See page 3 for the update and questions.



I understand this is a worm hole and very debatable, but... What a I looking for and why? I understand the belt-drive, direct-drive argument but what else? What is the best and why? What should I stay away from?

Eventually I would like to build a small tube amp but for now I have a Pioneer receiver with a phono source available.

My budget isn't high, but if I knew what I was looking for and found a deal, that would be great!

Thanks in advance. Pete

This message has been edited. Last edited by: petr,

I have a direct drive Technics 1200 MKII. It came to me off of Craigslist. It was well used with it's twin out of a dive bar that formerly used it for playing music on Jell-O wrestling night. No, I'm not kidding.

I cleaned both well to remove the nicotine stains, replaced the RCA cables and the bulbs, mats and covers and sold one to offset the costs. I put an Ortofon Red cartridge on the one I kept.

Can't say it is the best turntable going, but there are a lot of 1200's out there, parts are available and it was a fun project to clean them up and put them back in service.

I could probably have spent less, but I DEFINATELY could have spent thousands and thousands more.

My ears aren't the best, but the audio quality through my vintage Harmon Kardon receiver impresses the people I play vinyl for.

My 1200 replaced a really nice Bang & Olufsen that sounded great but the suspension in the cartridge took a dump. B&O cartridges were proprietary and EXPENSIVE. So, it now sits in the basement doing nothing.

Direct drive vs Belt Drive is irrelevant.
On low end TT's DD is used as an upgrade.
On better TT's BD is used because of vibration isolation.
S shaped arms like Technics are more durable but less precise.
Straight tonearms are more precise and use a more delicate phono cartridge and generally what someone with more discriminating taste aka audiophiles.
How you place it on the platter can be manual ~ you set it down and pick it up, semi-automatic ~ you set it on and it returns automatically when done, fully-auto ~ auto start and finish and changer where you {uhg} stack em.
The stack em is only on the cheapies.
The higher end ones may or not be fully auto.
and then ... you need the most important part >>> the cartridge itself.

Just got a new one myself. Did a lot of research and settled on one from Audio-Technica. It was just $250, but rated high in lots of different reviews. I think it’s great. If you want to know more, let me know, if you’re looking to spend more, good luck.

I bought my jazz musician son a U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus a couple years ago. Manufactured in the US with US sourced materials. I got it with the built in pre-amp and cue lever. It's excellent for the price. Belt driven, manual, and very quiet.

https://uturnaudio.com/pages/turntables

OK. So that brings up another question of cartridges. Is there a list of tonal qualities of specific ones? Are other turntables like the Bang and Olufsen that are propietary?

I have been looking at Technics and Pioneer belt drives. Should I look else where? I realize that some others are "better", but why? I see some brands going for $500 to upwards of $1000+. What makes them better? Are newer ones superior to vintage? TMats, why did you choose the Audio-Technica? By reviews only or what were you looking for in a turntable?

If money was no object, what would y'all get?

I have a 70's era Pioneer PL 540 and a new Rega P2. Both are very good but I would choose the Pioneer every time, mostly because of it being semi automatic but also the ability to easily change the cartridge. 2 nice cartridges for the money are the Ortofon 2m red and blue. They cover a wide range of music types very well, in my opinion.

I bought the LP120XUSB. Repeating, I did quite a bit of research and listened to YT videos from several audiophiles on turntables. This one came up again and again. The stylus cartridge seems very good to me, but the YT vids pointed out that the cartridge is upgradable—you can pretty much spend as much as you want. For the money, it can’t be beat: dust cover, cueing lever, and light which aids in cueing, aluminum turntable (many in lower price ranges have plastic).

The turntable this replaced was a POS and it was very little less money.
In my mind, money is always an object.

quote:

I have been looking at Technics and Pioneer belt drives. Should I look else where?

Find an old DUAL TT put in a decent cartridge.

Buy a 1200, used. They are tanks. You can replace anything that needs to be (usually RCA's, ground, and/or light) yourself or pay an electronics shop to do it. Buy an Ortofon and done. It will last you the rest of your life.

As for me I am spinning one right now.

I was able to find one in Germany that mounted to the wall and can transmit Bluetooth.

Another worm hole is would you want the 180 grain, picture disc, personal archives, etc...

Along the same topic, how long should a needle last given normal play...say a few hours/week? I haven't changed mine in years, but also rarely use my turntable these days.

I have very little experience with turntables but my fiance has a bunch of vinyl and enjoys listening to them about once a week. Her old turntable died earlier last year so after a fair bit of research for her birthday I bought her a Fluance RT82 and a pair of Edifier speakers and a U-Turn preamp. It's a nice turntable.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
Along the same topic, how long should a needle last given normal play...say a few hours/week? I haven't changed mine in years, but also rarely use my turntable these days.

Get a magnifying glass. The needle, is well a needle. You check it by sight if it needs to be replaced or not. It comes new, longer, and when it’s time to go it’s very very short.

Get two...and a microphone.

Thanks for the input. I'll keep my eyes out and do some more research.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
Along the same topic, how long should a needle last given normal play...say a few hours/week? I haven't changed mine in years, but also rarely use my turntable these days.

Many variables at play here (alignment, tracking weight, etc.). You'll know when the stylus is worn, because the highs start degrading and you're aware of a slight blurring of the sound that no amount of cleaning will remove. I have had cartridge styli last well over a decade.

I have an ExtremePhono stylus cleaner along with a DIY Magic Eraser cleaner to keep my Denon moving coil cartridge styli free of any build up.
https://forum.audiogon.com/dis...-cleaning-magic-long
http://high-endaudio.com/Magic.html

My Denon DL-304 in an Orsonic AV-1S headshell



FWIW I'm using a highly modified vintage The AR Turntable. Here with a Denon DL-103D in a Sumiko HS-12 headshell.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

I have been looking at Technics and Pioneer belt drives. Should I look else where?

Find an old DUAL TT put in a decent cartridge.

+ whatever for DUAL,

I have a 1259 belt drive and a CS608 direct,

great turntables

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
Along the same topic, how long should a needle last given normal play...say a few hours/week? I haven't changed mine in years, but also rarely use my turntable these days.

Many variables at play here (alignment, tracking weight, etc.). You'll know when the stylus is worn, because the highs start degrading and you're aware of a slight blurring of the sound that no amount of cleaning will remove. I have had cartridge styli last well over a decade.

I have an ExtremePhono stylus cleaner along with a DIY Magic Eraser cleaner to keep my Denon moving coil cartridge styli free of any build up.
https://forum.audiogon.com/dis...-cleaning-magic-long
http://high-endaudio.com/Magic.html

My Denon DL-304 in an Orsonic AV-1S headshell



FWIW I'm using a highly modified vintage The AR Turntable. Here with a Denon DL-103D in a Sumiko HS-12 headshell.

wow.

have not seen a AR turntable in decades,

nice!!

I remember going to HiFi shows in the late 70s and seeing the Dual turntable displays where they were touting their full gimbal mount tonearms.
There would be a turntable hanging upside down and playing an album.

Haven't thought about this in years.