Something a bit more interesting: I want to get a turntable. I haven't had one in eons, thought I still have all of my vinyl.

I was looking at a Technics sl1200MkII, but they are only available used or refurbished and come with no dust cover, mat or headshell and will have cosmetic flaws (to be expected). The Onkyo CP1050 seemed to be a good replacement, but reviews are not that strong due to a light platter. The Pioneer PLX1000 seems the best alternative, is new and comes fully packaged, only needing a cartridge.

Thoughts?

Do Rega sell over there? I hear good things about them lately, but they might be a bit local, not sure.

Depends on how much you want to spend!

Last Christmas, I got a ProJect Debut III from the missus. It's simple and no-frills because it focuses on sound over gadgets - which is what you want from a more budget turntable. It comes with an Ortofon cartridge and OM10 stylus, although I splashed out and replaced the stylus with an OM30 (wasn't cheap, but has made a very noticeable improvement to audio quality, and the Ortofon cartridge will take a variety of different styluses, so is good for upgradability).

Overall, I like it a lot! It looks nice, sleek and simple, it has a perspex lid, it doesn't skip when I'm plodding around my room, and the sound quality is very nice. Downsides are that you have to lift off the turntable itself and flip the belt to a different gear to change speeds, but the whole proces only takes 5 seconds. Also, it's a tad annoying to calibrate initially if you use the instructions. I've found online 3rd party guides are a lot better for this bit.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/ion-vinyl-forever-turntable-to-computer-interface/230-5469.prd?skuId=230-5469&pageLevel=sku&sc_cmp=ppc_sh-_-sh-_-bg-_-230-5469&gclid=Cj0KEQiA96CyBRDk5qOtp5vz8LkBEiQA6wx8MLNjkde2vI5i2cUW7cLNgbxAbwnqR-gVA1FiCQbuDfYaAo6R8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

If money's no object... these  :'-D 

I know the Clear Audio one was going for £14000, but I can't tell which'd be the £150000 one.
 

I can get them online through Amazon, actually. I want a direct drive turntable rather than belt drive and an S- shaped tone arm. A long, S-shaped arm is better.  :-P

Don't they have anything a bit more up-scale?  :-B

The classic SL1200 is a bit of a tank, though I doubt you'll find any that haven't been worked at least a bit!

It does very much come down to how much you want to spend, and what your expectations are.

A few points on this:
- do you want something with a built-in phono preamp?
- if so, do you want the phono pre-amp to be "bypassable"?
- would you want something with a USB DAC so that you can record from the TT onto your PC?

Rega are a very decent choice, with models at various price points. I've recently looked into getting a TT (haven't made any decisions yet), and I considered:
- AT-LP120USB
- Teac TN-300 (USB, in Cherry - oooh purdy!)

I also looked at the Pro-Ject options, but I was put off by reports of excessive rumble - whether that's still an issue or not, I don't know.

I ended up looking at the AT and the Teac because they were both complete solutions and came with reasonable styli; I wouldn't really intend to faff around a lot, spend time adjusting counterweights etc. I also thought the built-in USB DAC may be useful if I decide to digitise my dad's vinyl.

Thanks, Serg. It does not have to have a preamp, I have two receivers capable of using an old fashioned RCA input. USB DAC is fine, but I really want an Old Skool turntable, direct drive. The Audio Technica AT-LP240/USB pretty much has it all.



 

Any particular reason why you're after direct drive and an S-shaped tone arm?

Just curious really. All of the really outstanding turntables at all budget points since the 60s have been belt driven and the vast majority have opted for a straight tone arm - even firms like SME who produced a few snaky ones over the years.

I don't imagine that at the budget point of the Technics there will be world of difference between various models in sound quality, particularly if the signal is going into a receiver rather than a dedicated amp. so is it the appearance or convenience or what?

I was always an audiophile wannabe, as a young kid. Most of my audio equipment was hand-picked as a kid - from the trash. My best "find" was a Knight International Model 333 [tube] receiver with Tuning Eye; while not high end by any means, for a 14 year old kid with 45 bucks in the bank who was using a given-to-him Montgomery Ward console stereo, to me it was like owning a Marantz.

