faroutback1 Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 LOOKING TO GET BACK INTO VINYL. I LISTEN TO JAZZ AND OLD SCHOOL R&B. OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS ON THE BEST BUY ON A TURNTABLE AND CARTRIDGE. BY THE WAY EXPECTING TO USE THE NEW JM EXTREME AND FOSTEX 206 DRIVERS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 As you will be getting a WEALTH of input on this, I will leave out my specific thoughts. Given your tastes in music, you will be in for a treat as the best of jazz and old R&B is to be found on vinyl, and only on vinyl. I've stated many times that I've yet to hear any transfers to the digital domain that improve in any way on the originals, and only rarely even approximate them. I still believe this is an engineering issue rather than any inherent superiority thing, but there it is... You didn't state your tastes in jazz, but in my case it is broad and that means I've invested in dedicated 78 playback as well as 331/3. 78's sound GREAT when properly reproduced. Bottom line is that a couple of hundred bucks properly spent on Ebay will get you in the door and astounded at what you hear. After that lies madness and the end of your children's college fund... Have fun, and turn your financial affairs over to your wife. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 Have a look at the new Rega Turntable range. The P3 is a good start, although the P5 is an audiophile bargain. Rega can supply pickup cartridges with the turntables if you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Usually you get more opinions on this than you need. Don't know what is up with these guys at the moment... Anyway, I'll shed a bit more light on the low end entry cost. One of my "secondary" tables is a '70s vintage Sony PS-5300 with a Stanton 681EEE cartridge. Total cost was less than 100.00 and over half that was for the stylus replacement. The thing is built like a tank and in mint condition, and I payed 25.00 for it at a junque shoppe. Herein lies the key: If you find a dea like this, and they are not hard to come by, simply plug in the table and make sure all the basic functions work without binding. Most have strobes or some sort of speed control. Make sure it works and holds speed. If all that is good, check the cartridge. Of course, this requires a bit more knowledge to determine whether the cartridge is a decent one and the stylus still available. Stylus availability is crucial, as, unless you are an expert, stylus condition is not easy to determine except by ruining your records. Just replace it... You'll find tracking recommendations, as well as a LOAD of other info, online and by asking specific questions right here on this fine forum (if we can wake up our EXPERTS HELLO!!!). There are a LOT of good to great cartridges for which styli remain available...Grado, Stanton, Audio-Technica, Shure to name a few common ones. For new ones, Music Hall starts at a few hundred ready to play and you reach the end of "practical" improvement (except for the most SEVERE turntable freaks with highly trained ears) with VPI at around 1600.00. Well, that about covers it in general... Enjoy, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Dave, I understand you use an SME arm. Which model, and what cartridge have you mated with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott0527 Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 If you not into tweaking, a new tt by Music Hall, ProJect or Rega would all be great. Any model. They're already mated with arms and cartridges. After that it's endless. Old Thorens TD160 are good buys and great tables but they'll need a good solid floor or wall mount because they'll skip when you walk around them. Thorens TD125 are also great old tables for not too much money. By the way, what's your budget? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotbuck Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Greetings, I agree that a Thorens TD-160 is a good starter 'table. They're available for a very reasonable price on ebay all the time. I'd recommend starting with a good second-hand turntable simply because I suspect you'll want to upgrade down the road; you should then be able to sell your turntable for what you paid for it. Hope this helps... Take care, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Actually, my SME/Grado (can't reall which one and I'm still in my MO foxhole until next week)/Rotel unit is out of service as it had an RF sensitivity I didn't have the time to troubleshoot. Excellent sound, though. I brought up the Sony/Stanton unit one weekend when I had visitors coming and didn't want to deal with the noise and was amazed at just how good the Stanton/Sony stood up against the SME/Grado. So I left it in service until I've the time to figure out the noise problem. No question I prefer the detail and image of the Grado/SME, but add the noise and the Sony/Stanton comes out on top... Them ol EEE's weren't half bad! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Dave, jnorv sent me an Ortofon X5-MC and it's WAY better than the Shure it replaced. I think the Shure cartridge may have been damaged when the turntable fell off the stand, upside down, crushing the Black Widow arm (which I sent to jnorv). BTW, I'm taking those great CDs you burned for me to a party at the home of the friend who turned me onto the Spankers...Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurdy_gurdyman Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 The old Thorens TD-160 and TD-145 are hard to beat for the price. If you really want to try inexpensive first, consider an old AR table. The turntables are first rate, but the arms are rather primative. However, properly set up, they can do just fine. I like mine better than my TD-160. Old AR's can be picked up for under$50. