nice vintage turntable

pglbook

I am looking for a nice vintage turntable. My budget is in the $350 range which I know is not a lot. I would prefer local pick up because I know shipping turntables is quite risky (not to mention expensive). I live in upsate NY, about 3 hours equi-distant from NYC, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo area, etc. So NY, PA, NJ, CT, MA, RI, etc should all be ok.

I like the vintage Thorens and Yamahas (YP D8 or YP D10) but those may be out of my budget. I just missed a beautiful Thorens TD-126 MKII which was listed on my local CL about 2 weeks ago. It was $400 but was mint.

I am looking for a quality turntable, in nice plug n play condition. Hopefully there is something that will fit my budget (otherwise I'll wait and save some more money and increase my budget in a few months).

I will be runing the turntable with my Yamaha CR 2020 receiver, Rotel RCC 945 CD player, and Polk SDA 2Bs.

Thanks,

pglbook

I was hoping someone near me would have a nice vintage turntable in order to avoid the risk and cost of shopping but, in order to expand the market, I will also entertain the idea of having one shipped (and will pay shipping cost of course) to me.

I am trying to get back into vinyl. I recently bought a great collection of jazz records (Franklin Mint's 100 record set, "The Greatest Recordings of the Big Band Era") and want to buy a nice quality vintage turntable to play those as well as some other records I have.

I live in upstate NY (Albany, NY) and willl be using the turntable with the following setup:
Yamaha CR 2020 receiver, Rotel RCC 945 CD player, and a pair of Polk SDA 2B speakers.

Thanks.

mhardy6647

I agree with your strategy; there are folks that know how to properly pack & ship turntables, but they're the exception rather than the rule (especially in "eBAY space"). Local is the way to go; and you're generally in a good part of the world to find something.

You might want to consider www.audiokarma.org as there are many folks in your general area (I am none too far from Boston, but I don't have any nice tts to offer, unfortunately!). There is also a classified/marketplace at www.audioasylum.com

pglbook

Thanks, mhardy. You are right about the danger of shipping turntables and I have learned from experience. I bought a vintage Yamaha YP 701 tt on ebay a few months ago. I instructed the Seller how to properly pack and ship it and what did the Seller do? Merely toss it diagonally into a huge box and throw some rolled-up newpaper over it for packing material. I almost died when I opened the box. And, of course, the turntable did not survive that trip. I plugged it in and nothing! No power. Nothing. I got a complete refund but would've rather had a nice tt. I will check around and see if there is something near me. Thanks again.

gdb

Forget idler types unless you've got more time,money than sense. Unless they're in perfect tune, they'll introduce rumble to your music. There's a reason they're not made anymore, sorta' like steam powered cars. (all IMO ) You can get a nice belt driven Thorens easily for the amount you stated. I'd suggest a TD-160 table, add a Q-UP arm lifter and call it a day. FWIW, I exhaustively instructed an ebay seller on how my TD-145 needed to be packed for shipping so that he might avoid a cancelled sale and the hassle of trying to make a damage claim with the carrier......somewhere on the Web is a great tutorial on TT packing......I can't remember the site/link though.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_gnr_fkmr0?rh=i%3Apopular%2Ck%3Awaiting+columbus&keywords=waiting+columbus&ie=UTF8&qid=1359056619#/ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_0_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=q+up+tonearm+lifter&sprefix=q+up%2Cpopular%2C162&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aq+up+tonearm+lifter

CarlosD

pglbook, I'm betting there are some places in NYC that sell used turntables. Spend some time Googling some likely terms. It would be a fun trip for you -- lots of places to buy LPs, too. There's a place in Somerville NJ, about the same distance, that used to sell used good audio equipment, you might want to look them up. And if you go there you could continue down route 206 another 20 miles to Princeton and the Princeton Record Exchange and load up on all kinds of vinyl. Speaking of which, someone there might have a tip for you on where to buy a good used turntable.

Good luck!

mhardy6647

I just packed and shipped a TD-124 -- speaking of idler drive :-) -- for a friend. He supplied a fitted box and materials to pack it properly, so it was easy and straightforward. We'll see how it makes the trip (I am cautiously optimistic).

