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

[drrrewww]

Just FYI, anyone looking at a Debut III; you can get the flat black on Insound right now for $323.64 shipped. 15% off until 4-27-12. Use promo aprilstorewide15

http://www.insound.com/Black-Debut-III-Turntable-with-Ortofon-OM-5E-Cartridge-TURNTABLE-Pro-Ject-Audio/P/INS52576/

Also, I really appreciate those who have posted in this thread. It has been very helpful as I'm in the process of upgrading my TT.

[pushbacktosquare]

I'm in need of a new turntable.

I hear mixed things about the pro-ject models.

I just got a Pro-Ject Debut III about three weeks ago. It's my first record player, but I'm really liking it. I was on the fence between it and the Rega, but a local store had the Pro-Ject so I went with it. It sounds really good to me (keep in mind it's my first turntable), and is definitely eye-catching. I went with the glossly blue with looked a lot better than I thought it would. Love the whole minimalistic look, and overall am really pleased with it. Set up was easy, with my dad and I putting it together and attaching it to our system in about half an hour. If you're in the $400 range I would definitely recommend it.

Side note, the blue looks a little different in person than in print, but I can post a picture if you're interested.

Please do.

Do you have a receiver hooked up to it or did you just hook it up straight to the speakers?

[alexschelldorf]

What would be your recommendation for speakers around the $300 range? I'm looking for a new pair of bookshelf speakers for my dorm room in the fall. I was mostly looking at the PSB Image B4s, but am just beginning to start shopping. It would be great if their range went pretty low since the receiver I am using now doesn't have support for a subwoofer, but I may be able to avoid that by just getting a preamp and plugging my table into my newer amp.

Thanks.

Trust me friend, I am by no means an expert on the topic. I merely put that list together. What I can tell you though, from experience: I don't know where you live or if there's a sound place close to you, but go to a place that actually has speakers for you to listen to.

Sound is a personal preference. What may sound good to you on a pair of $10k speakers may not work for the type of music you listen to.

I'd say, if you have an audio booth type place in your area, go listen to a bunch of different speakers so you can narrow it down. Even places like Best Buy sometimes still have an audio room. You really have to hear what you're getting yourself into, in my opinion.

Or, if you're searching based only on price, here's a great site for speakers:

http://app.audiogon.com/listings?order_by=created_at+DESC

Hope this helps.

[breathingliquid]

Anyone have a recommendation for a portable usb turntable? Besides sounding good and being reliable, I would like it to have decent software, an ipod jack, built in speakers, and an rca jack for external speakers. A price range of about $200 give or take.

Thanks in advance!

[thirdfromthesun]

What would be your recommendation for speakers around the $300 range? I'm looking for a new pair of bookshelf speakers for my dorm room in the fall. I was mostly looking at the PSB Image B4s, but am just beginning to start shopping. It would be great if their range went pretty low since the receiver I am using now doesn't have support for a subwoofer, but I may be able to avoid that by just getting a preamp and plugging my table into my newer amp.

Thanks.

Trust me friend, I am by no means an expert on the topic. I merely put that list together. What I can tell you though, from experience: I don't know where you live or if there's a sound place close to you, but go to a place that actually has speakers for you to listen to.

Sound is a personal preference. What may sound good to you on a pair of $10k speakers may not work for the type of music you listen to.

I'd say, if you have an audio booth type place in your area, go listen to a bunch of different speakers so you can narrow it down. Even places like Best Buy sometimes still have an audio room. You really have to hear what you're getting yourself into, in my opinion.

Or, if you're searching based only on price, here's a great site for speakers:

http://app.audiogon.com/listings?order_by=created_at+DESC

Hope this helps.

Yeah I understand. I thought you may just happen to have some extra insight or a personal preference. I'll most likely end up going with the PSBs since the independent audio store near me sells a lot of them. I'll just have to take some of my music in there someday.

Thanks for the list though.

[thirdfromthesun]

I just got a Pro-Ject Debut III about three weeks ago. It's my first record player, but I'm really liking it. I was on the fence between it and the Rega, but a local store had the Pro-Ject so I went with it. It sounds really good to me (keep in mind it's my first turntable), and is definitely eye-catching. I went with the glossly blue with looked a lot better than I thought it would. Love the whole minimalistic look, and overall am really pleased with it. Set up was easy, with my dad and I putting it together and attaching it to our system in about half an hour. If you're in the $400 range I would definitely recommend it.

Side note, the blue looks a little different in person than in print, but I can post a picture if you're interested.

Please do.

Do you have a receiver hooked up to it or did you just hook it up straight to the speakers?