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Greg: Norv has enriched a number of us with his excess inventory... Excellent man! Let me know how the Spankers CD goes over with the crowd. I remain pretty pleased with it, though as my first effort both in the genre and in a live location (boy, was it ever LIVE!!!!) I learned a lot I could do better. Did I send you a DVD-A version? The left rear buzz from the light bar is a bummer, but the overall effect was pretty real, and, in fact, the buzz was quite audible in the room according to my sound grip. Perils of the live venue, donchaknow. As you may recall, I still have a DVD-A surround project in the mill which I am looking forward to pursuing as soon as I cross the Red and get me duffle unpacked... dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faroutback1 Posted June 25, 2005 Author Share Posted June 25, 2005 THANK YOU AND EVERYONE FOR YOUR INPUT BUT I WAS LOOKING TO SPEND UPWARDS TO $2 G'S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Hard to go wrong in that price range as it represents the last 1% or so of improvement (IMHO). Hard to believe, but in spite of the reports of the death of vinyl, there is a PLETHORA of ways to drop a couple of grand on a TT and none of them represent a major error. There would only be a handful of people in the world capable of detecting the difference in tables at and above that price, and they would be listening to the equipment, not the music. Not that there is anything wrong with that... As my experience does not extend into that rarified area, I'll leave it at that and defer to those members of this list who will have opinions you should listen to and evaluate carefully. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 ---------------- On 6/25/2005 4:56:24 PM faroutback1 wrote: THANK YOU AND EVERYONE FOR YOUR INPUT BUT I WAS LOOKING TO SPEND UPWARDS TO $2 G'S ---------------- Look for a used Basis 2000 series. If you can find a Vector arm, all the better. Transfiguration carts mate very well with the Basis/Vector but are pricey. This may exceed your budget but if you look hard enough, you may get lucky. There will be many opinions, from VPIs to Clearaudio, etc. I don't think either can compete with a good Basis rig. JMHO of course. YMMV and all that jazz.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 ---------------- On 6/25/2005 1:07:22 PM Mallette wrote: Greg: Norv has enriched a number of us with his excess inventory... Excellent man! Let me know how the Spankers CD goes over with the crowd. I remain pretty pleased with it, though as my first effort both in the genre and in a live location (boy, was it ever LIVE!!!!) I learned a lot I could do better. Did I send you a DVD-A version? The left rear buzz from the light bar is a bummer, but the overall effect was pretty real, and, in fact, the buzz was quite audible in the room according to my sound grip. Perils of the live venue, donchaknow. As you may recall, I still have a DVD-A surround project in the mill which I am looking forward to pursuing as soon as I cross the Red and get me duffle unpacked... dave ---------------- Dave, Although the listening conditions were less than ideal (much like what might be found at the typical Spanker's venue), the folks enjoyed the CDs. Corey's Japanese intro was a fave, as was the rousing rendition of the beer song (we all joined in, doncha know). I have not been bothered by any buzzing on these CDs, but maybe that's more of an issue with the DVD-A? Yes, I would love to have a listen to that as well! Congratulations on your soon-to-be return home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 How much work are you looking to put into this? Do you want a "plug and play"? If so, I recommend Rega P5 or VPI Scout range. Do you want a little more adventure in that price range? Check out the Garrard 301 project on sixmoons: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/garrard/301.html http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/garrard2/garrard2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 Dude! How DARE you suggest that a 40-50 year old rim-drive table can actually MOP THE FLOOR with just about any new table in the $2000 or less price range? Garrard 401s and Thorens TD-124s will perform in a similar manner . . . http://www.analogue-classics.com/html/thorens_td_124.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 ---------------- On 6/26/2005 1:42:57 PM Allan Songer wrote: Dude! How DARE you suggest that a 40-50 year old rim-drive table can actually MOP THE FLOOR with just about any new table in the $2000 or less price range? Garrard 401s and Thorens TD-124s will perform in a similar manner . . . http://www.analogue-classics.com/html/thorens_td_124.html ---------------- Most $15K tables will mop the floor with $2k tables (Yes, the Shindo 301 cost 15K). Otoh, I'm selling my previous turntable and it will definitly be better than anything else up to $5k (but I'm probably biased ) http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1124496384 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 If one has modest skills they can still get a solid 401 or a TD-124, an SME 3012, build a good plinth and still be under $2000 easy and have a GREAT table that will last them a lifetime. Laying out $15,000 for that hotrod 301 is kinda nutty I think . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 Shindo gear is nice, but you DO pay for it. The good days are gone on the 3012, though. I went for one last week. Final price was over $1300.00. Even the 301 routinely tops $1200.00 lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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