Audiokarma has info, I'm sure, on packing and shipping a tt; the big "trick" is to remove the platter and isolate it from everything else! Otherwise, it will remove itself whilst in transit and basically make like a lead Frisbee, wreaking havoc in its path :-(

George Grand

I have some tables, but I don't ship them. Nothing I would ever ask more than $200 for. In fact, the only one I would ask that kind of money for is a Thorens 126 Mk.III, but it has speed issues.

I can't help but think that for your budget, maybe even a little less, you can sit right at home and have something pretty spiffy hand-delivered to your door from Audio Advisor or somebody like that. Entry level Project or something.

PolkieMan

Try to find something local on ebay or craig's list .
Or find someone that knows how to ship one.

mhardy6647

George Grand wrote: »

...I can't help but think that for your budget, maybe even a little less, you can sit right at home and have something pretty spiffy hand-delivered to your door from Audio Advisor or somebody like that. Entry level Project or something.

Mr. Grand, as is usually the case, raises a good point.

SCompRacer

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I just packed and shipped a TD-124 -- speaking of idler drive :-) -- for a friend.

Does he have any sense or is he just loaded with time and money?:cheesygrin:

gdb

SCompRacer wrote: »

Does he have any sense or is he just loaded with time and money?:cheesygrin:

Probably just hopelessly romanticizing over utter obsolescence !! :cheesygrin:

PolkieMan

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Hall-2-Speed-Audiophile-Turntable/dp/B001FUF8FQ/ref=sr_1_61?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359165369&sr=1-61&keywords=turntable


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uturnaudio/the-orbit-turntable-0

http://www.amazon.com/PRO-JECT-DEBUT-MATTE-BLACK-TURNTABLE/dp/B000CDHQK2/ref=sr_1_54?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359165331&sr=1-54&keywords=turntable

SCompRacer

gdb wrote: »

Probably just hopelessly romanticizing over utter obsolescence !! :cheesygrin:

There is no hopelessness with a romanced idler drive. Now a steady state speed belt drive, there is hopeless.:cheesygrin:

gdb

Several of my mowing machines utilize idlers WITH the belts ! Best of both technologies, a little rumbling, though!

pglbook

Thanks for all of your feedback. I had not thought of going the new route but it sems like there are some nice new tts being made at reasonable prices so I will look into that. I will be patient and either try to find a nice vintage tt (like a Thorens) locally or will buy a new one. Thanks again.

mhardy6647

gdb wrote: »

Probably just hopelessly romanticizing over utter obsolescence !! :cheesygrin:

duuuuuuude... all it needs is an electromagnet cartridge, like this Garrard :-)
(the tt and the cartridge are Dave Slagle's - probably not too surprising... www.intactaudio.com )

gdb

I still have my original Discwasher, like the one pictured next to the dinosaur ! :razz:That long tonearm is even more minimalist looking than the AR's are , cool ! Love that external wiring too !:cheesygrin:

SCompRacer

pglbook wrote: »

I like the vintage Thorens and Yamahas (YP D8 or YP D10) but those may be out of my budget.

I had a YP-D10. I sold it to a good friend who had records but didn't have a table. It was in my basement system and it was too much of a distraction down there anyway. It is a most impressive table. The arm had adjustable VTA. Very heavy, wood plinth, quartz lock, it pulled like 11 or 12 watts. Sadly the YP-D10 is scarce and folks ask a high price for them.

Just some brief history on the idler drives. Once upon a time you had 78RPM records with around 11 grams of stylus pressure. You needed torque to maintain speed (and idlers were expensive to manufacture). Then LP's came out requiring less stylus pressure. Serious audio folk bought them belt drives and realized something was missing and returned to the idler drives. They didn't slow down in difficult passages. You have to remember that many of them idlers were sold without plinths which required the dealer or end user to supply. As a result, some poor plinths were made for them. Audio types then drove up the price of the idlers.

