turntables

bguzman · Posted: 26 Jan 2016, 05:17

I've had old and new and prefer old. But I'm on both sides of the belt/direct drive debate.

kris · Posted: 26 Jan 2016, 19:13

That Realistic TT looks very nice :clap:

a beauty. How does it perform?

johan184 · Posted: 26 Jan 2016, 21:38

signofzeta wrote:

Being sidelined by a belt is...a pretty sad state. Maybe you've got something exotic but from my experience they aren't that hard to find or install and even if you can't find the exact one there are more ways than I can count to just make one out of somthing. It's just a belt.

And they only rot out after a decade or two, not exactly constant maintenance.

I think your experience is fairly limited, maybe? If you've seen a fair number of turntables you'd know that not all DDs spin up quick, not all belt drives are slow, and that "solid" is something that can be achieved with either. In fact, the most "solid" decks are almost all belt drive. I'm talking about stuff that costs $100,000 and has to be mounted directly to the building foundation with its own concrete ancors. 24c gold plated legs, a platter 7" thick made from pure crystal. That kind of stuff. In that world direct drive is almost non-existent.

Look, we are all doing something irrational and non-scientific just by prefering records to CD, LD to DVD, etc. I understand this fully.

However, it is a provable, measurable, repeatable scientific truth that, on the whole, direct drive is a sonic liability. Every little pulse of the field coil introduces measurable speed fluxuations. This is hugely mitigated by belt drive systems both because of the belt but also by a different motor design.

We all prefer what we prefer, and as long as no harm comes to anyone that's perfectly fine. I'm not telling people what to enjoy. But belt drive decks are not cheap crap, just the ones you've seen. And while DD increases usability for DJs, offers pitch control, and aparently makes people happy by usually spinning up faster, for general home use or dedicated listening belts are better. Better because they are quieter and better because changing a belt is much easier than welding in new capacitors.

Like I said, I dont have a DD, and I dont really intend to get one, But I can totally understand why some might feel its better for them.

And in my case, its more that Im lazy. And they dont sell belts everywhere here in sweden. So weeks goes and becomes to months before I get a new.

I dont really care what is proven to be best. And I doubt you will hear any difference unless you have a 10k usd budget.

Pls stop talking like everyone not agreeing are idiots.

bguzman · Posted: 28 Jan 2016, 03:42

kris wrote:

That Realistic TT looks very nice :clap:

a beauty. How does it perform?

Thanks kris, it's dead quite and spins nice and steady. I think it performs great. I wanted one since I was a kid. It was $200 new back in 1978. :thumbup:

sdraper · Posted: 17 Feb 2016, 00:49

Technics Sl-1200 mkII

Then everything else.

confederate · Posted: 04 Apr 2016, 10:02

I got a new needle for my Pioneer PL-30-K turntable last week, the Ortofon 2M Red.

Compared to the cheap Audio Technica that came with the Pioneer PL-30-K ( the pickup unit that came with it costs around 20 € ) this one is way better.

The best sounding record I have is the 2LP 180g Simply Vinyl reissue of Dr. Dre - The Chronic. ( the original vinyl release was 1LP instead of 2 LPs ! )
If someone wants to know how great vinyl can sound I can really recommend that release. If you love the album the same way I do you HAVE TO get this release.
It is phenomenal.

Tears were coming down my face hearing all that bass in such a fantastic quality. This album will always be great. It is such a piece of art.
Listening to the CD is like comparing medium wave radio to FM radio. The difference is HUGE.

Dr. Dre - 2001 is great sounding vinyl, too but not nearly as good as the Simply Vinyl reissue.

Guest · Posted: 31 May 2016, 21:22

My TT is a Dunlop Systemdek II with a Profile II tone arm, and a Shure M97xE cartridge, tracking at 1.25 grams. The turntable, belt driven, has the three point floating suspension, eliminating acoustic feedback.

bguzman · Posted: 04 Jun 2016, 06:30

I recently acquired an Alternative Acoustics preamp and was wondering if anyone has any heard of or used one. I gave it a quick cleaning and touched up the top and knobs. It has a very heavily built case and a mono block design with some pretty big components.

After much internet searching I found this site.http://images2.static-bluray.com/htgallery/16275
http://www.stereodaves.com/index.php
Here's his story. I feel honored to have the opportunity to have one of his pieces of equipment.
http://www.stereodaves.com/dave.php
Everything said in this homage points to the design of this preamp. What a lucky find. My Alternative Acoustics preamp was in fact made by Dave Herren of "Stereo Dave" fame in Oregon according to Sean. He confirmed it with a few of his associates. This pre really brings out the detail of my vinyl and has, for now, supplanted my Carver C-1. Once again I have to say I feel very lucky to have stumbled upon this fine preamp.

confederate · Posted: 04 Jun 2016, 11:55

The no. 1 factor in each setup is the needle. I have had lengthy discussions with several members on the German "hifi-forum.de" and they all believe that as long as the record player is turing in the right
direction and at the right speed it doesn't really matter what turntable you are using. Even the preamp is not nearly as important as the needle / pickup system.
I am extremely pleased with the new system I bought. And I can really recommend the new Pioneer turntable system PL 30 K at 299 $. The stylus is more or less a placebo but you can always replace
it with something of higher quality. The inbuilt preamp is good enough in my opinion.

admin · Posted: 22 Jun 2017, 07:23

Finally!

I'm giving this brand new baby a try tonight, just received my Ortofon 2M cartridge.

Julien

signofzeta · Posted: 23 Jun 2017, 02:29

My radio station recently put all of our *very* tired MkIVs into retirement and replaced them with some Audio Technica decks that...man...it's just not the same. The motor is supposedly the same one that's in the Tech 12, and its fantastic, but I really like every other thing less. They put start/stop amp clamp adjustment right where the pop up light used to be and there is a reverse button EXACTLY where you put your hand when cueing. IMO the adjustments should be under the platter and the reverse should be way out of the way. The TT-X1 has reverse and I've have NEVER accidentally hit it, these things on the other hand...a few times in the month or two that we've had them.

It's also painted in a lot of places so I can already seeing that wearing off from 24/7 use. The speed/direction buttons are molded in blue silicone with silver paint. The "45" is the visible blue. In less than a year I'm sure the paint will start to fall off and eventually all of these buttons will look identical; they'd will be a cheesy 90s ricer Civic LED blue.

It also has a painted plastic upper with more orange peel than a 1950s Chrysler.

I believe the model in question is the AT‑LP1240. Maybe it's fine for listening but for DJ-ing I kinda hate it.

One of the three we have has developed vertical slop in the tone arm bearing too. This isn't necessarily a massive problem though. From my experience sometimes this will happen with conventional tone arms and once you readjust the clearance it likely won't happen again. Still...I'm not sure if I've seen a Tech 12 with any tone arm issues that weren't the result of damage.

turntables

Who is online