Record Player Help

lakitu · 7 Aug 2006 at 13:49

Hi, I have recently stumbled upon an old collection of vinyls my dad had hidden away. Some are quite good so I am thinking about purchasing a player. Any ideas on what would make a decent buy? I have a figure of £150-£200 in mind and would like it to hook up to my NAD C320BEE amp.

Any help would be great

babyface uk · 7 Aug 2006 at 14:56

Hi mate,
For a record player i'd say the
PROJECT DEBUT III TURNTABLE for £120 ( best by far for the money ) plus you will need a preamp for your amp but these can be had for anything from £20 up.

Babyface UK

lakitu · 7 Aug 2006 at 15:20

that does look like an amazing turntable for the price, thanks for your help

lakitu · 7 Aug 2006 at 15:21

oh and why do i need a pre amp for my amp? is this the case whenever your connecting a turntable?

Bill101 · 7 Aug 2006 at 15:37

it's not a pre amp you need but a phono amp as the signal from a record deck is not line in level
you can even get ones that work of 9v batteries.

babyface uk · 7 Aug 2006 at 15:57

Bill101 said:
it's not a pre amp you need but a phono amp as the signal from a record deck is not line in level
you can even get ones that work of 9v batteries.

as above, me got confuddled as thought was there but fingers typed something else.

Babyface UK

Bubo · 7 Aug 2006 at 16:52

For some reason this thread reminds me of that old Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch about the old bloke going to buy a gramophone.

Smith: Hello, I want to buy a gramophone.
Atkinson: A what?
Smith: A gramophone.
Atkinson: (Aside to Jones) This should be good. Er sorry squire we don't do gramophones here mate.
Smith: (points to turntables on shelf) Well whats that then?
Atkinson: Thats a CX42 stereo gripshift blah-de-blah balanced F19 turntable unless I'm very much mistaken.
Smith: I'll have one of those.
Atkinson: Do you want an amp?
Smith: (puzzled) Oh, erm, no....
Atkinson: You got to have an amp grandad otherwise you won't hear anything.
Smith: (covering up) Oh, an amp, yes I want one of those.
Atkinson: How many watts do you want?
Smith: (puzzled look) Oh I don't know, I think perhaps about.....3?
Atkinson + Jones: (Derisive laughter)
Smith: (hurridly) Er, 3000!
Atkinson + Jones: (More derisive laughter)
Smith: 30!
Aktinson: 30W amp sure? Do you want woofers and tweeters?
Smith: No I do NOT want woofers and tweeters, I've never heard of such ridiculous!...
Atkinson: Well you've got em if you want em or not grandad they're part of your speakers.

Can't remember the rest

lakitu · 7 Aug 2006 at 22:36

are there any turntables that plug directly into the amp? for the same price ie £150 - £200.

cheers

squiffy · 7 Aug 2006 at 22:40

Check your record speeds (78rpm) - most new turntables lack 78rpm speed,and if they're mono, mono records will require a special mono pickup. If you use a stereo pickup on a mono record you'll damage both.

I don't know of any good TT with built in phono pre-amp, they're usually seperate box between the amp. You need a phono pre-amp to boost the low output from the pickup to line level.

Amoeba · 7 Aug 2006 at 22:44

Not really, you may be able to find some 'audio' quality turntables (Bush for example) with a built in phono stage, but you really want a 'hifi' quality turntable. I would look on eBay for possibly a Thorens TD160 (165 is also good, I own one myself). These are regarded very highly and should only cost about half of your budget, leaving some spare change to pick up a nice phono amp

Amoeba · 7 Aug 2006 at 22:49

squiffy said:
Check your record speeds (78rpm) - most new turntables lack 78rpm speed

78RPM records were only ever pressed onto shellac, and as he mentioned a vinyl collection I think he should be pretty safe assuming they are 33 or 45

squiffy said:
and if they're mono, mono records will require a special mono pickup. If you use a stereo pickup on a mono record you'll damage both.

Actually, it's the other way around. A stereo cartridge/stylus will have no problems playing a mono record - however a mono one will destroy a stereo record

tom_nieto · 7 Aug 2006 at 23:11

I have the project debut 3 turntable. It's very good for the cash and while it might not give me the amazing sound of a player costing 10x as much, I can really appreciate the difference in style and presentation between it and my CD player. Certainly an enjoyable listening experience.