Do I REALLY need to buy a new turntable?

[djs259]

What ultimately steered me away from the AT LP 120 in favor of the Pyle Pro was the realization that, though the AT appears to be more substantial in terms of construction and design, in the end, it is also a cheap turntable with horrible wow and flutter specs (in the 0.20 % range), and that my main goal in purchasing another turntable is to be able to use a replaceable cartridge (like the Shure M97xE), as well as to gain control of tracking weight and anti-skate settings.

The Pyle Pro may indeed end up being a dog, but with an asking price of half that of the AT LP 120 and comparable specs I figure it's worth a shot to maybe try this first until I decide to get into the $400-plus range of turntables.

In any event, how much worse can it be than my current AIWA PX-E860 (which, again, doesn't sound all too bad) with it's wobbly platter and no user control?

I know that there are higher quality TTs available on the used market for the same or less but I am afraid to buy used given my current level of experience.

[Alec124c41]

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/2225387512.html
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/2224487063.html
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/2177783327.html
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/2177783327.html

1 page, Pittsburgh Craigslist.

Cheers,
Alec

[mdelrossi]

Damn I gots to get me to Pittsburg!!
We don't get much here in NYC. After wading through all of the jailbreak your iPhone ads!

[Whitneyville]

I repaired a Technics PL-300 series for a friend last fall, and after a little TLC (after being in storage for 20+ years, it needed some lubrication) it works fine. Of the four Alec listed, the Techincs will be the easiest in terms of parts and support. If the cartridge/stylus are junk, for $50 you can get the always recommendable Audio-Technica AT-95E cartridge/stylus for $50 and $44 for the Audio-Technica phono pre-amp from http://www.LPGear.com, so for $150, you'll have a more than "decent" turntable, pre-amp and cartridge, all of which would be usable with nice "quality" Hi-Fi gear in the $1000 range for amp or receiver (without a phono stage) and nice speakers. Even if you don't "move up" with the rest of your system, and keep the cartridge (with spare stylii) you're looking at $100 tops for the TT and pre-amp...quite a "deal".

[Van_Isle]

We don't get much here in NYC. After wading through all of the jailbreak your iPhone ads!

Try going to the New York craigslist and searching for "turntable" and for "record player" (and do it from the main page). I got quite a few hits (a few decent options I am thinking .... but you will have to wade through the Winnie the Pooh portable players when you do the record player search).

[djs259]

Well, it seems that the Pyle-Pro is scheduled to arrive tomorrow via UPS so I definitely want to give it a chance sometime in the next few days. If it sounds better than the AIWA cheapie I already own then I guess I'm going to keep it (it cost less than $100) and invest in a Shure M97xe cartridge, which I will then be able to use with a later TT upgrade if and when my audio sensibilities ever evolve to the point where I come to consider my new turntable to be a "Pyle" of poop.

[djs259]

Receiving the aforementioned Pyle-Pro turntable this past week from Amazon and looking it over carefully has caused me to reconsider my aversion to buying a used turntable. I probably should have done some research, but I ended up buying a used Technics SL-D202 from eBay today for $36.00 + $18.46 shipping. It's supposedly in like new condition, but I'm just hoping it works when I get it.

I believe this is a direct drive model from the 1980's. I checked out some of the specs online such as rumble and wow and flutter and they seem much better on this turntable then on any of the newer stuff available under $300.

So, did I do the right thing or did I overpay? I'm probably going to order a new cartridge to go with it once I confirm it is up and running smoothly. Any recommendations for this type of arm? AT? Shure? Grado?

Anyone here have this turntable? I'll be using it with a mini hi-fi system. I'll need to buy a pre-amp as well.

Would love to hear some more opinions please! Thanks!

[lini]

If the condition really is like new, you've made a very good deal. Arm is on the light side of medium heavy, hence the choice of carts is very wide - so what price range did you have in mind? Same question also goes for the phono stage...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[djs259]

Hello!

Thanks for responding.

Price range for a new cartridge would be $70 max. I often listen to classical LPs; Strauss, Beethoven symphonies, Mozart and Wagner operas, but also lots of rock and pop music, especially Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, and Abba (my tastes are a bit eclectic I guess).

I might have some time to think about it because the TT comes with a cartridge already, it just needs a stylus, but I can't figure out what cartridge it is from the picture. Maybe someone else here can make it out from the photos:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 500wt_1099

It looks like an older Audio Technica. No idea what stylus it uses or if it will sound ok.

