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allenh

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Posts posted by allenh

  1. actually, that's cheaper than the actual postage cost.

     

    They are one of the few to use DHL who seem to be much cheaper to the UK than USPS, I'm guessing their packaging takes it over 1lb because if it were under 1lb they would only charge me $6.99 which is superb and why I said it was expensive.

     

    There is an ebay seller that because they use DHL and the Dollar Pound rate can sell LP's to the UK with free postage cheaper than I can buy them here. I wish more US sellers used DHL it would help out my wallet no end,

  2. Finished my vintage console stereo restoration today.  Here is a pic.

     

    photo4_zps6b2bfd09.jpg

    Nice

     

    My dad has a Tube Zenith that is like new.

     

     

    I caught the bug for vinyl again after about a 2 year hiatus and wanted to get a better turntable than I had before. I had an old Magnavox all-in-one stereo with a turntable equivalent to a Crosley. I finally found this Technics SL-D2 for a decent price locally. It's vintage right?  ;)

    I put a Shure M97xe on it. Cleaned it up and spent three hours buffing and polishing the dust cover with Turtle Wax rubbing compound (for the big scratches) and then finished it off with Meguiars Plastx. I think it turned out great!

    1410862_466323453480460_1598366450_o.jpg

     

    That will definitely do a better job than your old one, and nice job on the polishing, I have quite a few here you can do if you fancy it.

     

    Polished the shit out of my Thorens TD166 MKII's outer platter.

    1441261_10201462658066639_2063626704_n.j

    1426592_10201462658466649_1508686057_n.j

    As a reference, the sides were almost as dull and oxidized as the top!

    I used the venerable Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish with a beefy microfiber cloth -- rough on one side, smooth on the other. Then I threw a new buffing wheel on my Dremel and had at it. I finished off with a thin layer of furniture wax because I didn't have proper sealant wax handy. I'll have to re-polish and wax in a month or two, but it will be a lot easier.

     

    Looks pretty but there is a downside, you have to keep doing it now and don't touch it with your fingers you can watch the prints 33 revs a minute when you play an LP

  3. A simple rule with a pair of speakers is that they are just that a pair.

     

    and simply speakers for AV (audio visual) can come in sets of 3 or 5 or 7 or sometimes more. where there will be a centre the larger of the ones you have, then front left/front right, rear left/rear right, centre left/centre right and probably a sub woofer to make the windows shake and your fillings fall out.

     

    for records which means ideally hifi you need an amplifier that connects to one pair of speakers (possibly 2 pairs if has a switch that says A, B, both)

     

    for AV which is for making the bangs on the telly shake the windows and the axe murderer walk up behind you in the scary film you want an AV amp that connects to as many speakers as possible.

     

    the stuff you are looking for at the thrift store will have been made in the 70's or 80's, possibly 90's and in the case of the amps or receivers will either be silver probably with some wood on the sides or black, it won't have a cd drive, a dvd drive, a tape deck or an 8 track built in but it will have an input that says phono.

     

    you can run a turntable into an AV system with a phono amp but it is not what it was intended for and won't do a very good job of it.

     

    AV is for shaking windows and scary noises and hifi is for nice musical sounds and neither should be used fro the others purpose

  4. Ok then if you are sure get a strobe disc, it sounds like the app is not giving you an accurate answer.

    You can obviously hear a 1.2% error but if a turntable is consistently 1.2% down it is much harder than if it is fluctuating, as I say Project quote +/- 0.8% which means a total allowable variance of 1.6% which they are effectively saying you wont hear and is considered pretty good for a turntable at that price point.

     

    Also if the belt is only 6 months old then it's more likely an actual fault like a failing motor than wear or stretching. For a belt to wear to the point of slipping in that time you have have to live somewhere arid like death valley.

     

    One check is, is it worse with heavyweight records? Slip when present will always be worse on start up.

     

    You also have to consider what you are referencing to and is it accurate speed wise, the only way to know for sure is with a strobe disc.

     

    I have an acrylic platter mat that has a strobe on one side and a cartridge alignment protractor on the other, that came from ebay and I know they are available on ebay US. If I can find the link i will post it for you.

     

    If I'm wrong which isn't out of the bounds of possibility without seeing or hearing it and it is the belt then when you replace it always start the platter with a spin by hand before you start the motor, I had this in the instructions for one of my turntables that has a very heavy (50 or 60lbs) brass platter, because of the stress of starting that mass the helping spin has meant the belt has lasted years and I now do it to all belt drive turntables.

  5. The app # is kind of all over the place but its around 32.9-33.4.

     

    The belt isn't old at all...maybe 4-6 months? 

     

    I've never switched the belt between 33/45.

    A stretched belt won't give you a consistent speed difference, that needs motor control of some sort, be it just voltage drop or adjustment in the speed control but belt slip will never be consistent.

     

    If the software is correct then that difference is not really enough to worry about, worst case is -0.4rpm which is an error of 1.2%, I expect it's either your ears playing tricks on you or a even a bad pressing or if it is fluctuating as the software is showing that is possibly what you are hearing.

    Project quote +/- 0.8% speed error so the speed range the software has given you would just about be within limits and I expect there is a fair amount of error in just moving the phone when you are checking it.

     

    To get an accurate check download a strobe disc, print it out and then run the turntable with the lights in the room on, you will soon see if the speed is out and if it is fluctuating. there are plenty of you tube videos showing you how to use a strobe disc and places to download them for free.

  6. It's all a sham in my opinion. Less of the higher end ones are made but probably with higher qualified designers and engineers. It's the same with the vehicle market. You can buy a Nissan Versa that will get you from point A to B no problem, or you can go for a Ferrari that will get you from point A to B with more looks headed your way. Ok obviously there are the in-betweens like acceleration, top speed etc. But there are enough silent belt drive turntables with very decent tonearms that do the job just fine. 

     

    I can't think of other reasons for such an upgrade other than aesthetic. But if it makes you happy go for it! Why not? You only live once.

     

    Big loud laugh, very deep breath, another very loud laugh, frightened the crap out of the cat.

     

    wildflange not wishing to belittle you but there are two things I would suggest you do, drive a proper fast car that is made in Europe and go and listen to some music you know well on a proper hifi. Enjoy the experiences for what they are and forget about the costs and if the car is Italian the noise should have the same effect on your ears as the hifi.

     

    In the price range you posted the rp3 is an absolute best buy. Pro-ject's rpm line is far from the performance you'd expect a their price points. The only exception is the 1.3 genie.

    Wildflange's post is a total joke.

     

    Slinch is spot on, In general the Rega line will win because of the tone arm which is and has been the industry standard for years.

    On an unsprung turntable there is much less you need to get right but the Rega engineers have a very musical ear which shows in pretty much everything they make. I have nothing against the Project range and have owned a few but given the choice of the two I would go Rega every time.

  7. Without seeing it this is very difficult to put a decent answer together but an up and down wobble raises a few more questions, It depends on a couple of things like how much it wobbles? And does the centre spindle wobble as well? It could be a quite few things like light wear in the bearing or platter centre hole, a lightly warped platter, misaligned motor or even a lightly warped top plate.

    If it's well used and was used professionally then chances are there is going to be some wear somewhere especially in the motor bearing, these have pretty much battleship build quality but can get a fair amount of use and professional use can take its toll.

     

    It also depends whether you can live with it and whether you paid top dollar for it but if it is a very small wobble and doesn't cause you other problems like making the cartridge move around which could lead to tracking problems or there are audible results from it and it doesn't get worse I wouldn't worry but I would certainly mention it to the shop you bought it from and see what they have to say about it.

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