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Post by thoff on Jun 28, 2019 14:06:17 GMT -5
My almost teenage daughter has acquired an interest in turntables and vinyl. She and my wife have always had an interest in oldies, but my daughter is now turning her interest to 70s and 80s music, and she has a real fascination with Queen right now. She picked up a few records and we got her one of those suitcase turntables with built in speakers that she can have in her room. Well we've been through two of these turntables from Walmart (Crosley and Victrola brands) and they are complete crap, and the sound got all "garbly" after a few days of use.
So this leads me to two questions that I'd like to throw out to all of you:
1. Are there any decent suitcase style turntables with built in speakers that I could get my daughter? Not looking for audiophile quality....just looking for something that'll work.
2. If I want a turntable for my main system, what is a decent "starter" turntable I should look into?
I appreciate any help you can provide.
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stiehl11
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Post by stiehl11 on Jun 28, 2019 14:29:43 GMT -5
For question #1 I don't have a recommendation. I know my dad had a real nice "portable" turntable from the 60's that sounded nice until it ultimately failed in the 70's... but that's no help to you.
For question #2 I have a Music Hall mmf 1.3 with a Grado Gold cartridge. I am fairly impressed with this set up and gives me good sound from well pressed discs. I added the Grado after feeling that my stock cartridge was thin and, quite frankly, not very good. My friend has the 5.3 from Music Hall and enjoys it as well. Both of these setups were bought new under $1,000 in 2016. While some people spend $10k plus on their turntables, I would think that a good started turntable would be any between $1k and $1.5k. Anything under that and you might be underwhelmed with your purchase.
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Post by novisnick on Jun 28, 2019 14:40:35 GMT -5
Glad to hear that the next generation is showing interest in LPs! 😁
I haven’t a clue about question #1, sorry
As for question #2, what is your budget and do you have a phono preamp?
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Post by thoff on Jun 28, 2019 14:54:09 GMT -5
My Marantz SR6012 says you can hookup a turntable to it, so i assume that's all I need. I don't have a specific budget in mind. I just want to spend the least amount of money to get me something respectable. My daughter's interests change every couple of months so I don't want to spend much money right now when she may lose interest in a few weeks.
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Post by doc1963 on Jun 28, 2019 15:01:15 GMT -5
I'm also empty handed on question #1, but for question #2, I'd always recommend the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon as a great "starter" table. It comes complete with a factory mounted Ortofon 2M Red cartridge and, at $399, is tough to beat. You will, however, need a phono preamp. Emotiva's own XPS-1 is a good choice. Fluance (see HERE) is also getting some good press in the "low-cost" turntable market. Considering that all of their higher end tables are constantly out of stock, there must be some truth to it. |
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Post by davidl81 on Jun 28, 2019 15:43:29 GMT -5
My Marantz SR6012 says you can hookup a turntable to it, so i assume that's all I need. I don't have a specific budget in mind. I just want to spend the least amount of money to get me something respectable. My daughter's interests change every couple of months so I don't want to spend much money right now when she may lose interest in a few weeks. I bought a Rega Planar 1 for about $450 as a starter TT and I have been very happy with it. Tons of good reviews on it, so it seemed like a good place to start. |
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stiehl11
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Post by stiehl11 on Jun 28, 2019 15:44:56 GMT -5
FWIW, my Music Hall came with the Ortofon Red as it's stock cartridge and I didn't care for it. It was very thin and bright, exposing every pop and hiss on the record. I also found it very "scratchy", like I could hear the needle running through the groves. The Gold was a huge improvement over the Red (YMMV).
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Post by davidl81 on Jun 28, 2019 15:47:25 GMT -5
Your SR6012 does have a built in phono preamp, and while it may not be super top of the line quality, it will do just fine to start with.
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Post by brubacca on Jun 28, 2019 16:04:50 GMT -5
For option #1 consider a turntable with a built in phono preamp and a pair of powered speakers.
Maybe a uturn audio orbit (w built in phono) amd a pair of Audioengine speakers.
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Post by vcautokid on Jun 28, 2019 16:44:20 GMT -5
This hobby usually grows with the collection. The records are first, player/turntable last. I used to be a great Music hall fan, sold a ton. But Rega and Music Hall's basic guts are similar to the pro-ject turntables. U-Turn has amped up their quality and is a great one for your daughter, or you. How seriously both of you take this will determine your collection, how frequently you listen. How much of bother it means to either of you on convenience. Tough to beat a click of a playlist there, and instant music, anywhere,anytime,anything, right now. You can't do that with vinyl. So it depends. If you are starting out, get real favorite tunes so you are excited to play, but explore more on new stuff you are curious about to keep the interest going. Otherwise you have something that is a dust collector. The gear is easy. The collection, and playing to enjoyment is considerably harder.
Reality just works that way.
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Post by dsonyay on Jun 28, 2019 18:35:10 GMT -5
Fluance has a turntable with powered speaker set up for a nice price... Good quality and sound.
Man, I know of nothing in the suitcase or portables except for the vintage KLH stuff that's kinda popular
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DYohn
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Post by DYohn on Jun 28, 2019 19:27:13 GMT -5
My son has a Crosley self-contained turntable that sounded surprisingly good.
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butchgo
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Post by butchgo on Jun 29, 2019 9:09:01 GMT -5
I vote for the U-Turn Audio TT. Check out their website here - uturnaudio.com/ |
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Post by Priapulus on Jun 29, 2019 10:09:02 GMT -5
Invest in a decent turntable and cartridge. One play on a cheap one will destroy your records. Consider a vintage turntable from a garage sale, and give it a new needle/cartridge.
/b
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Post by DavidR on Jun 29, 2019 11:34:13 GMT -5
Invest in a decent turntable and cartridge. One play on a cheap one will destroy your records. Consider a vintage turntable from a garage sale, and give it a new needle/cartridge. /b Exactly. The upper end TTs from the days of vinyl are very well made. Their specs beat most rubber band driven TTs made today.Names like Sansui, Technics, Dual, Thorens, Pioneer, Marantz, Garrard to name a few. Look thru your local Craigs List. You should consider a new cartridge for a used TT. |
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Post by thoff on Jun 29, 2019 13:41:47 GMT -5
Thank you for all the input. I'll look into the local craigslist to see what I can find. I'd love to find an all-in-one player for my daughter to have in her room (question 1) but it doesn't sound like that's the best option. Could I change the needle on one of these to make it a decent player that won't harm the records? victrola.com/collections/suitcase |
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Post by repeetavx on Jun 29, 2019 13:50:50 GMT -5
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Post by adaboy on Jun 29, 2019 18:04:55 GMT -5
FWIW, my Music Hall came with the Ortofon Red as it's stock cartridge and I didn't care for it. It was very thin and bright, exposing every pop and hiss on the record. I also found it very "scratchy", like I could hear the needle running through the groves. The Gold was a huge improvement over the Red (YMMV). I liked the 2M Red for its cost;however, yes you are absolutely correct in stating that the th 2M Bronze is hands down better in every way. I like that Ortofon kept their signature punchyness with it. |
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Post by MusicHead on Jun 30, 2019 9:36:53 GMT -5
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Post by Priapulus on Jun 30, 2019 10:20:07 GMT -5
Buy a decent turntable and lend it to her. If she stays serious and respectful to the hobby it can become a gift. If records become an abandoned fad for her, you can reclaim the turntable to your system.
The collection is really the records, not the playing hardware. Perhaps the two of you could go on a shopping trip to a fleamarket that has lots of vintage, inexpensive albums; and kick-start your (plural) collections.
Sincerely
/blair
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