Old vinyl collector - no idea wht turntable 2 buy these days

[Sequoia225]

Yes - sorry for confusion. When I STARTED the thread - I was not sure what I had that a former roommate had left - as they were in my storage.

I have now confirmed that one of the 2 he left was a 1200 - and it is residing in my guest house with my other old roommate. It doesnt really belong to either of us - or belongs to both of us - if you catch my meaning - but hes been using it - and apparently its currently sitting with a broken cartridge on it. Again though, its not "mine" - its sort of "ours" - so I may look into just getting one for myself - or Ill commandeer it and bring it up to shape. But again - I hadnt confirmed it was even in our possession when I started the thread.

Oh "phono stage" - ok lol - well yes I know that TTs need a pre amp for line level - there IS a separate pre amp with this 1200 it turns out that my roommate bought.

I need to find a dealer here in Los Angeles who specializes in turntables I think - would be good to know one.


Now for yet ANOTHER question....
My grandfather long ago had left his old vinyl with me. These are 78s.
How do I best go about playing those? I dont see many of these turntables with that option.

[mmarston]

?..Now for yet ANOTHER question....
My grandfather long ago had left his old vinyl with me. These are 78s.
How do I best go about playing those? I dont see many of these turntables with that option.

Strictly speaking, most 78s are shellac, not vinyl. Don't clean them with anything containing alcohol!

KAB (http://www.kabusa.com) does mods for the 1200 that include a 78 RPM option. You'll need a separate stylus for the wider groove. Or, a lot of folks use a second player just for 78s, often a classic Dual or Garrard, etc.

Also, no 78s used the now-standard RIAA equalization, which was adopted in the late 1950s. There were dozens if not hundreds of different curves used. If you just want to hear the music, most will sound "OK" with RIAA but, if you want to do any serious archiving, or try to get the most accurate reproduction, you'll want to get some kind of equalizer to compensate for the various curves. There is plenty of info on this and other forums if you're so inclined.

Happy listening!
Mike

[Boukman]

The SL 1200 is great with a decent cart. Maybe add a Jelco arm... Or pick up a Garrard 401, get a decent plinth and arm and have a great vintage deck

[megatrends]

yet ANOTHER question -

Wiki says the 1200Mk2 stopped being made in 2010 - but then what is this?
Amazon - sold by TEchnics. Are they still selling new units if it stopped production in 2010?
IF (its still an if) I was to buy a 1200 - would this be the best way to do it?

http://www.amazon.com/TECHNICS-SL-1200M ... 204&sr=8-1

We use them at the radio station I am at and they are absolutely divine. You only hear music when you use them, the platter makes no noise, nothing makes noise.

This is the very one I use that I prefer out of the two we have.

You won't be disappointed if you end up with this to use. The anti-skating is superbly accurate and easy to set. Everything is easy to use and precise.

[Sequoia225]

anyone have any opinions on this model - and this ad for that matter?
Its $999
its at a pawn shop
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/el ... 27595.html


*update - from pictures I find on the official site and others - it looks like the tonearm on this Craigslist ad is not the tonearm the M5G came with - so Im a little concerned about that. The tonearm in the pics here dont match the Craigslist tonearm

http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_elect ... 210m5g.asp

[Sequoia225]

This is the very one I use that I prefer out of the two we have.

[/quote]

nice photo.

Can you tell me of the two you have what you prefer about one over the other?

[megatrends]

This is the very one I use that I prefer out of the two we have.



=========================================

nice photo.

Can you tell me of the two you have what you prefer about one over the other?

One has a better cartridge and newer stylus and has a remote start from our board setup. Cue up a record and push a button so it starts. The other one has a neon pink cartridge made by Audio Technica which is supposed to be good but i just don't like it.

This one here has a Stanton stylus cartridge on it and was expensive and sounds better in my opinion of course. The differences have nothing to do with the turntables themselves but rather how they are setup is all. Sorry to throw any doubt or confusion about anything

[Sequoia225]

no not at all - was wondering exactly what you said - if cartridge was diff or whatever.

thanks!!

[KentT]

Send your Technics SL-1200 to KABUSA.com and get 78 speed added. Which will cost you some money and permit 3 speed operation. For 78 use, buy a Shure M 78S and install and align it in it's own headshell.

[JerAud]

Your original question also asked about digitizing your vinyl. For USB phono stage, you could look at something like the NAD PP3i:

http://nadelectronics.com/products/turn ... eamplifier

or the Parasound Z-Phono USB edition:

http://www.parasound.com/ParasoundZ/zphonoUSB.php

Both allow output to USB into your computer. They're likely to give you better results than the USB TTs and I believe they come with software as well.

I miss those 1200s -- great TT with lots of drive for DJing with slipmats.

Hope that helps!
JerAud

[sombunya]

What you want is a Rega P3 turntable!

No doubts mate!


Cheers!

That's what I have. I like it much more than my Thorens TD 166 MKII. Just a personal opinion here.

I'm also using a NAD PP3i to digitize my vinyl. Good quality at a reasonable price, I think.