You vinyl guys aren't BS'ing

hypertone

I've always thought of vinyl as sounding warm and present, but with alot of pops and crackles and fuzziness on the treble. I considered it to having good character, but with inherent flaws in the sound.

Well, I picked up an old TT last weekend and some records from a thrift store. I was very impressed with the sound, the imaging and tone was amazing, but there was still some harshness on the really dynamic passages. I read up on how to properly set the tonearm weight, and adjusted it the other night before bed, but never had a chance to listen until tonight. I'm completely amazed at how it sounds!! On a perfectly clean record with no scratches, there are no pops and crackles at all. The sound has an amazing presence to it with no harshness whatsoever. I picked up a mint Dire Straits Brothers in Arms and it is as noiseless as CD!

I'm happier than hell, especially considering my TT has a bugdet Audio Technica cartridge and I'm using the phono stage in an old Realistic reciever and running the tape monitor output to my amp. My pans are to get a new stylus for the Grado Mt+ I have lying around, and build the VSPS preamp schematic that is floating around on the net.

The TT I bought is a Pro-Linear At-1600. The name sounds kind of generic, but the quality looks good. It weighs at least 20 pounds and has a pretty decent looking arm with a pretty neat anti skating counterweight. I would say it's on par with a vintage Dual. I can't get it to skip even by jumping on the floor. It looks vintage, but the condition is brand new. Does anyone have any info on this table? I couldnt' find anything on google. I got it for $80.

Just wanted to rant a little. I can't wait to go hunt down some more vinyl. I get it now.

hearingimpared

Awesome man, how about some pictures.

treitz3

H.I's gonna have a hard on for the rest of the night.

Can't comment on anything for you but congrat's! Welcome to vinyl.

hearingimpared

treitz3 wrote: »

H.I's gonna have a hard on for the rest of the night.

Can't comment on anything for you but congrat's! Welcome to vinyl.

Speaking of no commenting what's with your vinyl rig? You can't just keep letting sit like a paper weight.

engtaz

Congrats on the enlightenment of sound.

engtaz

george daniel

Congrats,,carefull not to fall into the hole,,once you do,,you may never get out.:)

lightman1

george daniel wrote: »

Congrats,,carefull not to fall into the hole,,once you do,,you may never get out.:)

Eeeyep! no turnin' back.

reeltrouble1

cool beans, enjoying vinyl is one of the best things about the hobby, beats the crap out of some get nothing else download, at least as far as I am concerned. There is a ton of cheap vinyl out there at your local GW and thrift shops.

RT1

hale2thechief

Congrats on the TT, you're gonna love it. You can find loads of cheap vinyl at Half-Price Books (if you have them in your neck of the woods).

Beware the urge to acquire vintage gear...I'm about to get kicked out of my house.

treitz3

hearingimpared wrote: »

Speaking of no commenting what's with your vinyl rig? You can't just keep letting sit like a paper weight.

I know. My schedule and the seller's schedule do not exactly work together well and I'm having trouble making the damn thing run correctly.

I'll start a new thread.

hypertone

Here is the turntable and I also picked up this akai tape deck at the same time. I got the pair for $90. I have the dust cover as well, just need to adjust my rack. This table is pretty big.

hearingimpared

treitz3 wrote: »

I know. My schedule and the seller's schedule do not exactly work together well and I'm having trouble making the damn thing run correctly.

I'll start a new thread.

If you would stop picking on poor ole Chris Tucker you would have plenty of time!!!:D

hearingimpared

hypertone wrote: »

Here is the turntable and I also picked up this akai tape deck at the same time. I got the pair for $90. I have the dust cover as well, just need to adjust my rack. This table is pretty big.

Very nice man, I particularly like the tape deck. I use to love that old silver front with the analog meter movements.

I like that floating plinth on the TT also.

treitz3

I have time now, thanks to the powers that be!

Polkersince85

Nice setup for the money. What amazes me is the amount of good vinyl that is still out there. One of my local fishing holes had records at four for a dollar this past weekend. Got a bunch of good stuff. Let's see if we can still play CD's in 20-30-50 years from now.

LBrize

Several years ago (probably 10 or more now) I was introduced to the wonderful sound of records. I was able to compare, side by side, an LP with a CD, using the same amp, same speakers, same preamp, but with a $1000 Rotel CD player, and a turntable-I believe the turntable was around $3k, but nonetheless the point was proven.

I also read an article years ago about listener fatigue, where a bunch of groups were exposed to CDs, LPs, Tape, and then at the end of each session the group would report things like mood, tiredness, headaches...a bunch of stuff was looked at, and vinyl had the least fatigued audiences and reported feeling better overall after extended listening sessions.

Congratulations!

StephenEC

Welcome to the Other Side lolol

I have been collecting vinyl going on 37 plus Years. I still Love my Vinyl , except now, I do transfer some of My more Obscure stuff to digital format , and then play it from my PC to the 2 Channel system.

