first TT

sophie

i am looking at buying my first turn table sometime this winter. i am only 16 so i have no clue about any of this stuff. it seams that everyone is jumping onto the vinyl thing so i should to:rolleyes:. i have a phono built into my preamp so i wont need that but otherwise im kinda confused about what i need. will someone help me out? iv got about $400 to make this work.

Payton

hearingimpared

Rega, Pro-ject, Music Hall and several others have entry level TTs. Several members have purchased new entry level tables. Use the search feature and I think you will find all the info you may need. October's Stereophile and The Absolute Sound have their favorites listed.

I like VPI tables myself and if you can get a HW 19 locally, you can't go wrong with a VPI.

cmy330go

Joe is right. All those companies put out great products.

I personally chose the Music Hall MMF-2.1 when I was shopping for a budget table for the Home Theater system. What set the 2.1 apart for me was that it is the only table in that price range to offer a fully adjustable tonearm.

If you happen to decide on a Music Hall be sure to give Stephen a call at Quest for Sound in Bensalem, PA. I've purchased 4 Music Hall tables from him and have yet to find a better price or service. You won't find a better person to deal with.

BTW. (I may have asked you this before) Where in Iowa are you located?

hearingimpared

cmy330go wrote: »

Joe is right. All those companies put out great products.

I personally chose the Music Hall MMF-2.1 when I was shopping for a budget table for the Home Theater system. What set the 2.1 apart for me was that it is the only table in that price range to offer a fully adjustable tonearm.

If you happen to decide on a Music Hall be sure to give Stephen a call at Quest for Sound in Bensalem, PA. I've purchased 4 Music Hall tables from him and have yet to find a better price or service. You won't find a better person to deal with.

BTW. (I may have asked you this before) Where in Iowa are you located?

Phil, Billy and I were at Stephen's place today for his show. Great gear, great music, great time.

BTW Steve had an MMF 5.1 sounded awesome. It had some real old Ella Fitzgerald playing on it . . . very quiet, very smoooooth.

danger boy

Payton, you should see if there is someone that lives close to you that you can listen to their turntable.. while I enjoy vinyl on occasion, it's still not my main type of music I listen to. CD's still have a lot of great things about them.

What is you get a turntable and realize it's not what you thought it would be like. That's the only reason it would be great if you could listen to someone's turntable first. I'm not trying to talk you out of getting one. they are tons of fun.. but they are not the be all to end all. Plus not a lot of current music is released on vinyl all the time.

Some albums can cost a lot of money.. like $20, $30, $40 and on up. depending on how rare it is and if it's heavy weight vinyl.

if you are interested in a turntable though.. the guys in here will be invaluable for info.

strider

I'd also suggest listening to someone else's vinyl rig before dropping money on something. My Pro-ject cost about $300 when I bought it in March; with all the accessories that are "must haves" when doing the vinyl thing, I spent over $700. I've had a turntable for a few years before, I knew that I liked the format. After living with the Pro-ject, I wish I had saved my money a bit longer and gotten something higher up the food chain. If you don't have someone else's rig to listen to, maybe try to find a table for $100, buy some albums from Goodwill, go from there. If you find yourself concentrating on that great tone vinyl has instead of the slight hiss and occasional tick, then start budgeting money for something decent.

TroyD

Second the Music Hall MMF5. A clear step above an entry level table and within your price range. I had one and loved it.

BDT

hearingimpared

danger boy wrote: »

Payton, you should see if there is someone that lives close to you that you can listen to their turntable.. while I enjoy vinyl on occasion, it's still not my main type of music I listen to. CD's still have a lot of great things about them.

What is you get a turntable and realize it's not what you thought it would be like. That's the only reason it would be great if you could listen to someone's turntable first. I'm not trying to talk you out of getting one. they are tons of fun.. but they are not the be all to end all. Plus not a lot of current music is released on vinyl all the time.

