Can anyone recommend a decent inexpensive turntable?

[Wain]

Hey all, I just remembered that there are actually quite a few people with varying levels of audiophilism around here and figured I'd ask.

I need to buy a turntable, nothing exotic, I'm not doing any DJ'ing or mixing, it's just that I've recently acquired a rather large collection of well taken care of opera recordings and I'd like to listen to them/transfer them over to my computer.

I have professional audio gear on my machine I have no concerns about the actual hookup, I have phono rated plugs and a grounding lead, but I don't know anything about turntables.

I did a little reading online and it sounds like I need a direct drive system, which looks more expensive, but I dunno how much any of this or cartridge heads or the like actually matter.  Quality is a concern, but only with a balanced price-point and I'm trying not to spend $500-1000.

Any ideas, advice, or recommendations?

thanks

[bloodline]

While I despise Vinyl... This is your best option and certainly the route I would go if I ever planned on playing the rare vinyl collection I have:

http://www.elpj.com/

[Speelgoedmannetje]

bloodline wrote:
While I despise Vinyl... This is your best option and certainly the route I would go if I ever planned on playing the rare vinyl collection I have:

http://www.elpj.com/

Seems to me great, but the price isn't

Only for those who have a steady relatively high income. Not me yet :-(

[bloodline]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:

bloodline wrote:
While I despise Vinyl... This is your best option and certainly the route I would go if I ever planned on playing the rare vinyl collection I have:

http://www.elpj.com/

Seems to me great, but the price isn't

Only for those who have a steady relatively high income. Not me yet :-(

It's a small price to pay for preserving a piece of history... I think wain should find an archivist who has one...

[Speelgoedmannetje]

bloodline wrote:

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:

bloodline wrote:
While I despise Vinyl... This is your best option and certainly the route I would go if I ever planned on playing the rare vinyl collection I have:

http://www.elpj.com/

Seems to me great, but the price isn't

Only for those who have a steady relatively high income. Not me yet :-(

It's a small price to pay for preserving a piece of history... I think wain should find an archivist who has one...

I know. And I'm audiophile enough to spend it if I would earn enough.
But Wain explicitly stated:

Quality is a concern, but only with a balanced price-point and I'm trying not to spend $500-1000.

[adz]

Whilst I love the idea of a Laser Turntable, the price is insane. If you're only going to be playing each piece of vinyl a few times, then, price wise, the best option is a basic direct drive turntable with a decent stylus. As for brand, I've only really ever used Technics and the old Teac direct drive I grew up with.

[Trev]

I use Technics SL-1200s, too. Denon still makes a few turntables, or you can go for one of those cheap combination systems they sell in department stores. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, DJ turntables are your best bet. I used to browse gear at Pro Sound & Stage Lighting, which should be a good place to start for current, inexpensive turntables.

Regardless of what you buy, make sure you get the right cartridge and preamp (if necessary--some consumer/DJ kits have the RIAA bits built-in) for your content, as frequency response changes from component to component. Even if you skimp on the turntable and tonearm (really shouldn't skimp here, either), don't skimp on these.

[Wain]

Some of those technics from the sl1200 line look like they might be exactly what I need..will continue researching, but thanks for the advice.

The laser thing is amazing and also unconditionally insane.

lol

[Oliver]

Hi,

Just wondering, are you likely to be playing these recordings from vinyl in future, or just using your digital copies? If you won't be playing the vynil, after making the copies, you could consider just hiring a DJ turntable for a week or two.

If you do this, make sure the tone arms are in good condition, and buy your own good quality cartridge.

You can get some advice about turntable setup, and cartridge characteristics from their suppliers. You won't need to have a lot of anti-skip, etc, as you probably won't be doing any scratching.

Another option would be to spend a bit more on the turntable, with a view to selling it once you have finished.

Peronally, I love the sound of vinyl, as it really has a very warm character, to my ear.

P.S. They're not old 78's are they?

[Wain]

Good idea to keep in mind about renting, but I really need to add a turntable to my overall arsenal even though I would not use it all that often.

I've done some reading up on cartridges and tone-arm balancing and think I have the gist of everything I need to make a (semi)informed choice...at least for my needs which are not all that great.

While I could only wish for 78's, these are just well-kept 33's.

[Oliver]

Something else to note, is that setting up a turntable can be tricky the first time, even if you know what you want. If you're buying new, get someone to do that bit for you, to your requirements.

Buying a good model second hand (like an SL-1200 MkII) is likely to give you a really good drive, and very stable platter, but you will need to be careful of worn out tone arm, etc, and it will likely be set up for DJ mixing.

There are many non-DJ turntables which also sound good, but are less robust. Old pre 1200 MkII Technics generally sound pretty decent, and can be found for good prices, but you have to be more careful with things like needle drop, and vibration.

[Trev]

I don't know if I'd recommend an SL-1200 for sound quality. It's certainly a spinning and mixing workhorse, but I don't know anyone that uses one for classical music or opera or anything else that depends on accurate sound reproduction. For the money, though, it's going to be better than most of the other DJ turntables on the market. Just something to keep in mind....

[Wain]

@Trev

That's what I'm starting to see, but researching the technics has springboarded me over to reading about Rega Planar models and some other types, so these suggestions and ideas are proving very helpful across the board.

Thanks guys.

[Trev]

A friend of mine runs a vinyl to CD conversion business in his spare time (and also has something like 30,000 records in his collection). I'll ask him what he recommends. As I recall, he's recommended Rega products to me in the past.

[AMC258]

Direct drive is great, but really there's nothing wrong with belt drive, unless you're doing more than just ordinary playback.
I have several used Quadraflex's that are just great.  I have had some Dual's too.  The only thing about buying a used one is that you should buy a new cartridge straight away.
Get yourself a means to measure stylus pressure.  If any DJ or anyone using a turntable to convert to CD uses a turntable, the stylus pressure is cranked up to the point where it will destroy your records.  And, too little pressure is just as bad as too much.

I had thought about reading LPs with a laser a long long time ago.  I actually tried it once when I built a Laser Listening Device.  I couldn't figure out how to do proper tracking though without having a stylus in the groove!  How the heck do they do it with CD's?