Got my turntable for Christmas, the quest is finally over!
It's a Crosley, not sure if this brand is good or not but it sounds great to me. Robbed an old amp from my old man, hooked it up to some speakers I snagged on sale during black friday and am currently listening to Neil Young live at Massey Hall. Thanks to everyone who helped me out with this journey. Now to perfect my equipment..
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
I stayed in Vancouver via AirBNB and the place had a nice record collection and I would really like to start collecting again myself.
Part of my would like a classic, vintage system but the parts/repairs/melted belts, etc. might be not worth it. Any recommendations for something to pick up in town in terms of a new/modern system?
Ideally I'd like something compact as I have a small space and may have to hook it up to my soundbar setup for the momemt.
I stayed in Vancouver via AirBNB and the place had a nice record collection and I would really like to start collecting again myself.
Part of my would like a classic, vintage system but the parts/repairs/melted belts, etc. might be not worth it. Any recommendations for something to pick up in town in terms of a new/modern system?
Ideally I'd like something compact as I have a small space and may have to hook it up to my soundbar setup for the momemt.
How much are you looking to spend?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
Before you call me a pessimist or a downer, the Flames made me this way. Blame them.
First record you should buy for your new collection:
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Anywhere from $100-$400. It really depends on features, design, etc.
I have a very small space so something compact or has an interesting design would be cool. I'm not sure if I wanted dedicated sound attached to it or if I would just connect it to my sound bar. I don't have any audiophile level equipment (nor the space for it).
They used to make stand-up record players in the 80s but most of them have melted drive belts now.
I'm still looking for a turntable. I can stomach any of the modern day el-cheapos like Crosley's, ION's, etc. because it's just a bunch of rebadged Chinese junk and a lot of the sub-$200 ones are preamped and I've read that their heavy tracking tone arms can damage records.
Strangely, I seem to leaning toward just picking up something from a store, such as this $300 Dual or the Audio Technica 120 for $250.
I could take any phono turntable and kitbash it with my grandpa's 80s vintage amp but I feel like getting something new would be better than vintage because of issues with parts, cartridges, belts, etc.?
I'd also need to get decent speakers to make any substantial turntable purchase worthwhile and I'm pretty lost there since I'm not an audiophile. I was still thinking of the possibility of using my soundbar and sub for speakers at the moment. I'm listening to some lossless FLACs of some 80's Japanese LP pressings right now on the soundbar and it sounds okay.
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is nice. It's $400 and I'm happy with it. Comes with a carbon fibre tonearm and a $100 Ortofon 2m red cartridge. One thing is I wish I went for the next model up. I can't remember what it is. I think downinflames has it. It comes with the fancy acryl-it platter. That's super nice because it kills most of the problems you'll have with static and the felt mats.
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is nice. It's $400 and I'm happy with it. Comes with a carbon fibre tonearm and a $100 Ortofon 2m red cartridge. One thing is I wish I went for the next model up. I can't remember what it is. I think downinflames has it. It comes with the fancy acryl-it platter. That's super nice because it kills most of the problems you'll have with static and the felt mats.
Try a new mat, there fairly cheap, the needle doctor will have a selection on line
I'm still looking for a turntable. I can stomach any of the modern day el-cheapos like Crosley's, ION's, etc. because it's just a bunch of rebadged Chinese junk and a lot of the sub-$200 ones are preamped and I've read that their heavy tracking tone arms can damage records.
Strangely, I seem to leaning toward just picking up something from a store, such as this $300 Dual or the Audio Technica 120 for $250.
I could take any phono turntable and kitbash it with my grandpa's 80s vintage amp but I feel like getting something new would be better than vintage because of issues with parts, cartridges, belts, etc.?
I'd also need to get decent speakers to make any substantial turntable purchase worthwhile and I'm pretty lost there since I'm not an audiophile. I was still thinking of the possibility of using my soundbar and sub for speakers at the moment. I'm listening to some lossless FLACs of some 80's Japanese LP pressings right now on the soundbar and it sounds okay.
If you were in Vancouver I'd sell you my Kef 103/3's, check out craigslist for an older pair of energy reference 22's
Last edited by afc wimbledon; 09-01-2014 at 03:37 PM.
I was craving vinyl today. I haven't listened to my records for over 3 years. Well, I found an Audio Technica AP-LP120 for sale on the shelf in Calgary...but it was $420 at Luke's Drug Mart! It's $250 in US retail!
I looked at my vinyl collection and seeing how 95% of it is bad condition Value Village $0.99 finds and that I don't yet have an appropriate amp/speaker set up or anything nice at all (unless I repair my grandpa's 80's Japanese deck) I cheaped out and got the Sony PS-LX300 from off the shelf at Futureshop as an impulse buy. This thing is entry-level but at least it looks like an early 90s Japanese deck.
That said, going line out with the built in pre-amp to my soundbar actually sounds really nice. My living room is only 10x10 feet with concrete walls so it fills the room nicely. I picked up a few albums from Record Land and I'm good to go for now until the day comes when I get an LP120 or another Technics SL-1200 clone (How are Reloops?).
What Vinyl Stores should I know about? Nothing beats $0.99 at Value Village though.
My turntable is a Rega RP1. It was about $450 brand new, a little expensive but it sounds excellent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drew24
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is nice. It's $400 and I'm happy with it. Comes with a carbon fibre tonearm and a $100 Ortofon 2m red cartridge. One thing is I wish I went for the next model up. I can't remember what it is. I think downinflames has it. It comes with the fancy acryl-it platter. That's super nice because it kills most of the problems you'll have with static and the felt mats.
I highly recommend getting a cork mat. They're great for reducing static, and I think it sounds better too. Was a huge upgrade over the felt one that came with my turntable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
What Vinyl Stores should I know about? Nothing beats $0.99 at Value Village though.
And for record stores, I would suggest Sloth records on 17th. Pretty great store.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
Before you call me a pessimist or a downer, the Flames made me this way. Blame them.
Got a Pro-Ject Elemental for Christmas. After figuring out how to disable all the digital processing on my amp, it sounds amazing.
I've got a good handle on the local vinyl stores but any online suggestions? Amazon had pretty much only new releases & re-issues. Pleasantly surprised at the selection at Barnes & Noble. Any others?
Who needs a turntable when you can purchase djay2 for the 1+... Haha. Anyhou, I've been wanting one myself... What's a good starter one that is decently priced and good.
Around $400 can get you Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, Music Hall MMF 2.2, or Rega RP1. When I was looking about 18 months ago those were the 3 that always came up.