Some albums can cost a lot of money.. like $20, $30, $40 and on up. depending on how rare it is and if it's heavy weight vinyl.

if you are interested in a turntable though.. the guys in here will be invaluable for info.

shuuuush you will scare the little squirrel away. I'm holding a little piece of bread and any quick moves will scare the poor little fella.

mhardy6647

I couldn't in good conscience recommend any of the sub-$1k turntables mentioned so far :-( Wish I could, as the prospect of dropping $1.5k or so on a replacement for my rather modest b&o TX-2 when the time comes isn't appealing, but today's entry level stuff just isn't great (my NSHO, of course).

There is one possible exception, albeit one cut from very different cloth than the Regas, Music Halls, and Pro-Jects: the venerable Technics SL-1200II and its relatives. Dollar for dollar, it would be hard to beat. If the prospect of a direct drive tt with a fairly heavy arm (good for a moving coil cartridge) and built like a tank is attractive, I'd suggest considering the KAB version: http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/m1200.htm

http://kabusa.com/economics.htm

cmy330go

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I couldn't in good conscience recommend any of the sub-$1k turntables mentioned so far :-( Wish I could, as the prospect of dropping $1.5k or so on a replacement for my rather modest b&o TX-2 when the time comes isn't appealing, but today's entry level stuff just isn't great (my NSHO, of course).

There is one possible exception, albeit one cut from very different cloth than the Regas, Music Halls, and Pro-Jects: the venerable Technics SL-1200II and its relatives. Dollar for dollar, it would be hard to beat. If the prospect of a direct drive tt with a fairly heavy arm (good for a moving coil cartridge) and built like a tank is attractive, I'd suggest considering the KAB version: http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/m1200.htm

http://kabusa.com/economics.htm

Am I understanding this correctly? You would actually recommend a hopped up 1200 over the tables we've mentioned so far?

bikezappa

Listen to a TT before you buy.

Just because others have jumped on the wagon doesn't mean it's for you.

billbillw

Peyton,
At 16 years old, looking for a first turntable, I'd have to say find a used Technics SL-1200Mk2 (or Mk3/4/5) locally and spend up to $250 for it if its clean. They are super easy to setup and they are tough. If something breaks, parts are cheap to replace (compared to most others anyway) Besides, if you decide that vinyl is not for you, there is always a strong market for the venerable SL-1200 and you will probably be able to sell it for the same price. It may not sound quite as good as some of the other contenders, but its close enough for you to decide if vinyl is for you or not.

mhardy6647

Am I understanding this correctly? You would actually recommend a hopped up 1200 over the tables we've mentioned so far?

yup... and I am not a fan of direct drive or heavy S-shaped tonearms... but the affordable stuff from Music Hall and Pro-ject is just not terribly well executed. A Rega P3 might be OK, but not the cheaper Rega offerings. None of the aforementioned triumverate is particularly robust nor particularly easy to set up... I wouldn't consider them to be good values. A VPI Scout or the Marantz TT-15S1/Clearaudio Emotion is a pretty nice alternative, but significantly more expensive.

Dollar for dollar (as I said) the venerable SL-1200 family would be hard to beat for a newbie. It will work out of the box and play music for a long, long time without costing very much to own or to maintain. The KAB extras, if desired, should raise the overall performance significantly (albeit for more investment)

Actually the OP would probably be best off to buy a used tt in decent condition locally.

sophie

here is what i am looking at...
1) http://www.questforsound.com/analog/analog_musicHallMMF21.htm
1.5) http://hcmaudio.com/comp.asp?compID=136
2)http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=REGAP01&Category_Code=TURN
3)http://www.questforsound.com/analog/analog_teacP988.htm
4)http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1198858507 what is shipping on something like this?

what ones are the better ones out of these.

Payton

speakergeek

I have to vote for the Project Debut TT. I have one and have really been ejoying it. It's far better than you'd expect at the price. Definitely a good TT.

hearingimpared

sophie wrote: »

here is what i am looking at...
1) http://www.questforsound.com/analog/analog_musicHallMMF21.htm
1.5) http://hcmaudio.com/comp.asp?compID=136
2)http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=REGAP01&Category_Code=TURN
3)http://www.questforsound.com/analog/analog_teacP988.htm
4)http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1198858507 what is shipping on something like this?

what ones are the better ones out of these.