Also as a side note, You should check out a new Vinyl Release of ZZ Top's Tres Hombres on 180gram vinyl. . . It Sounds So Sweet !!

Cheers , Stephen

hearingimpared

StephenEC wrote: »

Welcome to the Other Side lolol

I have been collecting vinyl going on 37 plus Years. I still Love my Vinyl , except now, I do transfer some of My more Obscure stuff to digital format , and then play it from my PC to the 2 Channel system.

Also as a side note, You should check out a new Vinyl Release of ZZ Top's Tres Hombres on 180gram vinyl. . . It Sounds So Sweet !!

Cheers , Stephen

Got it and you are quite correct!

Fireman32

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl.

hypertone

I'm having a problem with harsh treble and distortion. It's especially bad on sibilants and loud passages. I think it is mistracking?? I've set the tracking weight and tried different settings, but it still has a harshness no matter what I try.

I think the cartridge is garbage and I want to order a new one. The Shure M97 seems to be really well regarded, should I get it or is there another one in the same price range I should consider? I'm just trying to figure out how to get it without the wife finding out. I already have a package with parts for a phono preamp coming next week. Maybe I could have the cartridge shipped to my workplace?

hearingimpared

The Shure M97 is a well received cart and for the money you can't beat it. I've seen it as low as $65 so if you hunt around you should be able to get a good deal.

hypertone

I tried a different record and it was way better, everything sounded great except for some sibilance. I think it's just Def Leppard Pyromania is a grainy recording. Can anyone confirm this? I downloaded some mp3's of the album a few months back and was listening in my car and couldn't get over the grainy digital sound of the vocals. I blamed it on the digital format, but I think it's the recording. The chorus and vocals just remind me of old school 8-bit sampler sound. Maybe they were using a digital fx unit back then?

wingnut4772

hypertone wrote: »

I tried a different record and it was way better, everything sounded great except for some sibilance. I think it's just Def Leppard Pyromania is a grainy recording. Can anyone confirm this? I downloaded some mp3's of the album a few months back and was listening in my car and couldn't get over the grainy digital sound of the vocals. I blamed it on the digital format, but I think it's the recording. The chorus and vocals just remind me of old school 8-bit sampler sound. Maybe they were using a digital fx unit back then?

That is very possible. I was going crazy with my system because of some crappy recordings. Especially Amy Winehouse's Back In Black. That's the absolute worst vinyl recording I have heard so far. It made me freak out.

mjhughes

Vinyl certainly helps you rediscover music. I got a cheap 1970's Pioneer earlier this year when I bought a new receiver that had a phono input, played my old records from 20 years ago and they sounded great. Since then I've got the hifi bug and bought a nice Rega TT and new CD player too. Now I can't even read a magazine when listening to music, the music is all to involving on it's own.

danger boy

hypertone wrote: »

I'm having a problem with harsh treble and distortion. It's especially bad on sibilants and loud passages. I think it is mistracking?? I've set the tracking weight and tried different settings, but it still has a harshness no matter what I try.

I think the cartridge is garbage and I want to order a new one. The Shure M97 seems to be really well regarded, should I get it or is there another one in the same price range I should consider? I'm just trying to figure out how to get it without the wife finding out. I already have a package with parts for a phono preamp coming next week. Maybe I could have the cartridge shipped to my workplace?

at the very least you need a new stylus... replacing the cartridge at the same time and the 4 tiny wire leads is a must do also.

hearingimpared

mjhughes wrote: »

Vinyl certainly helps you rediscover music. I got a cheap 1970's Pioneer earlier this year when I bought a new receiver that had a phono input, played my old records from 20 years ago and they sounded great. Since then I've got the hifi bug and bought a nice Rega TT and new CD player too. Now I can't even read a magazine when listening to music, the music is all to involving on it's own.

Very cool mate! I have trouble reading the LP covers I get so into the music.

danger boy

i don't think people should try and compare vinyl and CD's. it's just not in the same category to me. both are good formats with the right equipment respectively.

hypertone

I ordered an M97XE and the parts to build my phono pre arrived today.

hearingimpared

Cool! I've been researching whether or not I want to use a step-up transformer or a head amp ahead of my phono pre. Man I can get frazzled when I have to make a choice of components and there are so many to choose from. I'm thinking about a kit but with these old hands and eyes I am not feeling as confident as I once did when building things.

treitz3

Joe, if you want to get a kit there is an unmentioned forum member [me] that can build it for you.

After 2 decades, I finally got vinyl in my rig. There was a gentleman who posted "Welcome to the world of vinyl" if you scroll up. I think that's 4 CP members that have been introduced / reintroduced to vinyl recently. Welcome to the world of vinyl to all who have crossed into the darkside.

bikerboy

Joe,
The hagerman kit I just built last night sounds great. Up to 26 db of gain, adj loading. Easy build. Works great with the Clamp. Licorish pizza never sounded better. Peace and hair grease.