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


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thanks

i just found a cheap (~350$) used technics sl 1200, i think i gonna buy it

Like Slinch said make sure it hasn't been beat up by a DJ. If not, that's a good deal for them now especially since the mrsp for new has jumped through the roof. Let me tell ya from my own experience, and pair a 1200 with a good pre-amp and good cartridge and she'll sing!

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Let me tell ya from my own experience, and pair a 1200 with a good pre-amp and good cartridge and she'll sing!

i gonna buy the Cambridge Audio 640p from your sig but what cartridge you mean? ???

thanks

edit: mine has:

Ortofon Concorde Elektro S, sphärisch, Frequenzgang 20-20 000 Hz

but when i have more money ill buy a shure, but not sure which one

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I just started collecting vinyl and am looking for something decent to listen to them on, aside from my parents' old system. I don't have much of a budget for this at the moment, so I'm looking to spend $150-200 max on a turntable with plans to hook it up to my existing home theater system. I've been checking out the lower end Audio Technicas and Sonys, and came across some good reviews on the lower-model Stantons as well. I was hoping to get some input as to what i should stay away from, or suggestions on something I haven't yet come across. I'd prefer a unit with a USB port. I'm not going to be doing any scratching; with that being said, is there any reason for me to get a direct drive over belt-driven?

My original plan was to pick up one of the $75-100 turntables from Audio Technica or Sony, but I can't justify buying something cheap if it's going to potentially scratch my collection or have poor audio quality. Any advice is appreciated.

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i would HONESTLY say there is probably no way to get a really good sound out of any lower end USB turntable. a lot of people have had fantastic results using the audio technica lp120 turntable after swapping out the cartridge (including myself). but i wouldn't really consider that a typical USB turntable, its basically a technics rip off, and the technics is clearly MADE better all around.

you cant really get close to a records full potential with a typical USB turntable, no matter what you do to it. due to the huge stylus and not being able to properly align it, or set the tracking force... your always going to risk groove damage. and you WILL always have distortion problems

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i would HONESTLY say there is probably no way to get a really good sound out of any lower end USB turntable. a lot of people have had fantastic results using the audio technica lp120 turntable after swapping out the cartridge (including myself). but i wouldn't really consider that a typical USB turntable, its basically a technics rip off, and the technics is clearly MADE better all around.

you cant really get close to a records full potential with a typical USB turntable, no matter what you do to it. due to the huge stylus and not being able to properly align it, or set the tracking force... your always going to risk groove damage. and you WILL always have distortion problems

Thanks for the input. After some more extensive research, I'm pretty sure I've decided on the LP120. Which cartridge do you recommend?

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Hey guys

First post here! I have been looking for a good USB record player for awhile now. I was given about 15,000+ records and I am in the midst of selling them now. But, before I do all that I wanted to take ALL the records and dedicate an external hard drive to all the songs/music using a USB connection. I have looked at the ION before, but I noticed a LOT of people complaining. Every few days I do a search and see whats available. My newest one I started looking at was the Stanton T.92. http://www.stantondj.com/stanton-turntables/t92usb.html#

I mainly need it to do two things (no matter what I choose):

1- It has to play 33s 45s and 78s

2- It has to have a USB connection

Has anyone had any experience with this specific Stanton? What do you think? I have a friend that is a DJ, he says this brand is pretty good and the options are really good for the price. Just looking to see what anyone has to say about this.

Thanks

Kristi

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the audio technica (atlp-120) does all that but be prepared to eat through a lot of needles playing 78smon a turntable made for LPs.

Got that right, buy a separate headshell and a cartridge made for 78's and swap it out when you switch from 78's to 33's/45's. Then all you need to do is recalibrate the counterweight and your good to go.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

a lot of those old console ones don't have replaceable parts (needles, etc), so be careful. plus, a lot of those tonearms aren't really great quality, you could be really putting some stress on the inner grooves of your records by playing them on something like that. but then again, once in a blue moon you'll find one of those units that was top of the line in its day...

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Hey everyone,

You'll forgive me for not posting too much around these parts, but I'm a longtime lurker. I have some issues that need clearing up because I am limited in both the cash department AND the dynamics/layout of my room (as I still live with the parents, lest I become a slave to the unnecessary costs of living at a university I can just as easily commute to with much less expenses).

