Stupid non-recording question

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nate_dennis

nate_dennis

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So, this may not be the perfect place for this, but I figured you all could help me out.

I was born in an age where record players are not common, but I want to buy one. I understand that most decent players don't have speakers attached and so they need an amplifier. So, where do I start? I need a turntable, and amplifier, then to the speakers....right? Any reccomendations on brands? Would there be anything wrong with listening to records through my studio monitors or should I get something more purpose driven for that? Thanks for all of your help.



-Nate
 
look for something direct drive not belt drive... my personal favourite is technics but they tend to be a little pricey. If you all ready have monitors and a mixer that may be all you need, a lot of boards will have a phono pre-amp built in. look on your mixer for any rca inputs that say "phono" if not you can buy a phono pre-amp for cheap and then run from

player>preamp>mixer>monitors

or if you have an old reciever with a phono input you could run the line out (or a tape out) from the receiver in to the mixer.
 
very cool. I really appreciate the info! I'm pretty stoked about getting one. A lot of my favorite bands are putting things on vinyl, so It'd be cool to hear The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service, Etc on vinyl!!! Sorry, I'm a bit giddy over this.
 
Belt drive turntables can be rather desirable actually, I wouldn't totally discount them, just sometimes you need to replace the belt and roller. And that's for a used one. Just like a tape deck.

You're probably wanting something called an "integrated amplifier" which has the preamp, phono preamp, and power amp all built in. Kick around on ebay. As a starting point, if it's Japanese and before 1978, you'll probably enjoy it a lot.

best,
scott
 
I bought this turntable last year and I am very pleased with it: Link

It's probably one of the best Technics 1200 look-alikes out there. 33/45/78 rpm, pitch control, direct drive. I recommend getting a new needle + cartridge if you're picky about sound. If you only want to do casual listening, though, you'll be fine with it right out of the box.

It also has a built-in preamp (w/ switch) in case you get stuck with a receiver that does not have dedicated phono inputs.

Search the web for a better price, because I noticed that Amazon's quoted price seems to change every week.

I also bought this receiver with it: Link. A good choice for the money. I would prefer to have a nice 1970s steel-face receiver, but I don't have a car and Amazon ships to your door :)

Good luck!
 
Craigslist is your friend, that and garage sales. I found a nice Pioneer amp and tuner (yes, two separate pieces; for those that weren't born when you could get them that way.:D) It's not the highest model in the lineup, but THD is unbeatable by today's equivalents. There is something to be said about having a monster knob to grab a hold of and flicking the wrist to "jam" out on a good song.

Most any 1990 and earlier receiver should have phono preamps built-in. If you've got a set of decent home speakers (which are kind of a rare thing nowadays), you are set! I need to find replacement parts for my Technics speakers. If all else fails, like one of the guys already said, run it straight into the mixer.;)
 
hungovermorning said:
Belt drive turntables can be rather desirable actually, I wouldn't totally discount them, just sometimes you need to replace the belt and roller. And that's for a used one. Just like a tape deck.

You're probably wanting something called an "integrated amplifier" which has the preamp, phono preamp, and power amp all built in. Kick around on ebay. As a starting point, if it's Japanese and before 1978, you'll probably enjoy it a lot.

best,
scott
Click to expand...

true... didn't mean to sound like I was ripping on the belt drive table. I just figured he was looking for something he could plug in and go with good reproduction and no hassle. For a used table it seems like you would have less potential problems buying direct drive, and it seems (i may be wrong) that most new belt tables are pretty low end.

i got this setup at a garage sale for 50 bucks

technics sa-303 reciever (no marantz but not bad sounding, and boy is it loud!)

technics sl-q2 table (no pitch controls but quartz timing)

both units have treated me well for quite a few years now, I only have the reciever disconnected as space is currently at a premium:),
 
Nate,

Search Craigslist in the "Free" section with the word "Stereo".

Within 2 weeks I found 3 very nice (and powerful) complete systems that people just didn't want anymore. They were absolutley free. The owners just thought they were old fashioned, and took up too much room.

I found a huge Fisher component stack system with 15" 3-way wood box speakers for a friend. Then, I found a beautiful Sony system similarly equipped for another friend. I was just looking for a new Amp, but in the end had to take a whole system (Kenwood) as a package deal just to get the amp. All these systems worked great and had CD players, Cassete players, and TURNTABLES.

Rich Smith
 
Some things I was always told: others please feel to correct if wrong!

Get an S shaped tone arm and/or an angled cartridge (perfectly straight tone arm/cartridge will have the stylus eventually be at an angle to the grooves, so you get worse "inner groove distortion.")

