Thinking of going retro

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Thinking of going retro - turntable

marmel

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#28238 23-Nov-2008 20:09

I/ve been thinking I might buy myself a turntable and spin some vinyl.

I would appreciate any advice on brands/models to look out for.

I am looking at second hand and new but don't really want to spend more than $200 which I know is bottom end of the range.

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#179712 23-Nov-2008 20:59

Since most of the modern receivers don't have phono inputs whatever turntable you purchase you will also have to purchase a phono pre-amp. The output from most moving coil cartridges is way too low for the standard line input in a Receiver to handle and besides, the phono input has builtin RIAA equilisation to handle the equalisation most mastering engineers put on a tape before it was cut to vinyl (equalisation put on to handle the limits of vinyl)

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marmel

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#179742 23-Nov-2008 22:08

I have a Pioneer VSX-AX5i. this is from the manual:

PHONO: Use this setting for turntables (without a built-in
equalizer or pre-amplifier).
LINE: Use this setting for all audio components other
than a turntable and for turntables with a built-in phono
equalizer.

I guess this means I could hook a turntable up?

Nety

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#179781 24-Nov-2008 06:26

Can I suggest going over to AudioEnz forums and ask there.. lots and lots of experianced people in turntables.

It does sound like you can hook one up so just a matter of getting the best one for the money.

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lchiu7

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#179783 24-Nov-2008 07:35

marmel: I have a Pioneer VSX-AX5i. this is from the manual:

PHONO: Use this setting for turntables (without a built-in
equalizer or pre-amplifier).
LINE: Use this setting for all audio components other
than a turntable and for turntables with a built-in phono
equalizer.

I guess this means I could hook a turntable up?

You're fine then. Hook it up to the phono input assuming you purchase a standard turntable that doens't have a preamp in it (used to be standard practice, no idea these days)

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

marmel

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#179786 24-Nov-2008 07:55

Nety: Can I suggest going over to AudioEnz forums and ask there.. lots and lots of experianced people in turntables.

It does sound like you can hook one up so just a matter of getting the best one for the money.

Thanks for the advice I will do that later.

bazzer

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#179814 24-Nov-2008 10:22

Depending on what you're after, this might be a good bet. It's reasonable and a pretty good price probably. Eastern Hifi wants $799 for it. I bought my GR2 from them ($1499 from Eastern Hifi), they are basically the outlet version of Eastern Hifi. There's one on trademe for a buy now of $600, I'm guessing since it's only a few months old that he got it from the same place, in which case $600 is too much to pay him. Probably paid $500 for it at the most.

If I hadn't been able to get the GR2 so cheap, I probably would've gone for the Project Xpression III. You can get it, including cartridge for about $800 probably. I heard Stereo World is having a receivership sale, might be worth checking out. Otherwise there's always Rega, but you're looking at probably $1000 after buying the cartridge separately. The GR2 is basically a P2 (but arguably slightly better), the GR1.2 is a P2 equivalent. I bought the GR2 becomes it comes with a pretty nice upgradeable cartridge (which cost more than I paid for the whole thing!). It was shop display and the guy did a piss poor job of packing it up, but for the price I couldn't complain.

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#179823 24-Nov-2008 10:39

While on the subject of vinyl, anyone here live on the North Shore with a turntable hooked up to their PC for converting vinyl to MP3/WAV ?
Ive got a few records here I'd like to convert but dont have a turntable myself.....
Im sure I could throw a couple dozen beer or something your way for the trouble...

XPD / Gavin

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#179826 24-Nov-2008 10:45

xpd: While on the subject of vinyl, anyone here live on the North Shore with a turntable hooked up to their PC for converting vinyl to MP3/WAV ?
Ive got a few records here I'd like to convert but dont have a turntable myself.....
Im sure I could throw a couple dozen beer or something your way for the trouble...

I think the latest JayCar flyer had some devices for doing this...

Nety

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#179830 24-Nov-2008 11:02

bazzer: Depending on what you're after, this might be a good bet. It's reasonable and a pretty good price probably. Eastern Hifi wants $799 for it. I bought my GR2 from them ($1499 from Eastern Hifi), they are basically the outlet version of Eastern Hifi. There's one on trademe for a buy now of $600, I'm guessing since it's only a few months old that he got it from the same place, in which case $600 is too much to pay him. Probably paid $500 for it at the most.

Nice turntables but all way over the $200 price guide that the OP suggested was at their upper end.

bazzer

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#179832 24-Nov-2008 11:05

D'oh, didn't even read that bit! Sorry, marmel. Having said that, I'd really recommend the GR1.2 at $350 if you can stretch to that. At the price you're looking at, second hand might be a lottery...

lchiu7

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#179835 24-Nov-2008 11:08

It's all quite religious I think, this view that you need to spend $800-$1000 for a turntable. But I don't want to get into a flame war on that area. I still have a turntable around I purchased in 1984. It works fine but it hardly used of course now. But I do have the ability to transfer vinyl to the computer so for those discs which are not available on CD or I don't want to repurchase, I can transfer across the tracks that interest me.

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#179839 24-Nov-2008 11:23

You don't agree that a $1000 turntable sounds better than a DSE cheapie? Plenty of vintage turntables would still work and sound great, but unless you know a bit about them you might pick up a lemon. I'd rather go with a reputable new turntable, but for that price you might be pushing it...

bazzer

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#180129 25-Nov-2008 07:53

Eastern Hifi is having a clearance sale. List here (no prices though). There's a few turntables on the list, the GR1.2, a Denon and a Systemdek. Might still be too pricey, but if you're near Mt Welly could be worth a look.

lchiu7

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#180154 25-Nov-2008 09:57

bazzer: You don't agree that a $1000 turntable sounds better than a DSE cheapie? Plenty of vintage turntables would still work and sound great, but unless you know a bit about them you might pick up a lemon. I'd rather go with a reputable new turntable, but for that price you might be pushing it...

I didn't say that. I have Linn Sondek LP12 turntable that I bought years ago and a Shure V15 cartridge. Good sound for the time but it's just that I can't be bothered with vinyl anymore and only retain those units to transcribe the occasional LP that takes my fancy.

It's probably better than a DSE cheapie but then again for most folks that might do the job.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

bazzer

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#180157 25-Nov-2008 10:10

Are you offering to sell marmel your Linn for under $200? How kind!

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