Learnin' Time: Them There Turntables

At 20 years old, I'm a relative youngin' around here, I suppose. Someone is giving my a huge record collection. I've always liked music on vinyl, but I've also always found CDs to be more practical. As such, I have no turntable of my own.

I don't have any desire to spend more than $100 and I'd love to keep it well below that. That said, I don't want it to sound like E36 M3 or wear the records out super fast or something like that.

Help me out and maybe if I meet you sometime at least 11 months from now I'll buy you a beer.

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ele/2693289838.html

Honestly don't know too much about lower end stuff. My only experience with the lower end stuff was a Denon entry level model that sucked. However, their customer service was exemplary. We sent it in 2 separate times to get fixed (under warranty) and the third time, we were given the number of a manager at Denon. He said eff it, and sent us their top of the line turntable.

If I have to spend more than what I want to get something worth having I will. I'm just really cheap and it probably won't get much use in 6 months time. Sounding alright is much much more important than longevity in this case.

You can get USB turntables for $100 and rip them to digital. Purists will shudder, but that's what I'd do.

It's my understanding that you need a microphone for every two turntables.

Interested in opinions on this, too.

I have an old Philips turntable from the '90s, bought cheap, ($70). It would hardly play a thing until I replaced the stylus ($20), and since most of my records are also old, I've found cleanliness makes a huge difference - the needle picks up dust really easily. So I've also bought a cheap stylus and record cleaning kit.

Turntable on a budget? Only thing that makes sense is used. Craigslist usually has several decent ones available. Just see what's out there and when you see something that looks good, google it and see what the consensus is on it. Be sure it comes with a working cart with a decent stylus. My least expensive cart that I bought new was more than $100. But I've gotten nice, older cars on tables I've gotten at the thrift store for $20. You can sometimes score a pretty nice table at a thrift store for silly money, but for a decent deal on craigslist for something that will sound pretty good and is ready to go, I might suggest you up your budget just a little- maybe $150.

If you just want to play some records, I guess a USB table is fine. If, for the same money, you want to get something with the potential to sound pretty decent, stick with something used. The USB tables I've seen are pretty poor, and I'm not a turtable snob. My daily driver is a Sony linear tracker from the 80s that my neighbor gave me. Not exactly audiophile stuff. My best turntable, and in my opinion, the best table you can buy for under $500 is the Technics SL 1200. The audiophile crown would shudder at a "DJ Turntable" but it's a really, really good unit.

Keith wrote: It's my understanding that you need a microphone for every two turntables.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: My best turntable, and in my opinion, the best table you can buy for under $500 is the Technics SL 1200. The audiophile crown would shudder at a "DJ Turntable" but it's a really, really good unit.

You can buy those for under $500? Where?!

Keith wrote: It's my understanding that you need a microphone for every two turntables.

Jay wrote:

fast_eddie_72 wrote: My best turntable, and in my opinion, the best table you can buy for under $500 is the Technics SL 1200. The audiophile crown would shudder at a "DJ Turntable" but it's a really, really good unit.

You can buy those for under $500? Where?!

Used. Sorry if that wasn't clear. But the thing can't be killed. Unless it's been dropped- okay, dropped several times- okay, dropped several times off of a tall building, they're usually pretty decent.

http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/2649292010.html

?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSrGYsciyjA&feature=related

Search Craigslist and thrift stores/yard sales for a 70's vintage direct drive turntable. Technics/Pioneer/Realistic also e-bay can be good if the person knows how to pack well.

You are also going to need a phono preamp if your receiver doesn't have one. Parts Express has a nice Behringer for under $30.

I recommend staying away from anything that's an all in one unit. Also any USB turntable is just a bad idea, they are cheap and flimsy.

It's getting really difficult to find cheap used turntables, new LP sales have been doubling every year for the past few years so what once was considered junk is now a sought after item.

When you do get one, take the time to set it up properly, level the table, set the tracking force, and align the cartridge.

I have a video on how to clean your records for next to nothing just like a $500 professional record cleaning machine here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNLGo5K5m_M

I just throw in a bit of shameless self-promotion that I have about 4000 LPs for sale. I'm in the (long and tedious) process of sorting/grading/pricing them all, but most are 50% of whatever book value says it should be.

CL is where you really want to watch... but you can also check out pawn shops and 2nd hand stores... we just got rid of my father-in-laws crap turn table and a 3 foot stack of records (classic rock mostly) for $45 on CL... yes it was worth a lot more if we sold them 1 at a time on ebay or something... but some late 30 y/o guy was excited to get it :)

This guy writes a blog that runs in my local newspaper, a while back he recommended a new Audio-Technica turntable that's reasonably priced: http://www.soundadviceblog.com/reviews/audio-technica-at-lp120-usb-turntable-a-real-find-at-200/

1. This is the most useful board ever devised.

2. Thanks much.

3. Does anyone else have their browser set up to automatically open CL?

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Used. Sorry if that wasn't clear. But the thing can't be killed. Unless it's been dropped- okay, dropped several times- okay, dropped several times off of a tall building, they're usually pretty decent. http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/2649292010.html

Damn, they go for a minimum of €500 out here... and that's for one that's been lugged around and abused by a DJ for the last 15 years.

check out www.audiogon.com too. my bro just bought a really nice surround pre/processor for like 20% of its new cost in like new condition, though processors depreciate faster than anything else. but i have seen some reasonably inexpensive nice units from Rega and others there in the past, plus theyre usually well taken care of as its most often from an audio nerd.

edit- i just read the $100 OP part.... that's gonna be hard on audiogon, i thought i had seen a $500 limit or something. possibly still worth a look, if only to oogle the $30,000 turntables

HA! Just last night I was at a local store that sells new and used vinyl along with some nice turntables and tube amps. I was listening to an Audio Technica USB table. Sounded pretty good. I have an ancient Onkyo setup that is outstanding but want to rip some of my vinyl to digital.

I would suggest going cheap-ish on the actual turntable, then spending a few extra bucks to upgrade the cartridge/stylus. And on that front, I'm a Grado man myself.