Recommend me a turntable!

[themadhacker]

Ok, so for Christmas this year my parents are giving me money to buy myself a new turntable. however, I am finding myself in a bit of a problem. It appears to me that most new turntables are crap. Many have terrible sound quality and bad needes, or are from untrustworthy, no-name brands. Another bad thing I have been noticing is the lack of 78 rpm compatability. I have seen lots of new record players boasting that they can play 78's, but they only have a needle for playing 45's and 33's. I refuse to buy one of those because shellac 78's use larger needles, and if you use a needle made for the smaller grooves of vinyl records, the 78 can ruin your needle. That is why old turntables that played both had two needles: one for 78s, and one for 33's and 45's. Another thing I am looking for is a direct drive player. That way I don't have to worry about a slipping belt. I don't really care if it has the fuction of converting vinyl to mp3 by usb, since I already use audacity for my tapes, butit would be nice to have.

So with all that said, does anybody know of a quality record player that will fit my needs?

[Triton]

most players that play LPs and 78s wont be really great at either of them. hopefully rekarp will chime in with some suggestions tho, he knows more about record players than i do. I have a pretty nice one but i need to strip and clean it, replace the belt, and get a new cartridge and headshell for it. its a vintage 1970s Kenwood KD-2055
like this one

[DK]

If you're looking for a good cartridge, check out Grado's ones. They're loverly

[Triton]

but $$$ I was going to go with an ortofon cart most likely

[Rekarp]

I guess I should chime in.

Cartridge you should get - Ortofon OM5E

I have this on my Sony PS-PL1 turntable and I have to say it blows everything I have every heard of. I am getting one for my Dual 1249 and Pioneer PL-516. The fact that it has a removable weight makes it so that it can be used on really light weight tonearms like the Sony PS-PL1 and Dual 1249 and heavy ones like the PL-516.

Turntables

Look on craigslist for a mid 80's model. Belt driven or Direct drive does not really matter. Good brands are Pioneer, Sony, Dual, Kenwood, Technics. Duals are like the BMW of turntables but just like BMWs they tend to break down every so often so I would not recommend that brand. Sony's and Pioneer's tend to be more robust. Make sure it has a Solid wood or Metal base. No plastic aloud. Make sure it uses 1/2" mount in the tonearm head. No P-mount

Make sure you test it before you buy. Also make sure you set up your turntable correctly. It is really easy to F up your vinyl if you set that cartridge up wrong.

Some links you need to read
http://www.epinions.com/content_4327645316" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos ... ridge.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.theanalogdept.com/cartridge_ ... tching.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.speakerbits.com/speaker-repa ... le-26.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.audiophilia.com/features/cartridge_setup.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-al ... tors.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Welcome to the world of Vinyl!

[dragonhead]

ortofon cartridge and Technics 1200. no-lose situation there.

[Rekarp]

oh and the main difference between direct drive and belt

Direct drive = more consistent speed but motor rumble

Belt driven = no motor rumble but slight speed inconsistencies

My favorite? I don't have one. I listen to each turntable before I buy it (yes I truck around a amp and power converter when i buy turntables)

[Rekarp]

ortofon cartridge and Technics 1200. no-lose situation there.

Agreed.

Don't listen to so called Audiophiles. The just want you to spend money.

[dragonhead]

ortofon cartridge and Technics 1200. no-lose situation there.

Agreed.

Don't listen to so called Audiophiles. The just want you to spend money.

ROCK solid deck, been in production since the 70s hasnt it? and you cant go wrong with an ortofon cart.

[Metallica Man X]

Yeah, that is a good deck...

i can also recommend the Realistic LAB-400 too...got my dad's old one that he bought back in '79....still works like a charm and sounds great! Doesn't play 78s tho....

[themadhacker]

Well, I decided to go with a vintage pioneer pl-516. but The one I bought did not have a headshell. I so not want to resort to ebay because they do not have any originals. do any of you know a reliable site to buy cartridges, needles, and headshells?

[Rekarp]

Woot that's an awesome deck (I <3 it). It works great with that Ortofon OM5E cartridge. Leave the weight in the cart as that is a heavyish tonearm. As for a head shell? I don't know where to get one. Try http://www.lpgear.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[limpport]

Don't bump old topics please.


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JK Glad you got a table!

[Rekarp]

I was about to jack limpport up. Got me good there XD

[themadhacker]

Thanks for the link to the site.

Oh, and I noticed this.

Welcome to the world of Vinyl!

Just so you know, I have been listening to and collecting vinyl and shellac records since I was very young. I just always used a 1950s westinghouse stereo and a late 70s BSR record/8-track/cassete player.

The BSR's turntable stopped turning and it is near impossible to take it apart. The platter can not be lifted off without being taken apart,and only1/4 of the bottom comes out (under the 8 track/cassette portion), so I still can't take the platter off to fix anything.

And I decided not to use the westinghouse for my main listening because I do not want to wear the tubes out and have to hunt down new ones.

i juist decided it was time to get something better than I had before.

I think I am going to have a full pioneer setup in my basement. The pl-516 turntable, my pioneer sx-300 reciever, and my pioneer laserdisc player (I'll be using this for CDs, as well as my limited LD collection.)



Oh, and when I read the top of limpport's post, I was like, "WTF!?"