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#1
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turntable 411 and recommendations
Hi,
after years of CDs and PCM quality sounfd, i want to go back to playing my old LPs on a decent turntable. Problem is, I don't know where to look up newer stuff that doesn't cost a fortune. Or find out how good it is. I'd like to spend less than $ 200.00 (I said good, not earth-shattering good). I'd like good components and interconnects, as well as reliablilty. I don't care if searching for an older Rega or such is the best bet. I'd be willing to go used, for a quality table. Any suggestions? recommendations? |
#2
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"Dickless Cheney" wrote in message om... Hi, after years of CDs and PCM quality sounfd, i want to go back to playing my old LPs on a decent turntable. Problem is, I don't know where to look up newer stuff that doesn't cost a fortune. Or find out how good it is. I'd like to spend less than $ 200.00 (I said good, not earth-shattering good). I'd like good components and interconnects, as well as reliablilty. I don't care if searching for an older Rega or such is the best bet. I'd be willing to go used, for a quality table. You'll HAVE to go used if you want anything good for that price. Keep your eyes open for a bargain. Estate sales are your best chance. TonyP. |
#3
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"Dickless Cheney" wrote in message
om... Problem is, I don't know where to look up newer stuff that doesn't cost a fortune. Or find out how good it is. I'd like to spend less than $ 200.00 (I said good, not earth-shattering good). I'd like good components and interconnects, as well as reliablilty. I don't care if searching for an older Rega or such is the best bet. I'd be willing to go used, for a quality table. Any suggestions? recommendations? In the mid-1980s, Acoustic Research put out an updated version of the classic AR table. It has a higher-torque motor, I think, a sloped edge on the platter, a nice-looking wooden base, and mirabile dictu, a decent tone arm. They show up on e-bay with some regularity, and if you're real lucky you can score one for $200, but even if you haver to go higher, you won't regret it. Peace, Paul |
#4
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"Dickless Cheney" wrote in message . com...
Hi, after years of CDs and PCM quality sounfd, i want to go back to playing my old LPs on a decent turntable. Problem is, I don't know where to look up newer stuff that doesn't cost a fortune. Or find out how good it is. I'd like to spend less than $ 200.00 (I said good, not earth-shattering good). I'd like good components and interconnects, as well as reliablilty. I don't care if searching for an older Rega or such is the best bet. I'd be willing to go used, for a quality table. Any suggestions? recommendations? Regas are good, I think Sumiko had some decent, medium priced stuff. Check out the VPI HW19 jr. But for $200, you'll need to find something used, since a decent cartridge will cost you more than that! I've been using the Shure V15 Type V MR for many years, with good results. Not as detailed as an MC cartridge, but plays just about anything and sounds quite good overall. Good luck, Karl Winkler Lectrosonics, Inc. http://www.lectrosonics.com |
#5
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"Dickless Cheney" wrote in message om... Hi, after years of CDs and PCM quality sounfd, i want to go back to playing my old LPs on a decent turntable. Thanks to all for the recommendations. I figured used was my nest bet, but I also figure that someone who owns that type of gear is apt to take good care of it. Now for a more esoteric question... All things being equal, and on a modest setup, are the tunes going to sound "THAT" much better on vinyl, than a CD? My speakers are adequate. I split time between B&W 602 S2s, and an older pair of JBL L65s. I also have a JBL 12" sub (forgot the model number). All interconnects are fairly ubiquitious Monsters and such. 12 ga speaker wire too. Power is just a Yamaha 5540 receiver. I do remember the warmth of vinyl, and don't get that in the CDs, but again, don't have a fortune to go audiophile level. If I can piece stuff together one by one, then I might eventually have a "listen only" system; but for now, the music and HT setup have to be shared. Any advice would be helpful. |
#6
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"Dickless Cheney" wrote in message
. com... All things being equal, and on a modest setup, are the tunes going to sound "THAT" much better on vinyl, than a CD? My speakers are adequate. I split time between B&W 602 S2s, and an older pair of JBL L65s. I also have a JBL 12" sub (forgot the model number). All interconnects are fairly ubiquitious Monsters and such. 12 ga speaker wire too. Power is just a Yamaha 5540 receiver. I do remember the warmth of vinyl, and don't get that in the CDs, but again, don't have a fortune to go audiophile level. If I can piece stuff together one by one, then I might eventually have a "listen only" system; but for now, the music and HT setup have to be shared. Any advice would be helpful. Whether the tunes sound better or worse on vinyl is going to depend on way too many things for a simple answer. If the vinyl was cut really well, and is in mint or near-mint condition, while the matching CD was done in the mid-80s in the usual inept fashion, then the vinyl could well sound better. As the LPs get played more, they'll begin to sound less good. On the other hand, if the vinyl was cut and pressed poorly, it'll probably sound crappy from the start, and get worse as time goes on. A well-cut CD, in that case, will run rings around it, and keep on doing so. An example: I've been listening to the LP of the New Lost City Ramblers' "Songs from the Depression", cut c. 1961, alongside the four cuts from it that were included on their compilation CD, "Volume I: The Early Years", and the difference is night and day in favor of the CD. It's a clean copy of the record, looks like it was never played at all, and it still sounds pretty damned bad. Why? A couple of reasons: First, there's about 25 minutes on each side, which is a lot to squeeze onto an LP, or at least it was in 1961. To get all that material on there, the mastering engineer drastically rolled off the bass frequencies. Hence, the disk sounds thin (while the CD, without the rolloff, sounds much warmer). Second, Moe Asch, from the sound of it, pressed his discs on ground-up baby toys, and they sound it. Ticks and pops everywhere, at least until I turned DC-SIX loose on the files. But the LP is still much harsher sounding than the CD. Look, I like analog, and I like a good LP when I hear it. But many, many LPs suck for reasons like this, and I spend a lot of time working with them, so I have to live with that suckery. (Why? Because I do a radio show, and a lot of the material I need hasn't been reissued on CDs, or if it has I can't afford to buy it all.) Now if you'll pardon me, I need to go see if I can rescue a moribund hard drive. Peace, Paul |
#7
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OK, so I have an old Sherwood linear tracking turntable, bought I guess in
the mid 80s. It seems to play everything OK, though I RARELY listen to LPs anymore. I'm curious why nobody sells the linear tracking turntables anymore... problem in the design? |
#8
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"Paul Stamler" wrote in message ...
