swee'pea99
Squire
I got a Ben Webster and Harry Edison LP in my local Oxfam shop yesterday for £2 - it's fantastic! (And immaculate.)
The pleasures of vinyl...
- Thread starter Melvil
- Start date
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Profpointy
Legendary Member
stick a 10p on the end of the pickup arm
<masssive topic drift> I was at my Aunt's memorial service last weekend, where I learnt that back in the day she somehow blagged three pairs of Steve Marriott's trousers for my cousin to wear.
swee'pea99
Squire
'somehow' is good.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
I figured Chris was talking about a locked groove; where the final second or two is repeated until the arm is lifted?
swee'pea99
Squire
To quote a phrase from my childhood, "Don't get stuck in the groove...stuck in the groove...stuck in the groove...stuck in the groove...stuck in the groove"
FishFright
More wheels than sense
I'm currently without a turntable , sob, but I'll be putting one together from parts over the next year or so. So for my vinyl fix I go to my friend's house and listen to LP's on one of these
A Townsend Rock Reference , sadly way out of my price range.
A Townsend Rock Reference , sadly way out of my price range.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
I'm not really into hugely expensive turntables. After all, a turntable is only as good as the record on it.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
You run into the realm of diminishing returns pretty quickly once you get past the £1,000-£1,500 mark but having said that you should end up with something that will give good performance for a long while.
I purchased my Thorens 2nd hand in 87/88 for a couple of hundred quid (sans Cartridge) and fitted an Ortofon VMS30E originally, I then uprated the 'mat' for £30 to a thicker flat one (but still a Thorens one) after a couple of new styli (needles) at @60 each I changed to a Nagaoka MP11 Boron (I couldn't get the new styli for the VMS30E any longer (obsolete) but I had managed to get hold of a 2nd 'Arm wand' (a headshell but with the attachment close to the pivot instead of at the far end) so could easily swap between the 2
Fast forward 10yrs and the arm was damaged, I could have had that replaced/repaired but I found that by then an alternative 'arm board' could be purchased that allowed a Rega arm to be fitted and for £250 had a Thorens badged RB 250 (actually called a TP250 by Thorens)
The guy who fitted it (Gev Jones owner of Sounds Around) mentioned that he'd got a Stilton Audio modified body version of the Nagaoka Cartridge in his workshop that I could have when he brought the Turntable back so I duly collected that and fitted it. A benefit of these modifications was that the 'arm lift' mechanism of the Thorens (a cable operated remote lift knob) is known to degrade the performance of the turntable (it rattles and transmits vibration from the main body of the turntable to the sub chassis) is removed.
That is the current configuration which over the years has probably cost me in the region of £1,000 but that includes new drive belts (about every 10-12yrs) half a dozen new Styli and the dedicated stand it sits on which ain't bad for 30yrs of listening pleasure and if I sold it (which I won't) it would fetch around the £450-£500 mark.
Jason
Senior Member
- Location
- Carnaby Street
yes totally into Vinyl again
My siblings and I bought a DUAL CS 505-3 turntable back in the day, and some days later (after we had all moved out) dad, threw our vinyl in the bin, to make room for his whiskey bottles.
There the turntable stayed for 20 years, not being used until my mum passed away 3 years ago. It cost £250 to get it refurbished and a new needle. Some would argue we should have bought a new direct drive unit, but in my eyes, it was money well spent on a decent belt drive old skool unit.
I bought dad a new DAB stereo,with small speakers so he can continue to listen to Radio 4, and brought the Yamaha amp, casette deck and Dual home.
my wife had some 80's pop and we listened with glee at the hiss before every track :-)
pure joy.
since then my collection is starting to grow - the latest being RagnBoneMan - human.
Why is vinyl doing so well? Taking time out to pull out a record, look at the artwork, smell the album, and finally put the record on - a sense of occasion.
Why do they sound better? - devoting your time to the listening experience.
lastly - the kids are amazed this retro "thingy" is way older than them, and now has it's picture on snapfacetwit with 100's of likes
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Jason
Senior Member
- Location
- Carnaby Street
a cheap direct drive isn't as good as a belt driven turntable with a nice heavy platter.
There really is something quite spiritual around the whole ritual of opening and playing a new vinyl LP. Those of us of a certain age are being taken back to those days when vinyl was the main format of choice.
Jason
Senior Member
- Location
- Carnaby Street
it was that and recording the top 40 on a blank cassette every Sunday evening
With everyone having to be quiet as it was recorded on a mini cassette player.
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Jason
Senior Member
- Location
- Carnaby Street
didn't you have a "music centre" complete with AV needles (made me feel like a producer in my own studio
)
