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


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Thoughts on a pioneer pl 71 for $225?

If it's in working condition, includes a decent usable cartridge and has generally been well-maintained, $225 is a fair-to-good price for the PL-71. It was Pioneer's top of the line manual deck back in its day and from what I can tell, still well-regarded.

For "what's it worth?" questions in regards to vintage gear, I always do a national craigslist search, as well as an eBay search for completed sales. That will give you a general idea of what price people are paying for the item. Right now I can only find one Craigslist ad for $295. For completed eBay sales, there's one for $130 - but it looks to be in rough shape - and then two nice ones that sold for $325+. There's also a couple current sales going on: one with a buy it now price of $299 and another that's up to $101 with a couple days to go. Link is below, but keep your eye on it to see what it sells for.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll....#ht_777 wt_1284

Again, buying vintage gear is dependent on the condition. Not sure if it's possible, but if you can physically inspect and test out the table before you buy it, that's always a good idea.

Thanks so much for the quick reply and all the help. I really appreciate it.

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I pulled the trigger on a Pro-ject Debut III is there anything i should be aware of or have to configure out of the box?

if you havent set up a turntable / tonearm before its a really good idea to find a local record shop / hifi store that will set it up for you.

If you are lucky the guy will show you how to correctly align the cartridge which imho is the hardest part of setting up a turntable out of the box...

enjoy the table - i love my pro-ject xpression iii and i can only guess that all their tables are quality!!!

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Took your advice Chuck, been dedicating all my after work researching the poopy out of specs for tables. Looks like for $400 I will be picking up the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon if things go according to plan from my bday :D From here I will just upgrade the needle/platter whenever I feel the need to.

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Took your advice Chuck, been dedicating all my after work researching the poopy out of specs for tables. Looks like for $400 I will be picking up the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon if things go according to plan from my bday :D From here I will just upgrade the needle/platter whenever I feel the need to.

So you did so much research that poop came out? That's hardcore, duder. But yeah, there's a lot of info out there, and some of it is from people who don't really know what they're talking about. Not that I really know what I'm talking about either. Eventually you'll start to gain a better comprehension of how all this stuff works ... but the information never really ends.

Anyway, I think you'll be happy with your eventual purchase. For your next step, I would probably upgrade to a better cartridge. And maybe a good preamp ... and better speakers. Those types of upgrades will be more noticeable than the platter. Don't get me wrong - the acrylic platter should cut down on resonance / vibration, but it's not like the Debut Carbon is going to be particularly noisy in the first place. That's why they're nice turntables; because they're already pretty quiet.

At the end of the day, if you're like me you'll feel like a crazy person for constantly wanting to improve on your equipment ... but I find the hobby really fun and it has increased my vinyl playback enjoyment tenfold. Seriously, I love listening to all my records cause they just sound so damn good!

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Yea the other stuff I wasen't too worried about due to the fact the Pre-Amop and etc. has already been taken care of. It was just the means of researching a table down to the bare bones.

But thank you for the helpful notes of finding the need to research the wow + flutter etc etc etc... It was a mind grueling process but I finally decided to upgrade my table before I blow $400 on a new gun and/or iPad lol

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I'm looking for a quality vintage receiver with a phono input, to pair with a pioneer pl-514, so that I don't have to buy 2 separate units (wires, ick.) anyone have any suggestions on what to buy or stay away from?

There are lots a great vintage receivers (or integrated amps) from the 70s that will do just fine for you, and pretty much all of them have phono inputs, seeing as how vinyl ruled music back then.

Do your research, but you can go wrong with vintage stuff from Pioneer, Marantz, Sony, Sansui, Yamaha, Luxman, Harman Kardon or Kenwood. Even a vintage Realistic or Onkyo receiver would be cool.

I will say that if you're going the used route, try to make sure you buy from a reliable source and that the unit is in good working condition. If it's been cleaned, recapped and tested, even better.

Also, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of eventually buying to a separate pre-amp. You'll get a nice music from those vintage receivers, but something like the Cambridge 640p, Music Fidelity V-LPS or Hagerman Bugle will give you a sweet upgrade in sound for less than $200.

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I'm looking for a quality vintage receiver with a phono input, to pair with a pioneer pl-514, so that I don't have to buy 2 separate units (wires, ick.) anyone have any suggestions on what to buy or stay away from?

If this is still available (and you don't need to listen to the radio) this Marantz 1150 integrated amp is a deal and a half. Plus, it's been serviced. The ad is from last month so who knows ...

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/ele/2818938635.html

This Pioneer SA-7800 would be good if it wasn't waaay overpriced ...