Well right now I'm in university and haven't taken my 'table to school yet, so my set up is a bit complicated. Next year, when I have my turntable in my dorm, I'm going to have it either hooked up to an older Yamaha receiver (it was my dad's from the '80s) or buy a preamp and plug it into a Denon amp that's about 6 years old, and then hopefully to some new PSB bookshelfs. The reason I want to use the Denon is that it supports a subwoofer, whereas the Yamaha doesn't. As far as I know, you can't hook it directly to any speakers, but I could be wrong.

As for the picture, here it is spinning Straylight Run's ST from RSD, taken with my phone at night. It's pretty bad, but when I go home next weekend I'll be sure to take one with my actual camera. If you can't tell in the picture, it has an extremely glossly finish.

[bearchuck]

Anyone have a recommendation for a portable usb turntable? Besides sounding good and being reliable, I would like it to have decent software, an ipod jack, built in speakers, and an rca jack for external speakers. A price range of about $200 give or take.

Thanks in advance!

http://bit.ly/JJgnLZ

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Unfortunately, what you've described doesn't really exist ... at least not within the "sounds good / is reliable" category. You just can't manufacture a lightweight turntable with cheap plastic and expect much at all from it.

If you're just looking for something that's purely functional to use for a year or two, then pretty much any Ion or Crosley out will suit your needs.

[cymbalism15]

I'm going to post this here before I make a seperate thread.

I'm looking at an Audio Technica LP-60. It comes highly recommended but here are a few of my concerns

That it will skip, the cartridge isn't really that weighted

That it will mess up my vinyl, I hope to keep these records for life

Can anyone speak into these concerns?

I'm using this table in a dorm room and I don't have a lot of money to drop or else I would pick up the pro ject III.

On that note, can anyone recommend good speakers for a dorm room? Obviously I don't need speakers that pack a lot of power; I'm looking for fullness of sound and clarity without breaking the bank. I play everything from pop punk to acoustic so I need a full range of sound. It sucks to be a poor audiophile but if anyone can make suggestions in the 50-100 price range, I will love you forever. Quality over volume

Thanks to everyone who can help me!

[alexschelldorf]

I'm going to post this here before I make a seperate thread.

I'm looking at an Audio Technica LP-60. It comes highly recommended but here are a few of my concerns

That it will skip, the cartridge isn't really that weighted

That it will mess up my vinyl, I hope to keep these records for life

Can anyone speak into these concerns?

I'm using this table in a dorm room and I don't have a lot of money to drop or else I would pick up the pro ject III.

On that note, can anyone recommend good speakers for a dorm room? Obviously I don't need speakers that pack a lot of power; I'm looking for fullness of sound and clarity without breaking the bank. I play everything from pop punk to acoustic so I need a full range of sound. It sucks to be a poor audiophile but if anyone can make suggestions in the 50-100 price range, I will love you forever. Quality over volume

Thanks to everyone who can help me!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MUXJCO?ie=UTF8&tag=digitalnick-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000MUXJCO

A little above your price range but you won't anything else like these.

[pushbacktosquare]

Good speakers within a 200 dollar price range? Someone help Got my hopes set on a project debut iii, And a Cambridge Audio Azur 640P Phono Preamplifier...

What would be some speakers that would complement this set up, and still staying within 200 bucks?

Thanks

[electrocute]

My friend just picked some of these up (used). They sound pretty nice. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009YWCT4/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0002ZSFTQ&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1KRW3F8A24H4YK33SK20

[jasonsheperdbfl]

I'm going to post this here before I make a seperate thread.

I'm looking at an Audio Technica LP-60. It comes highly recommended but here are a few of my concerns

That it will skip, the cartridge isn't really that weighted

That it will mess up my vinyl, I hope to keep these records for life

Can anyone speak into these concerns?

I'm using this table in a dorm room and I don't have a lot of money to drop or else I would pick up the pro ject III.

On that note, can anyone recommend good speakers for a dorm room? Obviously I don't need speakers that pack a lot of power; I'm looking for fullness of sound and clarity without breaking the bank. I play everything from pop punk to acoustic so I need a full range of sound. It sucks to be a poor audiophile but if anyone can make suggestions in the 50-100 price range, I will love you forever. Quality over volume

Thanks to everyone who can help me!

I've been using my Audio Technica LP-60 for almost a year now (time for an upgrade, I know) but I haven't had any real terrible problems with it. It's skipped a few times at the beginning of my records when I hit the start button, but I usually place the needle myself. It also hasn't done anything damage to any of my records. As long as you clean them, they'll be fine.

