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Official "Help Me Choose a Turntable" v.2.0 Thread


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Not to sound like a stalker or troll or anything of the sorts (haha) but I've been browsing this site for a few days now and I've gotta say, THANKS! There is a lot of helpful info gathered and compiled on this site.

I've recently started collecting vinyl and I've been lookin for a good turntables and also just look around the site for good places to shop online (the shopradiocast ad above was of course one of the first places I checked out).

To the topic at hand though, this thread has been VERY helpful and just wanted to say once again, THANKS! 8-)

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Hi. Fairly recently started collecting vinyl and from there decided to buy a turntable (http://shop.bigpond.com/product.asp?ID=106123). For speakers I plug it into my Sony boombox via RCA cable.

Ready for a substantial upgrade now as I want to get the best possible sound from my records and since buying the turntable I've heard that most of these USB turntables cause a fair bit of damage to the records after each play.

Pretty lenient on price at this point. Not sure if my best bet is to buy one of the high end modern turntables or to try and find a decent vintage one. I keep the turntable in my room and use it 3-4 times a week.

If anyone could help me out with some info on this, that'd be awesome.

Cheers 8-)

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alright VCers, i am building a home stereo system completely from scratch.

what are your recommendations for the following:

turntable

receiver / amp

floor speakers

price range could be anywhere from 500 to 2500, all depends on what the benefits of spending more would be. your input is much appreciated, thanks in advance.

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Since the last two posts are similar, I'll address both of you together.

brocksta182 - if you truly want the best possible sound from your records, then plan on spending some coin. And while the turntable is obviously very important, don't skimp on the other components: speakers, amp, pre-amp, cart / stylus, etc etc.

kickinfatbeats - I don't know what your current setup is, but if you're going from something really crappy (like a Crosley / Ion) to some nicer equipment (like the Rega / Pro-Ject), there will be a pretty huge jump in sound quality, especially if you're also upgrading your amp / speakers. However, if you already have something pretty nice, spending more money on the next step up won't give you as big of an upgrade in sound. It will be better, but not as obvious. It's called the law of diminishing returns.

Both of you - do some research (there's tons of threads on this stuff on audiophile message boards) about vintage vs new. There are lots of things to consider - aesthetics, technological advances, etc etc - but it basically breaks down to what you'd be more happy / comfortable with. Everyone has a different opinion and they're mostly all valid.

Personally, I like vintage. You get a much bigger bang with your buck and with $1000 - $2000 you could build a ridiculously nice system. The downside is that there's a lot of research involved and of course there's the question of reliability. You're much more likely to have problems with vintage gear than new stuff. However, if you're handy with electronics or you purchase the gear from someone who has already restored it, you'll be fine. At the very least, try to make friends with someone local who is good at repairing vintage equipment. It will make your life a lot easier if something goes wrong.

Now with new gear, you might not be able to afford as nice of a system, but you'd also be paying for something that's (mostly) going to be worry-free for a while. Also, some people think that new is superior to vintage, so there's that.

Anyway, that's my two cents, but yeah - if you're both willing to spend some money, there are lots of options. You just need to narrow it down a bit.

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I'm relatively new to vinyl and turntables so I figured I would post here for advice. I am planning on getting my first turntable but I don't really know anything about which ones are good/bad. I am looking for something that is a bit on the cheap side and has speakers built in. Any suggestions?

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This year, I'm contemplating building a set up. Not related to anything vinyl, I'm also planning on buying an iMac. Along with that iMac, I plan to buy a set of Bose speakers.

If I were to buy a turntable, would I be able to hook up that turntable to the same speakers I plan to use for my computer? Are "computer" speakers bad to use by any means when hooking up to a turntable.

Just trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, but not sure if this is possible. Help?

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If I were to buy a turntable, would I be able to hook up that turntable to the same speakers I plan to use for my computer? Are "computer" speakers bad to use by any means when hooking up to a turntable.

Just trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, but not sure if this is possible. Help?

The answer to your two questions are "it depends" and "yes, but it still depends"

Most computer speakers will hook up to a computer using a standard auxillary jack, the same kind used by iPods and mp3 players. These speakers can (technically) hook up to a turntable using an RCA to auxillary cable, but without going through a proper amplifier will probably sound like absolute garbage. Even through a receiver it won't sound that good out of those speakers because most modern computer speakers have shitty amplifiers built in are made exclusively for digital content and analog records tend to sound overtly crisp and treble-y out of them. Also, without a proper receiver you would have to manually switch the cable back and forth from the computer to the turntable when you wanted to switch sources, which would be totally annoying. Lastly, certain higher-end Bose speakers use a USB connection to the computer and will not hook up to analog devices like turntables and receivers.