"Dickless Cheney" wrote in message . com... Whether the tunes sound better or worse on vinyl is going to depend on way too many things for a simple answer. If the vinyl was cut really well, and is in mint or near-mint condition, while the matching CD was done in the mid-80s in the usual inept fashion, then the vinyl could well sound better. As the LPs get played more, they'll begin to sound less good. On the other hand, if the vinyl was cut and pressed poorly, it'll probably sound crappy from the start, and get worse as time goes on. A well-cut CD, in that case, will run rings around it, and keep on doing so. An example: I've been listening to the LP of the New Lost City Ramblers' "Songs from the Depression", cut c. 1961, alongside the four cuts from it that were included on their compilation CD, "Volume I: The Early Years", and the difference is night and day in favor of the CD. It's a clean copy of the record, looks like it was never played at all, and it still sounds pretty damned bad. Why? A couple of reasons: First, there's about 25 minutes on each side, which is a lot to squeeze onto an LP, or at least it was in 1961. To get all that material on there, the mastering engineer drastically rolled off the bass frequencies. Hence, the disk sounds thin (while the CD, without the rolloff, sounds much warmer). Second, Moe Asch, from the sound of it, pressed his discs on ground-up baby toys, and they sound it. Ticks and pops everywhere, at least until I turned DC-SIX loose on the files. But the LP is still much harsher sounding than the CD. Look, I like analog, and I like a good LP when I hear it. But many, many LPs suck for reasons like this, and I spend a lot of time working with them, so I have to live with that suckery. (Why? Because I do a radio show, and a lot of the material I need hasn't been reissued on CDs, or if it has I can't afford to buy it all.) Now if you'll pardon me, I need to go see if I can rescue a moribund hard drive. Peace, Paul Paul sums it up pretty well, and I've experienced the same thing. I have a nice TT setup, and a decent system, and there are certainly some LPs that sound amazing (some Sheffield Labs direct-to-disc, and MoFi 200gm records come to mind...) but I would say the majority of my LP collection sounds good but not great for the reasons mentioned above. For me, the key to LPs is that there is a ton of music pressed to vinyl that has of yet never made it to CD (let alone SACD or DVDA, or whatever). So when I want to check out some of the more obsucre jazz, etc., in my collection, LP is the only place to find it. Karl Winkler Lectrosonics, Inc. http://www.lectrosonics.com |
#9
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On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 06:19:04 GMT, "Dickless Cheney"
wrote: Hi, after years of CDs and PCM quality sounfd, i want to go back to playing my old LPs on a decent turntable. Problem is, I don't know where to look up newer stuff that doesn't cost a fortune. Or find out how good it is. I'd like to spend less than $ 200.00 (I said good, not earth-shattering good). I'd like good components and interconnects, as well as reliablilty. Let's see, maybe $100 for a low-end Nitty Gritty or similar vacuum record cleaner, $100 for that AT cartridge from http://www.needledoctor.com (who knows, they might have a table in your budget. Have you looked on, dare I say it, ebay?), then ... how much did you want to spend? Wait, you're in luck, the 440ML (Scott is absolutely right, even many worn-out 45's sound clean when played with this cartridge's fineline stylus) is now only $88.29, and that leaves $11 for whatever turntable the thrift shop has... I don't care if searching for an older Rega or such is the best bet. I'd be willing to go used, for a quality table. Any suggestions? recommendations? Just that a 'quality' turntable isn't the only thing needed for good, clean playback of records. Even if your LP's are well-kept, cleaning makes a difference. You can even use cheap "interconnects", just make sure the connections are clean. ----- http://mindspring.com/~benbradley |
#10
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On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 06:19:04 GMT, "Dickless Cheney"
wrote: Hi, after years of CDs and PCM quality sounfd, i want to go back to playing my old LPs on a decent turntable. Problem is, I don't know where to look up newer stuff that doesn't cost a fortune. Or find out how good it is. I'd like to spend less than $ 200.00 (I said good, not earth-shattering good). I'd like good components and interconnects, as well as reliablilty. Let's see, maybe $100 for a low-end Nitty Gritty or similar vacuum record cleaner, $100 for that AT cartridge from http://www.needledoctor.com (who knows, they might have a table in your budget. Have you looked on, dare I say it, ebay?), then ... how much did you want to spend? Wait, you're in luck, the 440ML (Scott is absolutely right, even many worn-out 45's sound clean when played with this cartridge's fineline stylus) is now only $88.29, and that leaves $11 for whatever turntable the thrift shop has... I don't care if searching for an older Rega or such is the best bet. I'd be willing to go used, for a quality table. Any suggestions? recommendations? Just that a 'quality' turntable isn't the only thing needed for good, clean playback of records. Even if your LP's are well-kept, cleaning makes a difference. You can even use cheap "interconnects", just make sure the connections are clean. ----- http://mindspring.com/~benbradley |