Less wow & flutter w/ direct drive, but potential for motor noise, vs less noise w/ belt but potential for more wow & flutter.

Platter should have a strobe (series of white dots on the platter, should stand still when you fine tune the speed.) * I think this is if it is direct drive.

What console do you have? E.g. the Tascam M-520 has a phono input if you want to run through your studio. Otherwise, like others said, will need a tuner or amp, or just a preamp. Depending on teh receiver, you might be able to tap off the receiver's preamp out and send this to the line inputs of your console. Usually labeled something like "Pre-out" "Main In" and jumpered.

(I have a receiver with a bad preamp channel that I use as a monitor amp by running a stereo bus into the Main in.)

I bought a completely manual turntable about 10 years ago.** I can't remember the brand (the name plate fell off the dust cover...) but it requires you to change the speed by using a little plastic thingamjigger to move the belt. **Pro-ject looks something like this: http://www.sumikoaudio.net/project/products/debut.htm but recall it cost about half that much.

You can hear the difference with a good stylus and cartridge. Like anything, you can spend an insane amount of money on this (I met a guy once who manufactured $1500 gold leaf speaker cables.....)

Depending on where you live, you might find a well established independent hi-fi shop that can be helpful in this.
 
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I used to have an Acoustic Research XB turntable and i like it a lot. I used a Shure M91ED cartridge with it. I heard someone say that the M91ED sounds "stoned" and I'd say that describes it well. It's warm and fuzzy... not perfect but fun to listen to.

A couple of years ago I bought a Dual turntable off of eBay and it's good but I'd like to:
a) get an M91ED cartridge for it and
b) make a heavy wooden base for it as it's got this POS plastic base that I know if messing with the sound. You can talk into phono cartridges and it will pick it up so they are part microphone, and the acoustics of the case affect the sound like an electric guitar's wood. I would not hold out too much hope for anything all plastic. I had a Sony that was ok and I improved it by heat gluing as many fishing lead weights inside it to make it weigh more. The weight helps the skipping too.

Lots of companies were making pretty descent turntables in the late 70's, even some companies like you wouldn't expect like Sanyo and (yes) Radio Shack.

I'd try and find an older one off of Craigslist or eBay. I paid I think $50 for my Dual. They're like power amps - the heavy ones tend to sound good.

You can use a 2 ch mic pre to boost the signal, and there's nothing wrong with putting it through any kind of speakers, although I'd prefer AR's if you want the classic 70's University of Bonghit experience.
 
I'm happy with a Grado cartridge. I don't remember the model I have, but they have a pretty good range of cartridges depending on what you want to spend.

I am by no means an "audiophile" (I'm fine with speaker cable from radio shack, that isn't gold leaf...) and relied a lot on the advice of the guy at a long running stereo shop here in town who seemed to know what he was talking about...
 
I acquired my turntable in about 1974 or so (believe it or not I won it). It was a 3 piece operation, with a seperate turntable (Kenwood KD-500), tonearm (Infinity Black Widow), and cartridge (AKG something). The turntable is built into a cement base, the tonearm is a carbon fiber material. Infinity got out of the tonearm business a few years later, but still makes consumer speakers and car audio. My turntable is still fully functional and is sitting within arm's length of me when I am at my desk. The output runs into a Rane PS-1 preamp and then into a Presonus Firestudio which I use to digitize the signals from the turntable. While I was a lucky guy in winning the turntable, I had to purchase the tonearm and cartridge. :(
 
Wow!!! Lots of info!!! Thank you.

One more question. What is the difference between the amp and the receiver? Am I just being dense? (DAMN MY parents for having me in this overly digitized environment!!!)

:D
 
The amp

is the signal booster to power the speakers. A receiver is for listening to radio. Most consumer models have both in one box. Audiophiles like to have them in individual components. MusicHall make very good reasonably priced turntables. Music direct or Acoustic sounds sell everything related to vinyl!:D
 
Btw,

those manual turntables are great. The less they put in the way of automatic gizmos means better audio parts that bring the cost of the entire machine way down. You have to get up to lift the arm off at the end of the record, but at my age that's a good thing: The more I exercise the better!!:D
 
Amp = (as instroverb said) the signal booster to the speakers
Tuner = receives analog radio airwaves
Receiver = is technically an amp and tuner combined into one box
 
This thread could accidentally mushroom into a discussion of the benefits of 1970s discrete component big iron transformers way cool back lit fm dial receivers...:rolleyes:
 
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