time, but never played them before. I just enjoyed going to these stores and looking around and talking about music to people. Glad I'm finally getting to listen to them. :D

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Finally got around to picking up Pink Floyd - The Final Cut remaster. I have a pristine sounding OP, but I love the song When The Tigers Broke Free so I grabbed the remaster because of it's inclusion. I also grabbed Ryan Adams latest LP, Prisoner. 

The biggest thing going on is that I finally pulled the trigger on pre-ordering the Weird Al Squeeze Box. 

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On 2/17/2017 at 5:16 PM, The Doktor said:

Got any pics of yours ?

Yeah, should be interestng trawling the stores.

Think I posted these before but I am too lazy to search so here you go pics of my Technics SL-1700 MK2 Direct Drive table.  It is basically a semiautomatic variant  of the famous DJ  SL-1200 table but it has spring isolated chassis and the arm returns at the end of the record...............

I bought this TT back in 1979/80 time frame for $200 and change at an old Crazy Eddie's store and fitted it with a Stanton 881S cartridge which was one of the best at the time and is still admired I think. I replaced the stylus often so the one on there now has low hours on it which is good since a good replacement  JICO aftermarket Shibata stylus is $183.00!

I used it until I got a CD player around the mid 80's so it just sat there in my component cabinet until I hooked it up again. The electronic cue and the return were not working so I had to take it apart and replace a small belt for the cue and return function. This is common issue with these old Technics as the original belt disintegrates over time. Also cleaned all the old hardened  lube off of the plastic gears and relubed them. One of the plastic gears developed cracks so epoxied that up and also had to replace the RCA cable, which was a bitch to do, it had a broken lead so lost one channel.

It now works flawlessly as those old Technics TT's were built like tanks............May upgrade to something more audiophile someday but the Technics sounds great and does the job.....

TT_coveropen.jpg

 

TT_opencover.jpg

 

The only other thing I would highly recommend if you plan on really getting back into vinyl is get a record cleaning machine. I have a Spin Clean which does a decent job but finally sprung for a Record Doctor vacuum cleaning machine and I can tell you the difference of a before and after cleaning is amazing. Records which were so noisy they we almost unplayable came out with much reduced snap crackle and pop and are now actually enjoyable to listen to.

I know it is the price of a decent starter turntable but worth every penny if you really listen to a lot of vinyl and can swing it.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RDV&gclid=CJyG57XPn9ICFcSNswod4gQDwg

Edited by classicrawker
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29 minutes ago, The Doktor said:

Looks a beaut !

Have you heard of / had any experience wth this - http://recordrevirginizer.com/

 

I have seen ads for that stuff and thought about trying some but would be expensive to ship to the U.S. unless I bought a bunch so was reluctant to try it. Would love to hear if anyone here has ever tried it?

In any case I am very happy with my Record Doctor as it works great and does not take a long time to clean a record.

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solid looking setup.....glad things came together for you stOn3r....it is a great time to get into vinyl as anyone  can put together a nice system inexpensively.

like your choice of vinyl as well.....need to clean my copy of Hawkwind Space Ritual and give it a spin.....it was my favorite in college after smoking a fatty.....:lol:

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