Payton

I was looking at your list here and I see you are considering a used table. May I suggest that you don't buy a used table unless you can pick it up. Getting used TTs shipped by anyone but a dealer is risky business at best.

TroyD

Disagree in regards to the Music Hall MMF-5. It's as plug and play as you can get so, how it's difficult to set up is a mystery to me. The most difficult part is putting the belt on. As for it's sound, while clearly not reference.....it's certainly very musical and very enjoyable to listen to.

In regards the the Technics, I don't know. Never heard one. It may well be the exception to the rule in regards to direct drive tables. However, most of the ones I've seen...once you figure in the new cartridge, puts you above the target price range. YMMV.

BDT

strider

Check out Music Direct's demo page. There's a Debut III in Kawasaki green for $265 here. I purchased my table through them, as well as a number of other things over the years.

sophie

so are the project III's better than the music hall 2.1?

mhardy6647

This thread at audioasylum might be of interest to the OP.
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/70/700551.html

There's a lot of value to be had buying used as well, but also a lot of risk. Hearingimpaired's advice is bang on:

May I suggest that you don't buy a used table unless you can pick it up. Getting used TTs shipped by anyone but a dealer is risky business at best.

EDIT: TroyD makes a good point. The MMF-5 wouldn't be a bad choice, but it's not inexpensive. I don't know much about current Goldring cartridges.
http://www.musicdirect.com/product/73928

speakergeek

sophie wrote: »

so are the project III's better than the music hall 2.1?

I'd say equivalent...

sophie

ok i think im going with the 2.1 then...last chance to speak up if you think there is something better in that price(like the project).

cmy330go

Out of the box I would say the music hall and the project are on par with each other. However down the road if you decide to try other cartridges you will be able to better adjust the music hall's tonearm to fit any cartridge you buy.

treitz3

The music Hall MMF-5 is a nice sounding table with the Goldring cartridge. It is clearly a step up from the Rega P1 [at least in my rig] and provides a nice well rounded, pleasing to the ear sound with a surprisingly low amount of snap,crackle and pop even on albums that are not in pristine condition.

That's all I can offer because I just recently reintroduced vinyl into my rig after a 2 decade lapse. I'm glad I reintroduced vinyl, for the sound and for the fact I added about 300 some odd albums to my collection that I haven't been able to listen to for a long, long time.

There's something about vinyl that just sounds damn good.

sophie

well now i dont know what i am doing...i wanted the 2.1 from music direct that was $309 but someone els got it whale i was trying to talk my dad into letting me get it.

cmy330go

sophie wrote: »

well now i dont know what i am doing...i wanted the 2.1 from music direct that was $309 but someone els got it whale i was trying to talk my dad into letting me get it.

Did you give Stephen a call at Quest for Sound? I bought my 2.1 from him about a year ago for around $285. Maybe the price has gone up since then. I'll try calling him tomorrow to see if I can get you a price quoted.

hearingimpared

cmy330go wrote: »

Did you give Stephen a call at Quest for Sound? I bought my 2.1 from him about a year ago for around $285. Maybe the price has gone up since then. I'll try calling him tomorrow to see if I can get you a price quoted.

I second that idea!

sophie

no it is 350 on the website but i may give him a call ofter school. im kinda a shy person who doesn't like talking on the phone.

cmy330go

sophie wrote: »

no it is 350 on the website but i may give him a call ofter school. im kinda a shy person who doesn't like talking on the phone.

Many places list regular retail prices on their websites.

Don't sweat it. I'll give him a call and get you a price.

hypertone

Pick up an old Thorens or Dual, you can get them in good shape for $100-150. Invest the rest in vinyl and maybe a new cartridge or stylus, depending what the TT comes with. What kind of music are you into? I've found some good 80's and classic rock LP's at local thrift shops, although most of the records I've come across would not even be cool enough for my dad to buy, lol.

hockeyboy

While many people love vinyl, I would not recommend a 16 year old pouring money into it unless you are sure. Spend your money on an IPod and dock!