Turntables

[Benicio Del Toffo]

Fellas,

I've just shaken hands on a deal which will see me parted from my SL1210s for the last time.

I've decided that the whole DJing thing is over for me (partly due to age, partly due to minidisc/CD) and let them go for a bargain price to a mate of a mate who's just starting out on the vinyl voyage.

Anyway, not wanting to be without means of listening to my ever-dwindling vinyl collection, I was wondering if someone could recommend a decent turntable?

Anyone any experience of turntables that were built more for listening pleasure than as musical instruments?

Cheers,

Benicio

[theeman]

personally i'd go for an old deck, like a decent garrard or a thorens TD150 or TD160. they turn up all the time in Loot for a very reasonable sum - usually 150ish or less, depending on cartridge.

these older decks sound better (for me) for many reasons:
- better construction
- heavier, more dense materials
- better engineered (built by hand to very high specs)
- massive choice of options (arms etc)
- easily repairable/upgradable

you'd also be surprised how much difference it makes when the deck was engineered to sound good for the records produced at the time. buy a new deck and it's simply not optimised to sound great with records from the 60s and 70s when production techniques were very different.

lots of great British kit is available from the 60s and 70s, now going reasonably cheap compared with the modern audophile decks. there are even Linn setups that cost thousands new that you can find for a few hundred quid - compare that with a technics setup and you've got a bargain.

i had a couple of modern decks (mid-range pro-ject and NAD) and they just weren't up to it (although the NAD was very good, and massively adjustable). my current turntable is a minty 70s Pioneer from a boot sale for 3 quid. sounds better - with the sorts of records i/we listen to - than the other decks, and is more adjustable.

if you're set on new stuff, the rega decks are pretty good. don't skimp on a good phono pre-amp if your amp doesn't already have one, and ditch the mixer if you really want to hear the music as it was meant to be heard.

just my 2c...

[sermad]

I bought a 2nd hand NAD for about £60 and it sounds fantastic. Seriously! Technics sound 'hollow' in comparison. I sold mine last year as I dont need to practice djing (not because Im wonderful just cos I dont do it so much anymore). Besides - you dont forget how to spin tunes.

So you don't need to spend mega bucks - I would budget maybe £200-300 for a deck. £50 for a phono pre-amp and another £50 for a decent cart.

I think project 1's are pretty decent from what people say on the net about them. Best thing would be to find someone local with a nice setup and convince them they need to upgrade thus palming off their kit to you.

From memory iueke had a beautiful player.

[theeman]

just had a gander on Loot and there are a couple of Thorens TD160s on there for around 75 quid apiece. lovely!

sermad, didn't you get an ace pre-amp? what was it again?

[sermad]

Ive got a project phonobox se. Its about £100 ish.

http://www.movement-audio.co.uk/webs...t-phonose.html

But they do a cheaper and still decent version. bout £40.

http://www.takefiveaudio.com/project_phono_box.htm

If I had the money I would buy a musical fidelity phono amp - About £300 and utterly gorgeous. This series of grear is all housed in these lovely tubes. Imagine pre amp - power amp - cd player all stacked up like pyramid..sadly these were discontinued and now command an incredible sum 2nd hand. they are actually more expensive now then they came out and they are about 3 years old!

[Benicio Del Toffo]

Cheers fellas, all good stuff so far.

Well, my set-up at the mo is NAD amp, NAD CD player and Aegis Speakers.

What's the crack with pre-amps are they always necessary or does it depend on the compatibilty of amp/turntable?

Keep it simple, I can get technical about football, but not about such things as hi-fi - I know my limits!

Benicio

[sermad]

Well if you had a NAD amp already then you should be ok - Just check on the back if it has an input marked PHONO. The reason why you can't plug your turntable straight into your amp is because it outputs at very low volume. This signal needs to be boosted and thats what a Phono pre-amp does.

Your amp might have a dedicated Phono socket - If so then you can go ahead and plug the turntable straight in. If not then you deffo need a phono-amp.

But if your amp can take a turntable direct then it might be too quiet and sound a bit wooly - This is because phono amps inside another amp can sound a bit shit. So you might need to look at that £40 phono amp.

[theeman]

most NAD amps don't have phono in these days. NAD make a little pre-amp that fits in with their design aesthetic - it's very cheap (20 quid or so) and is pretty good, although nowhere near as nice as Sermad's pre-amp.

you might also want to check out turntable kits if you're a bit handy with DIY. killer performance for a very modest sum (provided you're not cack-handed)

Origin turntable kits

if you're not deeply into the technical stuff, then it don't much matter to you whether you get a phono pre-amp with MC or MM cartridge switching function or all that malarky, so maybe the NAD pre-amp's a good place to start!

the NAD turntable Sermad's got is the same model I used to have and it's really good - ebay for about 50-60 quid. get a new cartridge on it and you'll be away, plus all your kit's in that tasteful (er...) grey that NAD like so much.

the good thing with all this old audio kit is that there's s lively 2nd hand market so even if you don't like it or trade up later, it'll hold its value (unless you buy new and untried kit)

[Matt Hero]

Quote[/b] (theeman @ Jan. 19 2004,12:14)]Origin turntable kits

Bloody hell, they're just around the corner from my nan !

Just thought I'd share that with you.....

[Nick Cope]

I use a NAD at home, dunno what the model is, but it cost about 200 quid about five years ago. Happy with the sound. Anyways, 1210s aren't exactly renowned for home listening...

[Mr Divine]

I've actually got a pair of NADs which I've had for years - you really can't beat them. I take them everywhere I go, but only really use them in the house...

[sermad]

You can't go one day and not have a nob gag round ere! Mr D. Expect a parcel any day now...no seriously...

[theeman]

are you boasting about the size of your package again mate?

[sermad]

Ed - seeing as your a dab hand on the old drums...can we have a badum-tish?

[Nick Cope]

How about two elephants off a cliff instead