As far as a phono stage, I rushed into purchasing an ART DJ Pre II Preamp tonight. It's this one:

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ART-DJPREII-LIST

I've heard many here recommend the AT PEQ-3 but I actually bought one last month for my current player and it had really low output and a nasty hum on my system. It sounded worse than the built in pre-amp, so I returned it. Perhaps I got a bad one, don't know. The ART seems to get pretty consistent reviews as a nice budget pre-amp and I was able to pick it up for $40.00.

I also bought some Technics SFW-0010 lubricating oil for the spindle, given that the SL-D202 in question has probably not been used for a while and will need it. If it doesn't work out, I'll keep the bottle for the next Technics I buy

I'm hoping it will arrive in one piece though; that is my real concern:

I emailed the seller and wrote a book spelling out exactly how it should be shipped, with the platter removed, wrapped and packaged with protective material; the counterweight removed, and the tonearm twisty tied down, with nothing rubbing against anything else. Now let's see what happens....

Anyway, I'm excited about hearing what my records will sound like on a decent turntable. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, until now I've been using an AIWA PX-E860, which is a cheap plastic P-mount design. I have decided to not play any more records on my system until I get a decent TT up and running. If this SL-d202 does not work out I'll just buy a different Technics.

Please everyone give me some good advice to make the most of this system!

[lini]

Yup, looks like you won't even need a new, complete cart - a new old stock ATN12XE (nude, medium sharp elliptical), ATS12S (Shiabata, sometimes bonded, sometimes nude) or ATN12S (Shibata, bonded only) for the existing AT body would all be good options.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[djs259]

Thanks for the info on the cartridge, which I believe to be an AT88e

http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/album ... ic_id=8082

I've been thinking, however, if I'm going to spend $50.00 on a stylus right now, wouldn't it make more sense to just get a new cartridge like the AT95E or Shure M97x, for about the same money?

Also, if I do end up using the AT cartridge that comes with the deck, do I have to adjust or align it in some way? I guess I can't just assume that the previous owner did a good job of that. I don't know how to align a cartridge! I know this table only has anti-skate and VTF adjustments. I don't think you can adjust arm height. Help!

[Alec124c41]

At the top of the page is a link to Alignment Protractors that you can download and print out. Get the size right.

Cheers,
Alec

[lini]

djs: Well, the AT needles I've mentioned are good and still available for pretty fair prices, and your AT body is a good one as well. Whereas an AT95E is just an entry-level model, and in my view the M97xE is of questionable build quality (or respectively suffers from bad quality control...). Hence I'd rather recommend to go for one of these AT needles...

Well, and as for alignment: With this kind of Technics models, there also is a simple alignment method, that doesn't require any protractors. The cart should sit centered on the longitudinal axis and fixed at the position in which the horizontal (!) distance between the needle tip and the rear end of that little rubber washer at the connector end is exactly 52 mm. I.e., in order to check the existing alignment, just need to take off the headshell, control the position of the cart and measure that tip to washer distance. If all is correct, the cart is correctly aligned to the Stevenson geometry.

That said, there also are other sensible geometrical approaches one could use just as well - but the Stevenson was the one Technics originally had in mind, when they designed these models, which is why that easy "52 mm method" works... Whereas if you chose a different geometrical approach like Baerwald, you'd need to use a protractor.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: Oh, and don't waste your time with the actual type designation: AT made so many renamed versions of the AT10 to AT12 family models, that one could easily lose one's sanity...

[flavio81]

djs: Well, the AT needles I've mentioned are good and still available for pretty fair prices, and your AT body is a good one as well. Whereas an AT95E is just an entry-level model, and in my view the M97xE is of questionable build quality (or respectively suffers from bad quality control...). Hence I'd rather recommend to go for one of these AT needles...

Well, and as for alignment: With this kind of Technics models, there also is a simple alignment method, that doesn't require any protractors. The cart should sit centered on the longitudinal axis and fixed at the position in which the horizontal (!) distance between the needle tip and the rear end of that little rubber washer at the connector end is exactly 52 mm. I.e., in order to check the existing alignment, just need to take off the headshell, control the position of the cart and measure that tip to washer distance. If all is correct, the cart is correctly aligned to the Stevenson geometry.

Exactly what lini said.