turntable output of 5mV, is that good or ?

danger boy

I'm looking at a Sansui SR-3030bc turntable for sale locally.. and from what I've read it's output voltage is 5mVolts is that low, average or real good for a TT?

I don't know what to offer the guy.. he says it's in really good condition. Turntable prices are all over the place right now.

billbillw

Output voltage is dictated by the cartridge, not the turntable itself. The spec you are seeing is based on the original cartridge, which it may not have anymore.

FYI: the output voltage is really of no consequence except to match your phono stage. Most Moving Magnet sections are designed for output voltage somewhere in the range of 2.0mv-5.0mv. Anything in that range will give you the proper gain.

That turntable is nothing special from what I can tell. Its probably not worth much at all unless it has a good cartridge mounted (with a stylus that is still good). It will probably need a new belt and some work on cleaning/lubing the bearing.

These are generally the type of turntable that people get for free or maybe pay $10 for a garage sale. They almost always need a new cartridge (figure at least $65 for a Shure M97xe) and a belt ($20+ from several sources). Decide if its worth it.

Look around and you'd probably find an entry level Technics direct drive for less money that would probably be much better overall.

danger boy

billbillw,
thanks for the info.. yeah from what i have be able to find on the internet about this table is that is appears to be one of the lower end tables that Sansui built. not the botl of course.. but nothing special.

the guy said it's in really good condition. but i'm looking for something a bit higher up on the food chain. so i'm going to pass on it.

thanks, al

billbillw

Take a look at these:
http://spokane.craigslist.org/ele/449279092.html

That's a real good price on two of those. Most likely, they are the Mk2 or higher version of the table. Around Atlanta, those sell for at least $250 EACH!

Very good starter turntable and many find them to be more than enough to satisfy in the long run. Pick the best parts off each and make the best table, then put a good Shure M97xe on one, sell the other, and you will have a more than adequate turntable.

I can almost guarantee that if my first table was an SL-1200 mk2, I probably would have never upgraded to anything else. They are that nice. See what www.KABUSA.com has to say about them.

danger boy wrote: »

billbillw,
thanks for the info.. yeah from what i have be able to find on the internet about this table is that is appears to be one of the lower end tables that Sansui built. not the botl of course.. but nothing special.

the guy said it's in really good condition. but i'm looking for something a bit higher up on the food chain. so i'm going to pass on it.

thanks, al

danger boy

billbillw, i passed on the Sansui SR-3030BC turntable.. after reading about it on the net and seeing some pics. it didn't really make me swoon.. :eek:

i have a TT already.. but trolling around for other used stereo gear is to much fun not to at least check it out.

danger boy

billbillw wrote: »

Take a look at these:
http://spokane.craigslist.org/ele/449279092.html

That's a real good price on two of those. Most likely, they are the Mk2 or higher version of the table. Around Atlanta, those sell for at least $250 EACH!

Very good starter turntable and many find them to be more than enough to satisfy in the long run. Pick the best parts off each and make the best table, then put a good Shure M97xe on one, sell the other, and you will have a more than adequate turntable.

I can almost guarantee that if my first table was an SL-1200 mk2, I probably would have never upgraded to anything else. They are that nice. See what www.KABUSA.com has to say about them.

I assumed that on those two turntables since they also came with a mixer, that they were used by a DJ, and may be in less than good condition. I could be wrong though.. i wish more sellers would post pictures of their for sale items.

bikerboy

Keep your eyes open and dont pick up an old one with an old cartridge. The old cart can sound very bad.

billbillw

danger boy wrote: »

I assumed that on those two turntables since they also came with a mixer, that they were used by a DJ, and may be in less than good condition. I could be wrong though.. i wish more sellers would post pictures of their for sale items.

Most small-time DJs treat their gear pretty good because they can't afford to replace them. Doesn't matter anyway because the SL-1200s are built like tanks compared to most tables. The main thing to check out is whether the tonearm bearings are in good shape and make sure the main spindle bearing doesn't have any noise or wobble. One of the best things about the Sl-1200, is that the replacement parts are dirt cheap! You can replace a whole tonearm for $59 bucks, a dustcover is like $40, the main spindle/bearing is only $29,...you get the point.

I've seen many of these for sale by "wanna-be" DJs who go buy a bunch of gear and just fool around with them at home. Many have never seen a club. For the price, they are worth checking out. You'll be able to tell by looking if they were hard core DJ club tables.

oldervinyl

I actually own a Technics SL-QX300, and am trying to connect it directly to a sound card in my PC. I am missing output voltage and impedance specs for the TT, and am not having much success in tracking that info down.

I came across this post, which enlightened me to the fact that the cartridge determines the output, which, in my case is an Audio Technica AT400LC/U. The AT site doesn't appear to have anything on this, and I am wondering if I can get help being pointed in the right direction.

Polkersince85

Get a cheap phono preamp to plug the table into and then the preamp into the soundcard. The sound card is probably looking for around 1.5V Sensitivity. You need the preamp to boost the cart output to match the soundcard. Or find an old receiver with a phono input and feed the tape out to the soundcard. You can upgrade from there. It gets expensive quickly.

unc2701

@oldervinyl:

I'm pretty sure that's a MM cart, in which case, just get a cheap phono stage. 99% of the cheap ones will be set up for MM and it'll be plug & play.

If it's MC and your soundcard has a mic input, you can actually hook it to that, then do the RIAA eq in software. There are good and bad things about doing it this way- for your purposes the good would be nothing else to buy. Note that you can do the same with a MM cart, but you'll have to add some stuff to match the impedance between the cart and the microphone input.