Buying a record player / turntable

[Gilly]

So the turntable is part of the stereo?

[Lothar_Brightblade]

yes.

[dave from knoxville]

I have a really old Denon; I think it's from before they started using model numbers.

[AllisonLeGnome]

I can't really vouch for the quality (it seems fine to me, but I'm no expert), but I've had no issues with my basic $80-90 turntable from Circuit City. It has a preamp, by the way, so I would assume that's pretty common.

[Bryan]

Isn't RCA the same thing as phono? Or would I need something that is specifically labeled phono. Having to buy a preamp isn't a deal breaker.

RCA is not the same as phono.

No, but just to clarify, phono and the other inputs all use RCA plugs. But, a normal phono signal needs additional power (supplied by the pre-amp) to be at the same level as a CD player, etc.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Isn't RCA the same thing as phono? Or would I need something that is specifically labeled phono. Having to buy a preamp isn't a deal breaker.

RCA is not the same as phono.

No, but just to clarify, phono and the other inputs all use RCA plugs. But, a normal phono signal needs additional power (supplied by the pre-amp) to be at the same level as a CD player, etc.

Exactly. 

I bought a new receiver recently, all digital.  Not having boned up on this stuff yet, I was confused as to why my turntable (which I played through the "Aux" channel) sounded so tinny. Duh. It is an analog signal.  So now I am in the market for a turntable with a built-in pre-amp.

[Gilly]

Preamps aren't that expensive, 40-50 bucks for a cheap one, maybe even less. I have a cheap one on my setup and when I get some money I want to upgrade, but it's worked well. There is a specific brand that is fairly cheap and that audiophiles rave about but I can't remember what it is called.

[Gilly]

But, buying a new setup gets pricy and I've built mine slowly over time. I held off on a turntable for a long time and had my Technics gifted to me by a radio station I used to work at. But, that gift turned into a descent into changing everything.

[Jason]

But, buying a new setup gets pricy and I've built mine slowly over time. I held off on a turntable for a long time and had my Technics gifted to me by a radio station I used to work at. But, that gift turned into a descent into changing everything.

That's what I'm talking about. The fun is in finding stuff for cheap or free that sounds leagues better than expensive new gear.

This turntable looks pretty good for the money if you can convince the guy to ship it and the cracked dust cover does not bother you.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1264178959&/Harmon-Kardon-T-40

The feet are missing but throw these on it for $16, or something similar, and you'll have a superb sounding cheap turntable.

http://www.thecablepro.com/cableDetail.php?cID=33&cgID=1

[Gilly]

It is a lot of fun. The only thing I've spent over 300 dollars for is my Harmon Kardon receiver but even that was at a significant discount... although I wish I would have held off on that for a year because it was before HDMI was the standard so it doesn't do the new HD audio formats. I have very like 4 pairs of great sounding speakers that I keep upgrading but I've never paid more than 40 bucks for a pair. Right now, I'm sitting with a pair of Utah speakers, a brand that Radio Shack sold in the 70's which sound really great, and those were free in perfect condition, again from the radio station that barely used them. All in all, it's a fun hobby and if you do it right, it's not that expensive. I haven't been able to do much in the past year because I haven't found anything free that upgrades me and that's my price range right now. But, it's still fun to look.

[Jason]

Over the last 2 and a half years I've built a killer system for about $850, including the aforementioned turntable, cd player, a really good tuner, pre-amp, power amp, speakers, speaker stands and dedicated audio rack.

So wait. Now I have a question (I am currently shopping for a turntable as well).  Is there a benefit to a standalone pre-amp as opposed to a turntable with a built-in pre-amp?

Ultimately, yes.
I think the best turntables are completely stripped down and do nothing but spin and allow the the needle to pick up the signal from the groove. Isolation is very important and not having the amp near the turntable motor is a good idea. Also, if your turntable has a built in pre-amp you are stuck with that pre-amp and you have no choice in upgrading or tweaking that stage in the signal.
This guy does a better job of explaining what a phono pre-amp does than I could ever do, especially the third section about equalizing (RIP Edward Woodward) what your needle picks up -

http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/phonopreampstage.htm

Of course, you might not care about this at all, the bottom line is what sounds good to you.
My current set-up has no separate phono pre-amp and it sounds better to me than when I had a a tube phono amp running into a modern integrated amp.

I should stress that I don't consider myself an expert or an audiophile, I'm just an enthusiast and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment from putting together, tweaking and changing my system over the years.

I have an Adcom gfp 555 preamp with a phono input (guy on craigslist was asking $100 but gave it to me for free because it was broken, I gave him a bottle of beer and it was an easy fix) running into a very old Dynaco ST-120 power amp ($60 at a yard sale, he threw in some other junk) which powers my ridiculously huge Cerwin Vega VS-120 speakers ($75 craigslist). To me it sounds absolutely thrilling when I stumble home drunk in the wee hours and throw on Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh by Magma.
I have the turntable I mentioned and a Sansui TU-717 tuner ($200 on ebay and the only thing apart from the turntable I spent money on, it's consistently rated as one of the best tuners in the price range and there are some ridiculous upgrade kits you can buy for it. Oh, and it looks beautiful. I have a dedicated radio antenna on my roof ($30). WFMU still sounds like shit but, from the low end in Leonard Lopate's creamy baritone to the crisp trebles in Robert Siegel's supercilious sneer, NPR sounds like I'm in the same room).
I have a shitty sony 5 disc cd player, but I rarely listen to cds.

The absolute best thing I have, the one thing that improved the overall sound of my system, is this audio rack (free. I found it in someone's trash).



And a pair of speaker stands ($10, yard sale).
It sounds crazy but getting the speakers off the floor and isolating the components, especially the turntable, improved the sound immensely. You can really, really hear it.


I'd like to upgrade my turntable, I'd like to replace the power amp with either a tube amp or tube or solid state monoblocks. I'd also like to replace the cd player with a dvd/cd player, one that plays absolutely everything. We'll see what comes my way, the thrill is in the chase.

Does anyone have any experience wirelessly streaming mp3s from a hard drive to a stereo? I was looking at what Apple has to offer but I'd like something that enabled me to scroll through what I have.

[fonpr]

Does anyone have any experience wirelessly streaming mp3s from a hard drive to a stereo? I was looking at what Apple has to offer but I'd like something that enabled me to scroll through what I have.



Air Port Air Port doo- do -eeee-llloo- dee- doo-Air Port

[Bryan]

I should stress that I don't consider myself an expert or an audiophile, I'm just an enthusiast and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment from putting together, tweaking and changing my system over the years.

 

[Big Plastic Head]

Does anyone have any experience wirelessly streaming mp3s from a hard drive to a stereo? I was looking at what Apple has to offer but I'd like something that enabled me to scroll through what I have.

I have Apple TV hooked up wirelessly and I like it. I can scroll through my entire iTunes library with it. It is basically an iTunes interface for your home system. You do need a monitor to use the interface but my TV is hooked to my stereo system so it is not an issue.

I especially like that I can listen to almost any radio station that offers an iTunes web stream through my home system. (This include some Jersey station I listen to every now and then.)

[JP]

Ultimately, yes.

I'm shocked that you're into hi fi like that - for some reason isn't something I'd imagined you'd be into.  

I'm so intrigued by vinyl and tube amps etc but I've never been able to make it all happen.  

JP