allenh

So I just got some amazing news so I have to check out for a bit, feel free to keep messaging and I'll get to them when I can!

Should be

fish fork on standby

it's flowery use of the English language to ensure my shock and surprise are fully expressed but in reality means cock all, it's probably impossible and I would hope illegal in most of the civilised world.

I think the reason for a lot of the problems encountered arise because with online auctions you have the sellers description and any photographs to base your bid price on, you can not physically pick the thing up and look it over and once it goes into the post you are at the mercy of the carrier no matter how well the item is packed. Insurance with the post office is a lot better but with most couriers if the item is signed for it is accepted as being in good condition which gives no one any room for manoeuvre.   What is mostly forgotten is that even with a large company buyer or seller you are dealing with a human being and in some cases a chain of human beings all of which are capable of being fallible, so a little bit of patience and common courtesy goes a long way to getting any problems resolved.   But as someone who grew up around vehicle, salvage and house clearance type auctions there are three statements about all auctions that seem to have been forgotten now auctions are primarily online and of which two basically mean the same thing:
 
Buyer beware
Caveat Emptor
 
ca·ve·at emp·tor ˈempˌtôr/ noun noun: caveat emptor 1. the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made. early 16th cent.: Latin, literally ‘let the buyer beware.’   The third is "errors and omissions omitted"   A lot of the above isn't relevant to online mail order purchases but the paragraph about human fallibility, patience and common courtesy certainly is.

As Yanquiuxo says you need to pin down which item is at fault. that is the art with all fault finding so you need to be methodical to weed out the items that are ok
 
You know the other amp inputs are ok so plug the TT and pre amp into one of them, if it's still there it's in the TT so cartridge and cables and pre amp. If it goes away then that input to the amp is at fault.
 
Also can you use the cable that goes between the pre amp and amp on another source and it's normal input to test that cable?
 
Also do you get a hum from the channel that isn't working? This can indicate a short somewhere.
 
The inputs to the amp and pre amp can be popped with shorts but it's more likely a cable issue.
 
You can also try moving cables and connections around when you have it all running, if you have a loose connection this will show it up but don't do it with the cartridge leads for obvious reasons. The contacts in the RCA sockets can relax and loose contact but that is very rare, if it's cable or connector related it's more likely a break or bad joint.

This thread is insane for so many reasons and I barely read any of it.
 
I will say this:
 
I buy vinyl to listen to. Most people do, or at least that is one of the reasons they buy them. I don't really care if people are going to keep collecting variants of shitty pop-punk records, as long as it helps vinyl stay relevant. If only audiophiles and people with good systems bought records, it would become less and less profitable for labels to release it. If 500 kids owning 5000 brand new records helps to keep labels pressing stuff on vinyl, then i'm totally okay with it.

What taylo234 says is very valid. It's not the person being able to hear the difference though it's the quality of the kit that is being connected by these cables, so there is a point where the limit is the equipment not the cables.
 
I'm not familair with the monoprice cables but have seen and used very similar here and at that price would be more than happy with them for what you are doing. Also at that price if you upgrade later you have the chioce to upgrade cables later and you will have lost very little.

I know the Erie store and think it's becasue there's not a huge amount of competition for quite a wide area.
 
My parents live in Bradford and I always take a look in Erie when I am over.

I see where you're coming from @DigWaveDave but the rest of the kit needs to at least be able to get something out of the turntable though otherwise it's a waste of time and money.
 
The mismatch between the turntable and amp/speakers is too far to make it worth the effort.
 
A good turntable is always a good thing and the love of vinyl should never be discouraged but he might be better off taking the rest of the money to yard sales and charity shops to see what he can find 2nd hand.
Any average 70's or 80's amp/reciever for $5 would do a much much better job.
The turntable pre will do a job but the rest will struggle to acheive fi let alone hifi and I worry that would stilt a budding vinyl lover.
 
@AJ123 if you do go 2nd hand go for weight in everything it's always a good sign in amps and speakers and don't buy speakers you can't take the covers off to check the cones. And if they tell you it works make sure to tell them you will be bringing it back if it doesn't
 
Anything that surprises you with it's weight when you lift it will be a good thing.

pity about the Rega.
 
6ohm speakers on an 8 ohm output is fine. 4 ohm speakers on an 8 ohm output is a problem but only if you run at very high volumes for a long time as the amp have to work much harder to drive the 4 ohm load

Found this article online that might help.
 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57606904-47/speaker-specifications-a-consumer-guide/
 
It talks about all the values on the back of a speaker and speaker and room size etc. Have a read it will probabaly answer a lot of your questions and help you reject quite a few speakers.

It's not the changing speed that will wear out or stretch the belt. On a belt drive turntable the belt wear is on startup while the motor tries to spin that heavy platter, in the drive chain something has to give and the belt is the weakest point and that's why they stretch so if you want them to last longer give the platter a helping spin before you start the motor

The biggest problem is what voltage drives the original bulbs, it could be anywhere from 3volts to 240volts depending on what supplies them and where in the world you are.
 
An LED is very low voltage 0.7V typically so the ones used to replace bulbs will have a transformer or similar to allow it to operate on the voltage you need.
 
You will need to look at your original bulbs and on the metal casing it should give a V value and a W value, V being the volts and W the watts. If they are not metal cased the details should be printed on the glass but this may have burnt off over time. Generally a fitting type means one voltage so if you can identify your bulbs from pictures you stand a chance.
 
most electronic component suppliers like Digikey should be able to help you with direct LED replacements or you can then search on the net for bulb replacement LED's by the supply voltage, so if you search 12v LED bulb replacement you will get a whole string of them but you should find one that is the same fitting as the your original bulb.
 
If you can't find one that's a direct replacement it gets a bit more tricky and that would be a whole other post about ohms law and the art of soldering.

Great for this time of year over here, gives you a nice warm glow

Yes I did chuckle a bit. Being British I do like a bit of sarcasm and Irony but you can learn something new day.
 
From what I have seen on these boards there is a very wide range of views and levels of knowledge which can only be a good thing.

Nothing as far as I can see, I buy with my ears first but you still have to look at the thing so it might as well please your eyes as well

It's not the changing speed that will wear out or stretch the belt. On a belt drive turntable the belt wear is on startup while the motor tries to spin that heavy platter, in the drive chain something has to give and the belt is the weakest point and that's why they stretch so if you want them to last longer give the platter a helping spin before you start the motor