Jean Nantais took a look at the Swiss made Lenco and started a thread at Audiogon "Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot." (Not my spelling error, actual title). Then the Lenco's became desirable and it is hard to find a bargain even on a beater table. Plinths of Baltic Birch or MDF are cheap to make and popular. End result is folks end up with a much higher quality turntable than buying retail.

Here is a forum devoted the Lenco.

http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php

This is a worldwide member forum. Many of them do not have a great deal of money to spend so you see the OEM arms repaired for use. Many use the OEM plinth and do not trim the top plates or use the stainless steel replacement top plates made. You also see extreme builds that can mount ANY arm or cartridge made. If one is interested in old tables of any type do some research first to see what it takes in effort/expense.

SCompRacer

Speaking of shipping turntables.......I had a direct drive here to repair for a forum member. I needed speed control innards and bought a decent used table for parts. I tactfully asked if the platter was going to be removed for shipping and got a terse reply "I know how to ship turntables....." He ended up adjusting the price for me as the tone arm was wrecked and dust cover cracked.

mhardy6647

gdb wrote: »

I still have my original Discwasher, like the one pictured next to the dinosaur ! :razz:That long tonearm is even more minimalist looking than the AR's are , cool ! Love that external wiring too !:cheesygrin:

The extra, external wires on the Thomas Schick arm are for the cartridge's electromagnet :-)

PolkieMan

unbelievable! they walk among us, they drive cars on the highways next to us, they have jobs

SCompRacer wrote: »

Speaking of shipping turntables.......I had a direct drive here to repair for a forum member. I needed speed control innards and bought a decent used table for parts. I tactfully asked if the platter was going to be removed for shipping and got a terse reply "I know how to ship turntables....." He ended up adjusting the price for me as the tone arm was wrecked and dust cover cracked.

gdb

(Idler Organ) :cheesygrin:

mhardy6647

"As much as it rubs against my smug audiophile self" (to quote a blurb in an old, old Warehouse Sound catalog)... the ol' Technics tts with big ol' chrome-plated S-shaped arms were well built and rugged record players that, equipped with an empathetic cartridge, will provide very good "vinyl" reproduction for a long, long time with minimal fuss and bother. The current resurgence of interest in licorice pizzas has driven the price up somewhat, but there are still good values to be found. Turntables are subject to wear and tear (even when not used in clubs by DJs) so caveat emptor but also (as Pasteur said) "Chance favors the prepared mind".

pglbook

Thanks, mhardy. I agree that the vintage Technics are nice sounding turntables and built rock solid. They often get overlooked by audiophiles because of the SL 1200 MK II dj craze. But, other than that model, what would be some of the better vintage Technics turntables I should look for? I do like the SL 1200 MK II but the problems are that it is nearly imposssible to find one that has not been abused by a dj and they are way overpriced in my opinion.

I'd appreciate some tips on some other nice vintage Technics models to look for.

Thanks.

mhardy6647

I never would've said a good word about them in my first incarnation as an "audiophile"... but I have learned a lot since then and have a more objective (not to mention empirical) point of view.

For the Technics, hard to go wrong as far as I am concerned. At the low end of the price range, the SL-D2 or SL-Q2 are dandy. My daily driver is now an SL-Q2 that I found on the swap pile at our town dump :-) It does a very good job equipped with a Denon DL-103 LOMC cartridge.

JVC and Denon (and even Sansui) also have made some fabulous turntables over the years, FYI. Gotta go to their higher-end wares, though.

rtart

You may want to try your local Craigslist for a Technics SL1200. I see a few now and then being sold by a DJ wannabe. Some have been thrashed, but I've bought a couple that were decent. The good news is that you can buy any part for them.

This way you can see it before you buy, no shipping or packing, and usually room to negotiate price.

Can't beat the SL1200 for the price, some may only be a couple of years old, and lots of aftermarket mods available to tweak it up.

snow

I have a JVC-QLY5F that I would sell for $350.00 but shipping this monster will not be cheap, the good thing is I know how to pack, if interested I will post some pics and a video of it playing, it is in very good condition the dustcover has the usual assortment of scratches etc but the rest is almost mint.

REGARDS SNOW