Find me a starter turntable!

Tony M

I agree with the above choices too.

I bought an older plain TCC phono pre from a member here years ago and it's been a great one for me for the price. The gain dial developed static after many many years. A squirt of de-oxit cleared it right up.

Here's another newer one with an extra aux. input.
Cheap enough price though.
https://www.amazon.com/TC-753LC-SILVER-Phono-Preamp-Control/dp/B004RYS35E/ref=lp_3265758011_1_22?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1582149595&sr=1-22

msg

I just wanted to say real quick. as long as you're not looking for profound audio quality, you don't need a lot to get into vinyl. It truly is a lot of fun just spinning records and playing an active role in the listening process. And, yes, with already having a great collection of records to pull from, this will be a ton of fun.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't coming across as saying it's not worth it and not to bother if you don't make a huge investment. That's not what I mean to say. It just won't beat digital without that investment, so just be aware of what your expectations are, that's all.

mhardy6647

^^^ good advice right there!
The perfect is the enemy of the good.

I have never been an obsessive-compulsive rekkid playa kind of guy. I set things up to where they're supposed to be and listen.

jdjohn

msg wrote: »

I just wanted to say real quick. as long as you're not looking for profound audio quality, you don't need a lot to get into vinyl. It truly is a lot of fun just spinning records and playing an active role in the listening process. And, yes, with already having a great collection of records to pull from, this will be a ton of fun.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't coming across as saying it's not worth it and not to bother if you don't make a huge investment. That's not what I mean to say. It just won't beat digital without that investment, so just be aware of what your expectations are, that's all.

Scott, I'm no therapist, but I think what you meant to say is that you've been lazy lately, and are feeling guilty about neglecting your own vinyl situation, so you wanted to send some positive vibes here Have you mounted that Denon DL-301 on your SL-1200 yet...how about the AT-VM540ML???

Maybe if you quit chasing those Logitech SBTs, you could focus more on vinyl Gotcha

jdjohn

Speaking of economical MM phonostages, has anyone here ever tried one of these vintage Realistic/Radio Shack jobs?



Some folks mod them to run off 9V battery power.

Or, there is this successor unit that runs off 9V natively.

msg

HAAHAHAHAHAAA!
DAMmit, Jody! I got nuthin'!

So, you see, Rob, the lesson here is that digital is for the lazy. Only real men spin vinyl. Jody is the Clint Eastwood of vinyl. But Every Which Way But Loose Clint Eastwood, not Gran Torino Clint Eastwood. Be Clint Eastwood.

Right turn, Clyde

msg

jdjohn wrote: »

Speaking of economical MM phonostages, has anyone here ever tried one of these vintage Realistic/Radio Shack jobs?
Some folks mod them to run off 9V battery power.
Or, there is this successor unit that runs off 9V natively.

I vaguely recall reading at some point someone liking these. Can't remember where, though.

jdjohn

msg wrote: »

HAAHAHAHAHAAA!
DAMmit, Jody! I got nuthin'!

So, you see, Rob, the lesson here is that digital is for the lazy. Only real men spin vinyl. Jody is the Clint Eastwood of vinyl. But Every Which Way But Loose Clint Eastwood, not Gran Torino Clint Eastwood. Be Clint Eastwood.

Right turn, Clyde

Too funny...but I think Dirty Harry says it best:

mhardy6647

jdjohn wrote: »

Speaking of economical MM phonostages, has anyone here ever tried one of these vintage Realistic/Radio Shack jobs?



Some folks mod them to run off 9V battery power.

Or, there is this successor unit that runs off 9V natively.

Why -- there's a Radio Shack add on phono preamp sittin' on the shelf not a dozen feet from where I am typing this
They're OK -- but only OK. There are folks on eBAY who twiddle them just a tiny bit and sell them for stoopit money. Don't buy one of those, 'K?

There are so, so many modern choices that are so good -- unless one stumbles across one of the Radio Shack preamps free or cheap at a yard sale or fleamarket, I really wouldn't bother (were it me).