I asked for money this past Christmas to spend on a pair of quarter-range speakers to hook up to my laptop, and to also buy a USB turntable just to get a decent sound. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice being picky. To my surprise, however, my family pitched in for an Ion Profile Pro, which I hadn't been too keen on getting, but to appease them I gave it a shot and it actually worked rather nicely when hooked into my laptop. A few days ago though, I noticed particularly with my one of my Torche records that there was an insane amount of warble. It sounded as if the guitarists had suddenly started hammering down the tremolo bar, for the music was drastically changing pitch, speeding up and slowing down at certain rotations. There's not really any way to adjust the height, pitch, heaviness, ANYTHING on the turntable (which is why I was initially hesitant in the first place), and I measured the level of the table, tried other records, all getting to the same problem.

Now, I know it's something with the turntable. I tried my records on the vintage dual and Sony preamp setup my Dad uses in the basement, and then again on my friend's new Rega P1, and the sound was completely clean. I think there is something wrong with the motor in my Ion, but I'd rather just return it to the big box store they bought it from, take the money, and invest it into something new. Here's the problem though:

I would love to use the wide assortment of equipment my Dad's amassed over years and years of dedicated audiophilia, but ultimately I need space to work and study, and I can't fit the player, amp, receiver, and huge speakers he was going to give to me. What I do have is a nice 2.1 Logitech speaker system, and while it isn't perfect it's a rather nice setup.

So, essentially what I need is a decent player with a built in preamp for up to $350. I'm not sure if it needs to be USB, but it definitely needs to have RCA out... Are all new players built with RCA outputs, or is this only in select models? I was thinking that if I got a turntable with RCA out, I could get cable to convert them to 1.8" cable (like this: http://www.ioffer.com/i/6ft-1-8-mini-stereo-to-dual-rca-female-y-adapter-cable-137617457) to play directly through the soundcard and through my new speaker system.

I need help. The Pro-Ject Debut III looks like something I really want, but if I pay $400 for it, I'm also going to have to invest in a preamp, and the works. The Audio Technica looks like the best alternative so far, but I'm not sure what stores in the Toronto area carry them.

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Hey guys

So I ended up going with a Crosley. I like the sound, I like the USB option, but there are 3 things that are driving me nuts and Im wondering, from everyone hopefully, if you can give me some comparisons of other turntables vs mine. The three things I dont like:

1- Setting up the file for the usb flash drive takes SO long. Crosley said it would take about 1 minute to 2 minutes, literally. It took more like an hour. Does it always take this long or is it just my Crosley?

2- When I was recording onto my flash drive via USB, ANY noise I made around the record player ended up getting recorded ON the damn flash drive! This sucks! Arent there any turntables with a seperate sound device for recording so that when you DO record, background noise is ignored?

3- I noticed when I put my usb flash drive into my laptop and opened the drive the file is "PHONO". Okay fine. But, the three files I tested out had two problems:

A) They were not listed for what they were ie: Elvis Presley Jail House Rock was ^7&5GggfHHHhk or whatever

B) The 3 songs I tested this on were on the SAME track ie; even though there were 3 songs I recorded from three different records! There was only one file.

So, I am wondering if there is a turntable (with USB) and all the other stuff I said above. Cant be a Ferrari priced model either lol. I was looking at the Stanton T92. I need to make a decision in the next few days so I can have time to return Crosley.

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Has anyone had experience with the Pro-Ject MK II speed box? I was thinking of pairing one with my music hall 2.2 table and Cambridge Audio 640P pre-amp but was wondering if anyone had any experiences with how it affected the overall sound? (I'd be getting in mainly to switch between 33 and 45 rpm because, yes, I am in fact that lazy.)

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Hi,

I have a shitty, portable Crosley my parents bought me in my early teens. Though I've been collecting records since (about 13 years back), I rarely play them because I'm concerned this machine will do damage to the vinyl. I consider my records to be in hibernation until I strike it rich and can afford a new machine. Judging from the posts here, it looks like you all prefer Regas and Pro-Jects. With a current budget of about $150, that's not going to happen for me, so my vinyl shall remain unplayed.

My father has two old Garrands in horrid shape. The Garrand 620s is in such bad shape, I think it belongs in the dumpster. The 70 looks to be in decent shape, but I'm not sure if it's worth having someone take a look at it. The switch that toggles between auto, manual and off is broken (the plastic was brittle), but that seems to be an easy fix. You can even reach under the machine and move it that way. The switch between 33(7), 33(12), 45 and 78 doesn't seem to be working. It will toggle between 33(12) and 45 but will not go down to 33(7) or up to 78.

Does anyone know a thing about Garrands?

|kate|

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