Turntables

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
24,381
Location
La Romana, Spain
Despite all my advice to people who want to buy a turntable with little to no vinyl being that it's a waste of time and not to bother.

Guess who now wants a turntable??

Reasons being

1. I still have some vinyl from a couple years ago when I last bought a turntable.
2. I keep seeing a lot of special releases being on Vinyl which looks pretty.
3. Whilst 99% of my music collection is on CD, I’ve found myself using Spotify a lot more and restricting cd purchases for things I particularly want rather than “ooh pretty album cover”, as such my physical music purchases have dropped from ~ 10 a month to ~2 a month. The reason I last gave up on vinyl was due to the increased cost of vinyl compared to CD. However given reduced volume this is no longer a factor.
4. The Vinyl I did buy, generally sounded better than the equivalent CD.
5. I think I’m more likely to find time to sit down and listen to an entire album.
6. I want something new to play with.


I’m well aware that to get something good sounding from vinyl can cost more than a comparable digital setup. This doesn’t daunt me too much, I like messing with things and have no illusions of the huge amount I’ll probably waste on cartridges/tone arms etc. However Amp wise I don’t see much option for improvement without spending silly amounts so this gives me some footing to start again building up to something special.

As such I’m looking for suggestions. I’m happy to go used, however I don’t really know enough about turntables to know whats good and bad. Given my tinkering habits I’d like something which doesn’t lock me into something (such as Clearaudio turntables). I would however like to buy something as a complete package to start with rather than individual items. At least until I get more familiar with it.

As such I’ve been looking at either the Rega RP3 or the Pro-Ject Xpression Carbon. This should give an idea of budget being up to around £700 ish which then gives me a couple hundred to spend on a phono stage (of which I’ve already spoken to someone about)


As a background my existing hifi is

Icon Audio Stereo 60 with KT150 valves
Densen B410
Squeezebox Touch
Belkin PF40 Mains thingy majig.
 
Yeah I thought so. Doesn't seem like a huge market at this kind of budget other than Rega or Project.

Seems to open up the market beyond those 2 takes going upwards of £1500 (bar some one off products I've seen)

I'll have a look at a Gyrodeck, but I assumed that'd be over budget.
 
Nothing particularly, however I tend to switch things around a lot (although I've almost had my amp for a year now!)

I'm not opposed to being locked into one particular thing but I like experimenting and trying new things. So the opportunity to try different sounding cartridges would be a nice option to have for the future.
 
Cheers Lucid.

As I mentioned my knowledge is fairly limited. I've see the odd turntable which suggested it was set for a Rega arm or another kind of arm and didn't know how interchangeable they are.

If changing cartridges is easy at this early level then that's probably all i'll be doing to start with.

Yeah I've looked at a few of the projects with build in phono stages, whilst it'd be handy to start off with I'd rather keep them separate. It's only an extra plug and phono lead required and that's not something I don't have in abundance anyway!

I've been offered a Voyd Valdi with a Rega RB250 arm which from the limited reading I've done seems to be a good turntable. Just not sure I can get over the dull old fashioned black ash look of it, which then makes me want to look at custom plinths!

Did take a look at Inspire Designs which seem to have a couple of offerings at this level.


I think i'll just keep scanning ebay/forums and see what pops up, I'm in no particular rush.


EDIT: One thing I have noticed is that some tables seem to be suspended decks which are more bouncy without proper support. I live in an oldish terraced house and you can feel a lot of things vibrate through the walls. I'm unlikely to invest in a dedicated wall shelf straight away (lack of space being one reason), would this suggest I should avoid suspended decks?
 
Cheers fella.

I've popped into Audio-T in Manchester where I've had some good service in the past. However at this budget my options seem fairly limited to the Rega or Project offerings mentioned above.

I know the community over at Hifi Wigwam is generally pretty good and I know a few of those guys personally so am keeping an eye on there. As you said Ebay can be a minefield and I wouldn't want to end up with a dud and lose enjoyment and get disillusioned from the off.

The floors downstairs are suspended and you can definitely feel the movement, especially when the kids are crashing down the stairs! At the moment I'm trying to avoid getting a dedicated wall shelf. Although I don't recally any issues with scratching on my old Rega Planar 2
 
Well I've ignored all advice (and sensible thinking) and bought something off ebay! The plus side is it's not some tatty turntable off some random bloke. It's an ex-demo version from Henley Designs who are the distributors for Project.

I'd been looking at the Xpression range (and always thought the Acrylic versions looked amazing but were too expensive), then I saw this on ebay and kept an eye on it and think I've got it for a decent price

Link

Stupid? Definitely. But it's so Purdy and it comes with a short warranty and from previous dealings with Henley Designs I think they'll be helpful in the event of any issues.
 
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Well I paid extra for Saturday delivery, Saturday arrives, doorbell goes, I run downstairs in my dressing gown all excited....

It's got damaged in transit, the motor doesn't seem to have been held in place properly. It uses a rubber band wrapped around 4 posts to suspend the motor to avoid vibrations and it looks like this was the only way it was fixed during shipping. The band broke and the motor was left dangling by the wires to the power supply. Hopefully the rubber is all that's damaged but I'm not sure what damaged might've been caused to the actual motor.

On the plus side it looks beautiful! And all the accessories are still in the original sealed packages so think it's just an old stock item and it's debateable if it was ever even used.

On the down side the Acrylic is going to be a ******* to keep clean as it's already covered in finger prints!
 
I had the options of either a new band being sent out, return it to them for either a fix or a full refund.

I'm happy fitting the band myself (seems easy enough), I just want some clarification of liability incase the motor is damaged to. I don't want to risk them blaming it on me damaging it fitting the band!

On the plus side I've a lovely pile of new Vinyl to work though when it works.

h6K5lR8.png
 
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Yeah the platter and weights were all removed. Like I say it feels like it's unused so everything was sealed and in the proper packaging.

Edited to add that the guy at Henley has kept it open so if any further issues arise following fitting the rubber band then they'll still offer the options of returns/repairs.
 
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You know you're sad when I got the rubber band last yesterday but didn't get chance to fit it so thought oh well i'll do it tomorrow.

Then realised I'm at a gig and got sad.

Can't believe how stupid it is since live music is the whole reason I love music!
 
Yeah it's still open.

I've never actually been there to be honest, I work in Manchester so always visit the Manchester branch if I need anything.

Was at a gig last night (Passenger was fantastic btw), hoping to have a look at it tonight.
 
Got the rubber band sorted for the motor.

Got nervous setting up the arm and phone stage so have someone local from Hifi Wigwam to give me a hand setting it up. It seems much more complex than my old Rega Planar.

He also has a timing gauge so can make sure the motor is running as it should.
 
Haha he was most pleasant.

All set up now and very much enjoying it. Glad he came to check everything over but it all seemed pretty level and balanced from my rough attempts!
 
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