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/ele/2908742791.html

Not too much else to choose from right now. If you wait it out, you should be able to find some decent choices in the $100 range.

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I'm trying to decide between two tables for my first table. I'm still open to other options, but it's kind of a strange pairing:

Project Debut III

or

AT-LP120 (or PL-120?)

I've done a little research, and it comes down to these two because I'm not really sure whether I want a DJ table or not. It will be purely for home listening; I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I have been collecting vinyl for about a year now, and can't wait to hear them!

So, would a DJ table be a good option for home listening? I'm a bit skeptical of the pitch control and other bits that are geared towards DJing; seems like extra features that I don't really need to use or pay for.

But, I'm kind of leaning slightly away from the Pro-ject because I'd really like an auto-return feature (and speed-change switch). Yes, I've heard all the arguments about fewer frills that might break or interfere with the sound quality, but I would really like it to handle itself when a side is done. Personal choice here. :)

I've seen Pro-ject models similar to the DebutIII that have these comfort features, but I can't find any at a reasonable price.

I'm looking at a budget for an entire sound system (table, pre-amp-receiver, cartridge if needed) of about $400 total. Preferably less. ;)

So, I'd like to know:

Would either of these tables be a good choice for me?

Is a DJ table reasonable for home listening? Do they put more wear on records than audiophile tables because they're built to take more of a beating?

Given ___ turntable, what pre-amp should I get that would keep me under my budget? If I get a receiver that has a phono-input, do I still need the pre-amp?

Because this will be my first turntable, really anything I get will sound like heaven to me. ;) I just want something that will last, something that won't later make me wonder how my ears stood it. Thanks for any help! It's very overwhelming starting out.

-Ryan

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okay so apparently my ex is finally filing for divorce, so i'm going to be paying out the nose for that. bye bye new TT for a while. i have a sony USB TT, it's not too bad but it's obviously not great.

you think if i upgrade my speakers a bit i'll hear a noticeable difference? i'm using some old as shit philips bookshelf speakers.

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I'm trying to decide between two tables for my first table. I'm still open to other options, but it's kind of a strange pairing:

Project Debut III

or

AT-LP120 (or PL-120?)

I've done a little research, and it comes down to these two because I'm not really sure whether I want a DJ table or not. It will be purely for home listening; I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I have been collecting vinyl for about a year now, and can't wait to hear them!

So, would a DJ table be a good option for home listening? I'm a bit skeptical of the pitch control and other bits that are geared towards DJing; seems like extra features that I don't really need to use or pay for.

But, I'm kind of leaning slightly away from the Pro-ject because I'd really like an auto-return feature (and speed-change switch). Yes, I've heard all the arguments about fewer frills that might break or interfere with the sound quality, but I would really like it to handle itself when a side is done. Personal choice here. :)

I've seen Pro-ject models similar to the DebutIII that have these comfort features, but I can't find any at a reasonable price.

I'm looking at a budget for an entire sound system (table, pre-amp-receiver, cartridge if needed) of about $400 total. Preferably less. ;)

So, I'd like to know:

Would either of these tables be a good choice for me?

Is a DJ table reasonable for home listening? Do they put more wear on records than audiophile tables because they're built to take more of a beating?

Given ___ turntable, what pre-amp should I get that would keep me under my budget? If I get a receiver that has a phono-input, do I still need the pre-amp?

Because this will be my first turntable, really anything I get will sound like heaven to me. ;) I just want something that will last, something that won't later make me wonder how my ears stood it. Thanks for any help! It's very overwhelming starting out.

-Ryan

I have the Audio Technica table and I'm very happy with it. I don't mess with any of the DJ type features 'cause that's not what I'm in to. I just play my records at home and it's treated me and my records well.

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Looking for a replacement stylus, current one installed is a , any suggestions for other brands that are similar to that one? It's my first replacement so I am learning as I go.

any thoughts?

Do you want a new stylus (needle) ... or an entirely new cartridge? Because you can buy a replacement stylus for that cart ...

http://www.needledoctor.com/Ortofon-FF-15-XE-MKII-replacement-stylus

Did some quick research and that was an budget Ortofon cart that came out in the 80s. Still, basically well regarded, and if you like the sound, getting a new stylus might not be a bad choice.

If you'd like an entirely new cartridge, there are plenty of other good budget choices from Shure, Grado, Audio Technica and Ortofon. Go back a page or two in this thread (reply #473) for more info.

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was perusing craigslist and found an estate sale with a pioneer pl-500 TT that looks like it might be in decent condition:

http://pictures.estatesales.net/7841/263106/4605212.jpg?634684947901230000

i'd definitely be testing it to see if it works, but assuming it's in working condition, what's a reasonable price for this?

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