[dominic252]

Looking to get an Audio-Technica LP120 only because I don't have the money for a really nice turntable and I've read some good things about it. Now for speakers, I'm not sure what a good choice would be. I'd like to spend under 200 and as close to 150 as I can.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SSF-5000-Floor-Standing-Speaker/dp/B000OG4E1G/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

Anybody have any experience with these?

[pushbacktosquare]

Any word on how the Technics SL-DD22 Turntable would work out for a first turntable? This is more than likely be my next purchase and from the research I've conducted, it seems to be a reliable turntable. Thoughts?

[mrnubnub]

Any wiki or website where I can find older, out or production cartridges?

The player I just bought has an Audio Technica cartridge installed that is definitely not on of the ones they have in production now or available from various websites like Needle Doctor.

I ask this because I'm wondering what to set the weight at. I currently have it at 1.5 but I feel like it should be heavier

[slinch]

Can you post a picture? There is no comprehensive list (at least not that I know of) but you can find a few models here:

http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/products/subcategory.asp?catID=6&subID=43&items=999 (17 in total)

http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/322.htm (only 6)

You can also search ebay until you find one that looks like yours. Once you have the model number, any info should be easy to find.

[mrnubnub]

Thanks for the links, but I didn't see anything like this one there.

I can't find the stylus either, but I think it may be an older version of some of the current audio technica ones.

[felocin]

I was offered a free Technic sl-q350 that is in great shape and also saw a technics 1200 on craigslist for $400.

My question is; Is there that much of a difference? Is anyone familiar with the 350 model?

[slinch]

Looks like the MG200E (judging by the green stylus shell). It should actually have the model number written on top (under the arm headshell).

Here is the appropriate replacement stylus:

http://www.lptunes.com/Stylus-for-Audio-Technica-MG-200E-H-cartridge-p/atsmg200eh.htm

From what I've read, VTF should be set to 2g for this one.

[mrnubnub]

Looks like the MG200E (judging by the green stylus shell). It should actually have the model number written on top (under the arm headshell).

Here is the appropriate replacement stylus:

http://www.lptunes.com/Stylus-for-Audio-Technica-MG-200E-H-cartridge-p/atsmg200eh.htm

From what I've read, VTF should be set to 2g for this one.

thank you man! It's either that or something close to it. You just barely read an AT2____, did they make these without the MG on the label?

I didn't pull it off because I don't have any tools I'd use for something this small.

EDIT: after doing some research, is this just the same cartridge AT has been renaming over and over?

[slinch]

EDIT: after doing some research, is this just the same cartridge AT has been renaming over and over?

Yeah, this design was know under many names. If your cart starts with AT2 it could be AT247E or AT2013E, and there are probably others as well.

[mac1]

I am still in the process of upgrading my whole system but wanted to give anyone in the market for a receiver a heads up to check out the Harmon Kardon HK 3390 that is currently on sale at amazon for $229 delivered. This is about $100 less than usual.

Originally had a Sherwood RX 4109 ($100 at radioshack or amazon) with a Technolink TC-760LC ($75 at amazon or phonopreamps.com). The hiss from the standard phono jack was unbearable and was moderately improved with the pre-amp hooked up to AUX.

The HK 3390 is head and shoulders above what I had and the built-in amp is fantastic, so there is no need for a pre-amp.

To me a no-brainer between the two ($175 vs $229).

http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-HK-3....6484736&s r=1-1

[stuckpig]

I am still in the process of upgrading my whole system but wanted to give anyone in the market for a receiver a heads up to check out the Harmon Kardon HK 3390 that is currently on sale at amazon for $229 delivered. This is about $100 less than usual.

Originally had a Sherwood RX 4109 ($100 at radioshack or amazon) with a Technolink TC-760LC ($75 at amazon or phonopreamps.com). The hiss from the standard phono jack was unbearable and was moderately improved with the pre-amp hooked up to AUX.

The HK 3390 is head and shoulders above what I had and the built-in amp is fantastic, so there is no need for a pre-amp.

To me a no-brainer between the two ($175 vs $229).

http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-HK-3....6484736&s r=1-1

i've been looking to buy this one and of course it goes down when i have my son can be born any day.

[GradedOnACurve]

I lobby for this to be re-stickied whenever possible.

[madtired]

I was offered a free Technic sl-q350 that is in great shape and also saw a technics 1200 on craigslist for $400.

My question is; Is there that much of a difference? Is anyone familiar with the 350 model?

not familiar with the 350 but I would not recommend spending $400 on a 1200 unless it is practically brand new. Even still, these things are built like tanks so a used one should do you fine and they can be found fairly easily between $200-300 on ebay