FWIW, of course.

msg

^^^ That might be what I thunk I was (mis)remembering.

audioluvr

So I was told that the stylus is an LP Gear stylus. No idea what that means.

dromunds

LP Gear is a seller of cartridges, styluses, turntables, etc. They used to sell a Shure stylus for the M91ED, but it is discontinued. I don't know how long the Shure stylus has been discontinued, but its most likely the LP Gear replacement stylus which is made by a Japanese company and is also apparently an elliptical diamond. There is also an upgraded LP Gear stylus so its possible it is that stylus. There is a "JICO SAS" stylus also available, which is the holy grail stylus for that cart, but its a $200 stylus.

dromunds

JDJohn (or anybody else): Do you know whether a stylus from a Shure m97Xe would fit in the M91ED cartridge? I have a spare used stylus laying around from a m97Xe that I had many moons ago, and if it fits perhaps it would be superior to the LP Gear replacement cart for the M91ED? I'd have to look to make sure, but I believe the M97Xe stylus is a Shure stylus that came with the cart.

jdjohn

Probably the bonded elliptical, which is fine for starting out. But then there's that rabbit hole...

jdjohn

dromunds wrote: »

JDJohn (or anybody else): Do you know whether a stylus from a Shure m97Xe would fit in the M91ED cartridge? I have a spare used stylus laying around from a m97Xe that I had many moons ago, and if it fits perhaps it would be superior to the LP Gear replacement cart for the M91ED? I'd have to look to make sure, but I believe the M97Xe stylus is a Shure stylus that came with the cart.

I think the cartridge bodies are too different in shape and size for the M97xe stylus to fit the M91ED. The diameter of the shafts that go into the cartridge body are likely different sizes as well. The M97xe stylus is a bonded elliptical, so not much gained there. However, I think the cantilever on the 97 is probably superior.

jdjohn

@dromunds I tried tonight to put an M97xe stylus on an M91ED body, and it's a no-go. The wider plastic part on top of the 91 body gets in the way.

audioluvr

jdjohn wrote: »

@dromunds I tried tonight to put an M97xe stylus on an M91ED body, and it's a no-go. The wider plastic part on top of the 91 body gets in the way.

Duct tape? J B Weld? Come on surely no one has ever thought of this???

jdjohn

Haha...more like surgery, and removing some material. Folks do that sometimes, but normally when trying to fit a cheaper stylus onto a rare cart with hard-to-find replacement stylii.

mhardy6647

People do all kinds of weird things in the cartridge-stylus space nowadays

Perosnal fave -- replacing the "non-user-replaceable" styli in some Clearaudio cartridges with cheap A-T replacement styli -- and some pruning.

I have one of those CA cartridges ("Virtuoso Ebony" ) -- not worth the effort, IMO.
(and the stylus in mine is still fine; didn't get much use on my watch as it was pretty unremarkable sounding, particularly at its ostensible "MSRP").

dromunds

jdjohn wrote: »

@dromunds I tried tonight to put an M97xe stylus on an M91ED body, and it's a no-go. The wider plastic part on top of the 91 body gets in the way.

Thanks for looking into that, jdjohn. I know some Shure stylus's slide right into carts of another iteration, same thing with a Goldring 1012 cart I have - you can insert stylus's from up the line into the 1012 cart body - and I think also with Nagaoka, but it doesn't always work as in this case and so I'm glad you looked into it. I figured I had the stylus from the M97xe sitting around and I'd contribute it for the good of the order, but not worth trying to prune and pry.

jdjohn

This is a borrowed pic, but I added the arrow to show where the conflict occurs.

The M97xe stylus "does not pass go" right there, so some shaving down that line would be necessary on the M91ED body.

That type of surgery does not bother some folks at all. They get out their Dremels and go to town.

