Buying an audiophile turntable

[gd_81]

im looking to buy a used turntable to archive my vinyl with...preferably belt drive of course....and ill put a AUDIO TECHNICA AT95E MM cartridge on it

can anyone tell me of anything to look for or avoid?


cheers

sorry, i should say when i mean audiophile i mean a cheap second hand one :)

[phunkdust]

Stuff from Pro-Ject, Ariston, and Linn Sondek is usually good stuff at an affordable price.

[P_A_Sime]

Just visit one of ya local Hi-Fi stores, they might have some good trade in turnies.

[Dub DeLay]

you know although a belt drive helps isolate vibration you do get changing torque issues as you track inwards and if you've played them many times using technics it may sound worse than using technics to archive, and if you've played them many many times it would be pointless getting an audiophile turntable to archive

personally i think technics are adequate for the job

[jester_fu]

I agree with Dub. My suggestion to you would be to replace the cartridge you currently use on the Techincs with a higher grade cartridge and styli - especially if you are using a spherical stylus for DJ'ing purposes. Shure have a couple of nice cart/stylus combos on offer for sub $400AUD - go talk to a hi-fi shop that has a few turntables in stock, as they will have some good options for you and have a good idea what they're talking about. My only other suggestion would be to carefully consider the pre you are using to improve your sound quality... above replacing the turntable. You might find a decent pre falls outside what you're willing to spend ($500+ is pretty typical) but is much more important to the sound than replacing the turntable playing the record. I would rate the stylus/headshell/pre combination more important than the turntable itself, and certainly where you should start spending your money.

[phunkdust]

Yeah going from a Techs to a belt drive hifi turntable is a kick to the senses... where did all this wow come from? :lol:

[gd_81]

i just figured it would be nicer to have a turntable solely dedicated to sampling as my technics will no doubt be more suseptible to wear and tear by using them for mixing and scratching....

[phunkdust]

Technics are pretty solid fuckers, as long as you keep em serviced they'll be fine for sampling as well. Just pop on an audiophile cart and off you go.

The only pain will be rebalancing the tonearm every time you change carts.

The problem I've run into with sampling with a belt-drive is that you might get some drift in the recording, which will tend to throw your mix off if you then later use that recording in serato or burn to CD and mix, etc...

So, sampling/recording for digital DJing, stick with the Technics... everything else yeah have a browse on eBay for some good audiophile belt drive stuff - but you may not end up spending any less than just going and buying another SL1200 anyway.

My experience of turntables on eBay is that you have to spend upwards of $200 for something reasonable as good audiophile turntables are in high demand on eBay.

[gd_81]

ok thanks for the advice


i really wanted a seperate turntable to do this on so i wouldnt have to swap over carts and rebalance, but if its going to cause recording accuracy issues then its probably best just to use the SL with an audiotechnica cart on it and perhaps a nice preamp , an NAD perhaps...

what if i was to get a second hand direct drive? one of the older technics ones perhaps? or is better just to stick with the SL-1200?


p.s i made another thread cos i didnt like the title of this one, and didnt know if i could edit it or not -sorry!

[Spectrum]

p.s i made another thread cos i didnt like the title of this one!

You did what?!! :lol:

[phunkdust]

if you need the tempo of the tracks to be stable for digital DJing then yeah, go ahead and pick up a direct drive deck.

a single 1200 without a cart should be pretty cheap second hand.

[TurntableTech]

Yeah like phunkdust said, I'd be more inclined to use a good direct drive turntable.

If you're interested and cashed up, I can fit Rega RB250/300 Tonearms to an SL1200 which greatly improves the sound. :thumb: Not cheap though...

Also look for a Denon DP-1200, a good deck for vinyl transcription.

[gd_81]

thanks turntabletech, ill be on the hunt for one of the decks now

[acoustinaut]

...and perhaps a nice preamp , an NAD perhaps...

I recently faced the same dilemma...

for a decent but well priced phono pre your options are as follows...

NAD PP-2 Phono Preamplifier (http://audioenz.co.nz/2004/nad_pp2.shtml) RRP ~$200 (you may also be able to find the older PP-1 2nd hand, there are a couple on ebay at the mo but they seem to go for crazy prices)

Pro-Ject Phono Box MK II (http://www.internationaldynamics.com.au/uploaded/PJ73_PhonoBox2_WHF_Awards05.pdf) RRP ~$130 (this is the bang for ya buck option, many people rate this as highly as the NAD)

Cambridge Audio Azur 540P (http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/assets/documents/Hi-FiChoiceMarch06540-640PPDF.pdf) RRP ~$150

Cambridge Audio Azur 640P (http://www.audioenz.co.nz/2005/cambridge_640p.shtml) RRP ~$250

I was originally going to settle for the Pro-Ject Phono Box, but have opted for the Cambridge 640P which has passive RIAA equalisation...

[gd_81]

hey acoustinaut..is that list in order from best to worst?

ive bid for a pp-2 on ebay at the moment....if it gets to expensive i think i will just buy one brand new perhaps..

[acoustinaut]

no particular order I'm afraid... just as I remembered them...

[TurntableTech]

I recently faced the same dilemma...

for a decent but well priced phono pre your options are as follows...

NAD PP-2 Phono Preamplifier (http://audioenz.co.nz/2004/nad_pp2.shtml) RRP ~$200 (you may also be able to find the older PP-1 2nd hand, there are a couple on ebay at the mo but they seem to go for crazy prices)

Pro-Ject Phono Box MK II (http://www.internationaldynamics.com.au/uploaded/PJ73_PhonoBox2_WHF_Awards05.pdf) RRP ~$130 (this is the bang for ya buck option, many people rate this as highly as the NAD)

Cambridge Audio Azur 540P (http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/assets/documents/Hi-FiChoiceMarch06540-640PPDF.pdf) RRP ~$150

Cambridge Audio Azur 640P (http://www.audioenz.co.nz/2005/cambridge_640p.shtml) RRP ~$250

I was originally going to settle for the Pro-Ject Phono Box, but have opted for the Cambridge 640P which has passive RIAA equalisation...

All good units when combined with an appropriately good Hi-Fi cartridge. You will be very surprised at the audio quality when playing back a good pressing/recording.

[gd_81]

thanks for your help guys