Ideally, you would want a seperate setup for your turntable. You want to go from the turntable into a receiver, which will filter and amplify the sound, and then into proper speakers (the kind that don't have built-in amplification like computer speakers do and are made to hook up to receivers)

THE most important thing in my opinion to keep in mind if you're just starting with records is that an improperly calibrated needle/cartridge will RUIN your records after only a few plays. You want to calibrate the needle and tonearm so it hits the record in the specific location of the groove, otherwise it will wear out the grooves on the vinyl, causing distortion and other sound impacts. I used a crappy Stanton table with the stock cartridge for the first year I collected records, and it was probably the worst mistake I could have made when I was playing the records I really cared about. Spent $50 on a new cartridge/needle (which comes with its own calibration kit it's the Shure MX97e in case you're interested, works with most modern tables) and instantly noticed a huge difference.

BTW I don't consider myself an expert by any means. But I hope all of this helps somebody in some sort of way :-/

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I'm relatively new to vinyl and turntables so I figured I would post here for advice. I am planning on getting my first turntable but I don't really know anything about which ones are good/bad. I am looking for something that is a bit on the cheap side and has speakers built in. Any suggestions?

My sister bought this one: http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=13974274&color=24&color=24&itemdescription=true&navAction=jump&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS

And I was incredibly surprised how good it sounded for the price. Even has a USB hookup to the computer. But you CAN'T hook up an amp or external speakers to it, which is a bummer. For this price though I don't think you can beat it.

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I'm relatively new to vinyl and turntables so I figured I would post here for advice. I am planning on getting my first turntable but I don't really know anything about which ones are good/bad. I am looking for something that is a bit on the cheap side and has speakers built in. Any suggestions?

My sister bought this one: http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=13974274&color=24&color=24&itemdescription=true&navAction=jump&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS

And I was incredibly surprised how good it sounded for the price. Even has a USB hookup to the computer. But you CAN'T hook up an amp or external speakers to it, which is a bummer. For this price though I don't think you can beat it.

That is actually one of the ones I was looking at. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Does anybody have any knowledge about this set up, ive been looking to upgrade my player for a while not and have been wanting to pull the trigger on a pro-ject but things keep getting in the way

http://www.needledoctor.com/Audio-Technica-LP120-USB-and-Audioengine-A2-Promo-Pack?sc=12&category=-112

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Does anybody have any knowledge about this set up, ive been looking to upgrade my player for a while not and have been wanting to pull the trigger on a pro-ject but things keep getting in the way

http://www.needledoctor.com/Audio-Technica-LP120-USB-and-Audioengine-A2-Promo-Pack?sc=12&category=-112

For this price, I really can't imagine getting more bang for your buck (speaking for new equipment).

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Does anybody have any knowledge about this set up, ive been looking to upgrade my player for a while not and have been wanting to pull the trigger on a pro-ject but things keep getting in the way

http://www.needledoctor.com/Audio-Technica-LP120-USB-and-Audioengine-A2-Promo-Pack?sc=12&category=-112

For this price, I really can't imagine getting more bang for your buck (speaking for new equipment).

really? I can order that same turntable here for 220$ ppd: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATL....1092574& sr=8-1

I'm not a speaker expert by any means, but it seems like 280 dollars is a heck of a lot for a pair of what look like little M-Audio AV30s. are they that good?

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Looks like they also sell the speakers by themselves for $200 so w/ free shipping the price makes sense

http://www.needledoctor.com/Audioengine-2-Powered-Desktop-Speakers

Seems like their price is in line w/ everyone else.

So the turntable is $220 and the speakers are $200, seperate but both ppd (from amazon w/ free shipping), and the package deal is $500 from needledoctor. I guess $80 shipping makes sense for a huge package like that. I personally wouldn't buy it (speakers just seem too expensive for basic monitors) but hey, that's just me.

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So I'm definitely buying a turntable by the end of this month. Particularly have my sets on the Audio Technica ATLP 120. I'll be picking it up off amazon. Anything I should know before I pick this up or is this turntable known for being reliable. Anyone own one and would like to share their experience with the turntable thus far? Thanks guys.

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