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Vintage Turntable Thread


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I see a lot of people ask about vintage tables. Why not have it all in one thread. Ask about a salvation army find, where you can restore/get parts, feedback etc.

 

 

I will start. I was given a VESTAX turntable by dude who was ex-dj. Has some parts missing which once ordered will total about 100-150. Anyone have feedback on this brand? Good table?

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Bahaha Vestax?  Still though, this sounds fun.

VIntage Tables I own:
Pioneer PL-560
Pioneer PL-530
Pioneer PL-255 (sold it)

Vintage Tables I want:
Pioneer PL-518 (even though it's just a stripped down version of my PL-560)
Pioneer PL-630 (best table the company ever made)
Pioneer PL-570
Pioneer PL-550
Anything Thorens
Technics SL-1200 (just to see what I'm missing)
Technics SL-1300
Technics SL-D2
Would love to try out an old Denon, but they seem quite rare.

I'd probably like to look into linear tracking at some point too.

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I've got a rega planar 2. I'm got to change the wiring in the arm soon as it's starting to lose left and right, unless you jangle the cable. Not bad though for an almost 40 year old table.

It's still in original condition except for the cartridge(shure m97xe) and soon to be tone arm wiring.

After I get the wires sorted, I might get an rb300 arm for it, and keep the original in case I ever want to sell the table

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My dad has some records he told me he would give me, but given my OCD about keeping them nice he said I'd probably not want to play them with my cartage. This person I work with was throwing out his stereo system, he said, was bought in 1978 so I took it to see if I could do anything with it in hopes to use it to play the old records my dad has.

 

The record player is a Quanta 500. From what I have researched it isn't anything special and it needs a new needle/RCA cables before I plan on really using it.

 

I think the Receiver, an Onkyo TX 1500 MKII, is as good as junk given the corrosion of the RCA jacks. It was probably stored in some garage. The two speakers are Paradigm Titan V2 bookshelf speakers. I cleaned them up a bit just today and on first listen they sound pretty great.

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Vintage tables I own:

JVC L-A55

Vintage tables I want:

Seriously though, not really a fan of vintage tables. Sure, there are some models I'd gladly have, but for each of them there's a modern table for the same price that I'd like more.

For the same price?  If you look hard enough you can find a table that retailed for 200-300 back in the day (I'll let you calculate inflation), for almost nothing.  I bought my Pioneer PL-560 for 40 dollars.  It cost 275 in 1978, that's 986 dollars adjusted for inflation.   In fact almost any type of vintage component will give you more bang for your buck than the modern equivalent. 

My downstairs system cost me 550 dollars including labor and I guarantee you would have to spend at least 3x that much to approach its quality with modern components.

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For the same price?  If you look hard enough you can find a table that retailed for 200-300 back in the day (I'll let you calculate inflation), for almost nothing.  I bought my Pioneer PL-560 for 40 dollars.  It cost 275 in 1978, that's 986 dollars adjusted for inflation.   In fact almost any type of vintage component will give you more bang for your buck than the modern equivalent. 

 

That's not really what I was saying though. I'm saying that for the cost of the vintage tables that I'd like to own, I can get a used modern table that's better. But these are vintage tables that sell for $1k+.

 

But like ajxd said, a $1k (adjusted for inflation) 70s table is not on par with a $1k modern table. The most radical improvements in analog designs came after the introduction of CDs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, I am appealing to VC for some help for my dad. He needs a cartridge for his Elac Benjamin-Miracord 40h turntable. Being that I am new to vinyl myself, I am not 100% sure what will fit. I found a scanned copy of the owners manual on AudioKarma, but the two needles it suggests are hundreds of dollars and hardly any exist. I'd appreciate any help or any resources you guys might be able to offer.

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Just buy a new cartridge, instead of a new needle.

Plenty of options under $100 that sound pretty good. Starting with shure m97xe and ortofon 2m red

I am looking for a new cartridge. Is there an industry standard in size so that even one of these new cartridges would fit on a vintage table?

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Since your only buying a cartridge, as long as the cartridge can be changed on the old arm, anything can be swapped in(depending on the rest of your system for MM or MC).

The only thing you'll have to be careful of is aligning it, setting the tracking force and such.

That's the joy of old tables. Most of them can be toyed with to create your own custom version that will sound how you want it

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Firstly hello to all as I'm new to the board.

 

As someone who can't say no to a turntable of any vintage, which is probably a medical problem I thought I would post my current list of vintage tables:

 

Pink Triangle PTOne (two off)

Pink Triangle PTTwo

Pink Tiangle LPT

MRM (Odessy) Source

Revox B795

Optonica (Sharp) R-3636

Goldring Lenco GL72

Pioneer PL-430

Pioneer PL-640

Rotel RP1500

 

Being in England where a lot of the cottage industry turntables and arms came from I've been lucky enough to have owned at least one example of all of the below at one time or another:

 

Systemdek IIx

Systemdek IIx 900

Linn LP12

Linn Axis

Ariston RD11

Ariston RD11s

Ariston RD40

Ariston RD80

Ariston RD90

Garrard 401

Garrard 301

Audio Linear TD4001

Voyd Valdi

Acoustic Research EB101

ADC 1600

Logic Tempo

Logic DM101

Micro Seiki DD7

Micro Seiki MR2A

Mission 775SM

NAD 5120

QED R232

Revolver

Thorens TD160

Thorens TD165

Thorens TD166

Pioneer PL12

Pionner PL15D

Pioneer PL112

Technics SL150

Technics SL1200

Technics SL1210

Technics SL120

Technics SP10

Technics SL-BD21

 

And probabaly quite a few more I can't remember

 

Things I haven't tried yet but would like to:

 

Anything from Michell

Anything from Transcriptors

Anything from Sota

Anything from Luxman

 

Looking at the list it's no wonder my wife thinks I haev a problem.

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Sweet list. What's the table you regret letting go off the most (if any)?

The Voyd I think, it was a close run thing between it and my first PTOne. the PTOne I still have but the Voyd just represented a shed load more money for no audible gain that I could detect so off it went, if anything out of the two I still prefer the sound of the Pink

 

 

@allenh, I find it almost inconceivable that being from the mother land, you haven't owned a rega or 10. Get on board!!

Yes sorry Jase I have had a Rega which sadly falls into the category of decks I had forgot. I had a P3 that I didn't keep long as I'm more a fan of suspended decks but I did keep the RB300 arm for a very long time, I still think that arm is almost impossible to beat for the price.

I have also had the Amstrad that some say the first Rega's were based on. I think Rega made part of it for Amstrad before making turntables on their own.

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