Recommend me a record player

bartman100

For the whippersnappers, a 'record' is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat polyvinyl chloride (previously shellac) disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove; popular with people of a certain age for providing audial entertainment and nostalgic wallowing.

So...I want to play my records again and I don't want to keep passing by the option to pick up great records I see in second hand shops and car boot sales.

I have a sonos system, an aging Cambridge audio amp and some knackered old Castle speakers. I don't want to spend more than £300. I'm more interested in oomph than picking out the individual strings in Vivaldi's 4 seasons.

Cheers

pblakeney

As my current turntable is a 30 year old Technics then I cannot really recommend something to buy today based on personal experience.

However, I would start my research here - http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/turntables-and-lps

veronese68

I bought an Ariston Q deck for £149, it won the What HiFi award for best turntable up to £150 and also up to £300 so thought it a good choice. This was in 1986 though.

Wheelspinner

Rega
Project
Thorens

All good choices, and used can be a good option too. Save some budget for a reasonable cartridge, and proper setup is key.

drlodge

I have an Acoustic Research EB101, a great little deck. You will also need to factor in the cost of a turntable amplifier (or more accurately referred to as an RIAA equaliser amplifier).

tangled_metal

Vinyl is still popular with some younger DJ types as well. It't not just us oldies who know what it is. of course there are newfangled CD decks and even digital ones which work on stored electronic files I understand are called MP3s or AAC or lossless FLAC files. You get an artificial disc you can turn by hand to replicate the effect of actually turning the vinyl disc. Of course in my day we called them records not vinyl. I think it is only the young who call them vinyl these days.

I'm looking for a deck to convert into MP3 files. Got too many tapes and records to allow the music contained in them to die or get thrown away. Got a deadline of about September too. Got told by the other half that if I hadn't used them in a year I had to throw them out. Not going to happen but I'm looking to save them all in MP3 format in case she does the awful deed in my absence.

pblakeney

Tangled Metal wrote:

I'm looking for a deck to convert into MP3 files.

I simply bought a cable which connected the "Tape Out" in my amp to the "Mic In" on my laptop and recorded them that way.
It takes a while though as it has to be done in real time and you have to stop between tracks but it is possible.
To be honest though, it would be so much quicker ripping CDs that it is worth the expense of buying the CDs, or even simpler, downloading the tracks.
Unless you have records that are not available in any other format of course.

RDW

There are dedicated USB turntables that will plug straight into a PC - don't know what the quality is like. For tape to digital I've used an external USB 'sound card' with line-level inputs, which probably works a bit better than just using the mic socket. The process is pretty time consuming, but rather than stopping and starting I just let the whole recording run, save the output as a .wav, and chop into individual tracks later with Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

apreading

Wheelspinner wrote:

Rega
Project
Thorens

This ^^^

That Ariston Q is good too - a mate of mine had one in uni in the late 80s...!

Make sure you budget for a decent cartridge - no point getting a good turntable and putting a rusty nail on the end of it.

team47b

Don't try and make out you're not an old fart by using the modern vernacular...you know it's ' recommend a record player to me' and not 'recommend me a record player' :roll:

Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB

nicklouse

Get a Project that suits your budget. Does your amp have a phono pre stage (amp) built in? A pair of inputs will be labeled phono and there will be a earth point. If not you will need to buy one.

Enjoy.

symo

Rega or Pro-Ject at that price.

I have 2 technics 1210s, which is a seriously underrated Turntable, bought for DJing but now I use one for playback.

thegreatdivide

Still running a pair of 1210's bought second hand in 1995.

As for ripping to digital, one of those mp3 decks is probably OK but I wouldn't hold out for a quality needle on the end.

I still buy and play records. If I shifted my collection I could probably buy a Legend for every day of the week but I can't part with them - much to the other half's dismay. One room's full of bikes, the other's full of records!

bartman100

thanks all. Should maybe have mentioned that I'm happy to go second hand.

eric_draven

I have a project debut2 it has been great,and great sound,cost me about £140 12 years ago,i think some of the newer ones come with a built in pre-amp but not 100% sure,i am going to get round to buying a pre-amp with a usb.got so much i want to put on to my ipod,that is now on vinyl,would love a rega P3 but funds not allowing for the forseable future

cesco

Can't go wrong with a 1210. If you buy anything second hand, replace the cartridge with a new one.

jezzpalmer

I have Rega P3, for which I traded a 1210 in for 20 years ago; I recently upgraded the motor on it.

Project & Rega have some good decks for not much money.

nicklouse

PBlakeney wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

I'm looking for a deck to convert into MP3 files.

I simply bought a cable which connected the "Tape Out" in my amp to the "Mic In" on my laptop and recorded them that way.
It takes a while though as it has to be done in real time and you have to stop between tracks but it is possible.
To be honest though, it would be so much quicker ripping CDs that it is worth the expense of buying the CDs, or even simpler, downloading the tracks.
Unless you have records that are not available in any other format of course.

Exactly. If you can buy if again. Cheaper and better quality.

symo

I sometimes look here : http://www.originlive.com/technics-1200 ... ply-2.html
and think should I?

arthur_scrimshaw

Second hand Linn LP12

drlodge

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

Second hand Linn LP12

Oh yes, a classic. In fact you don't need to use it, just buy one to stare at its elegance.

apreading

Or, if you can't afford the LP12, the Axis is pretty good...

arthur_scrimshaw

drlodge wrote:

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

Second hand Linn LP12

Oh yes, a classic. In fact you don't need to use it, just buy one to stare at its elegance.

I bought mine in 1979, cost me the princely sum of £340 (plus I had to buy the Basik arm and cartridge) Had a few upgrades from then but spread over 35 years it's quite a good investment.