I took that console apart, liberated the Garrard turntable from it and mounted it in a plinth from another turntable; the speakers I kept for a future project, never achieved. I rarely had matching speakers until I did a snow-shoveling job for a guy who gave me a set of speakers he couldn't be bothered to try to sell. He felt bad that I had shoveled a 35 foot driveway of 30-some inches of snow with the help of youngest brother (I paid brother) and he wanted to sweeten the deal.

When I finally got the big raise in the mid-eighties, I went out and bought a Sansui (remember them?) system that sounded great - but kept blowing tweeters at moderate levels. I gave up, later got married and listened to what I thought was good music from CDs. They did sound "better", but only because speakers had improved over the years, even cheap ones.

Later, I wanted to get a DVD player so we could watch movies as a family. I bought a three year-old Pioneer AV receiver from a work friend cheap, also a 4 head stereo VCR. It sounded much better when a going out of business sale introduced me to Mirage speakers. Another sale found me with a Mirage center channel, yet another yielded a set of Bigger Mirage A-channel speakers. What? Now a full matched set?

What's all this to do with a turntable? Since I've kept the vinyl, I want a way to play it. I haven't had a turntable since probably 1996, even that was from a combination system my wife-to-be bought me for Christmas. I will mate it to the Harmon Kardon youngest brother sent me from one of his whacko customers in Florida who upgraded. I can afford a good turntable now, after many years of denying the extravagance. I want a good, solid turntable - one that is durable, doesn't vary in speed and looks good. Direct drive means lower maintenance and true speed. The S-arm is probably mostly for aesthetics, as I cannot find any source that makes a definitive case for one over the other.

My first turntable (record player - and not a Close N' Play) was given to me when I was two years old in 1965. It was a Majorette that played 16-78 RPM records. Internal three-inch speaker and fibreboard case, I was the shizzle at two. I played records continuously, wearing out needles in mere weeks, much to the surprise of the owner of the record shop who was convinced I was breaking them. I could change the needles myself at three, luckily. Diamond stylus upgrades were necessary by then.  :-P

Don't you think I deserve a good turntable at this point?  (nod)

Absolutely. That's why I wondered about the Technics SL1200.

It's always had a reputation for being a good quality deck. My brother owned one in the mid 70s and if I remember correctly it was very nicely built piece of kit with genuine hi-fidelity qualities. Since I haven't sat down and compared dozens of alternatives, I can hardly claim any expertise so if it sounds good to you that's the main thing - along with it being what you want!

My setup is fairly vintage: a Systemdek 2X, Rega RB300, Goldring 1042 combo through a modified Aura Evolution amp and a pair of home built transmission line speakers. The cartridge is only a few years old and the deck's been serviced. I use it just about every day.

What do you listen to?

White noise.

Limbo in musical terms.

er, music mainly. Was that not apparent?

I do have a couple of LPs with speech on them. There's a Viv Stanshall album from the Rawlinson End John Peel sessions, also Lemmings by National Lampoon. Oh and the National Lampoon Missing Watergate Tapes. To be fair, the Lemmings album has music on it.

But yes music. Just about anything.

Not that fond of U2, or any of that boring fashionable 90s stuff like Coldplay or Snow Patrol. Given my history I may like some of it in 20 years if I'm still alive (I'll be 80ish).

Edit: Missing White House Tapes (I checked)

But, in case my talk of vinyl was misleading I do also have a CD player and an MP3 player and mod cons such as a mobile phone.

So... Rock 'n Roll.

:) we've not had a music thread for a bit, maybe we can kindle one here. I quite like the War on Drugs at the moment. Deer Tick are a good... Actually I have no idea how to describe their music, low fi alternative is the best I can manage.

Mr. Wingnut is one for the discussion of diverse popular beat combos but I haven't seen him posting for a while. I expect he's beavering away on the forum awards.