A lot of AT (and Signet) carts have interchangeable stylii, which can be very handy if you acquire a collection of them for mixing and matching. I fall into that category

To give an example of my earlier comment about cheap stlyii on rare carts is the Grace F9. Original F9 stylus are like hen's teeth, and uber expensive, so owners are always looking for compatible stylus. I have a couple of Pioneer PN-400 stylus that will fit on the F9. But...I like the Soundsmith replacements much better

mhardy6647

jdjohn wrote: »

...
That type of surgery does not bother some folks at all. They get out their Dremels and go to town.
...

yup, the same kind of folks who denude their DL-103 LOMCs


(borrowed image)

I'd have to stop drinking coffee for a week before tackling any of these gambits!

I did do dustcapectomies on a pair of R/S 40-1354 twincones to install phase plugs on em, though -- but not until I had a fair stash of backup drivers in case anything went wrong!

DSCN5289 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

The phase plug's kinda sorta visible in the old photo above

audioluvr

So I just got a lead on a very nice Harman Kardon T65C near me. Owner seems like a legitimate audiophile. Anyone have any experience with these?

jdjohn

No direct experience, but looks like a very nice design. Quartz-lock, belt-drive with a suspended sub-chassis a la Acoustic Research, Linn, Thorens, et al. The tonearm is low mass, so will like a high-compliance cartridge, and there is a very unique capacitance-setting feature on the tonearm...I've never seen or heard of that before. Tonearm height is adjustable, and has auto-lift at the end of the record.

It has a lot going for it!

TroyD

Ok, I'll cop to not having read through all the posts....

So, when it comes to turntables.....I would avoid vintage tables. A LOT of garbage out there and with cartridges of unknown pedigree....I wouldn't even waste my time for the most part (I'm talking mass produced Pioneer, Techniques etc etc...)

You can pick up a new entry level Rega, Fluance (the RT-85 looks like a solid table), Pro-ject etc for not a lot of coin that is going to give you very decent playback.......Some have phono stages, some don't. Pick up an older NAD PP2 for about 50 bucks and you are well on your way.

Also, don't forget clean vinyl. Get yourself....at a minimum.....a manual washer (dishwasher or some such) and a good brush (I like the hunt brush). If you are picking up used vinyl, I'd also get a handheld steamer (like a shark) the steam is GREAT for getting crap out of the grooves. You'd be surprised how a little (ok, it's a PITA) effort can reward you with decent results from vinyl that doesn't look so great...

audioluvr

I could get a brand new Audio Technica AT-LP1240 for about the same price but I'm leary about new Chinese mass produced anything. This was HK's TOTL table in '87 with a MSRP of $600. I don't know what that relates to in today's money but seems like a worthy component to try.

jdjohn

I would not hesitate on getting that HK if it checks-out well in-person. Troy is right that there are some cheaper tt's that have survived until today, and are still being sold out there, but that HK is not one of them. Even Pioneer and Technics made some VERY nice tt's that are still desirable today.

msg

jdjohn wrote: »

msg wrote: »

I just wanted to say real quick. as long as you're not looking for profound audio quality, you don't need a lot to get into vinyl. It truly is a lot of fun just spinning records and playing an active role in the listening process. And, yes, with already having a great collection of records to pull from, this will be a ton of fun.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't coming across as saying it's not worth it and not to bother if you don't make a huge investment. That's not what I mean to say. It just won't beat digital without that investment, so just be aware of what your expectations are, that's all.

Scott, I'm no therapist, but I think what you meant to say is that you've been lazy lately, and are feeling guilty about neglecting your own vinyl situation, so you wanted to send some positive vibes here Have you mounted that Denon DL-301 on your SL-1200 yet...how about the AT-VM540ML???

Maybe if you quit chasing those Logitech SBTs, you could focus more on vinyl Gotcha

Still a valid burn in August of 2021, 1.5 years later.

tratliff

I would not discount vintage tables. I have a Denon that is rather fantastic along with a Pioneer. Although my VPI table is my goto.

The VPI:


The Denon:


And the Pioneer:

pitdogg2

Sweet kit Todd