Budget Vinyl Rigs

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by Merrick, Feb 26, 2016.

  1. Pyruvate

    Pyruvate Friend

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  2. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Haha, I was JUST looking at the Project website and trying to plan when I can get the basic Debut. I wish U-turn had a motor that worked with 50 and 60Hz mains. I'd buy that wooden one in a heartbeat!
     
  3. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    So, Uturn is using solid wood plinths and VPI is using wood-grain vinyl wraps.

    It is a crazy mixed up world. o_O
     
  4. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    So I ended up picking up a Technics SL-D2 with a Shure M44MB and a custom-made phono stage from @fredeb. I had an opportunity to sit and A/B the deck against FLAC on the same system and was very pleasantly surprised, I must say. Although soundstage was wider with better separation via digital, it was relatively shallow and had me feeling like I was listening to the speakers. Switching to vinyl gave a narrower stage and less separation but an immediate impression of much greater depth with the result that the speakers disappeared and I was immersed in the music. It was quite remarkable the difference.

    We delayed my wife's birthday celebration until today, so this morning she got to finally 'open' her gift...she was absolutely stoked, and the deck sounds great, humble though it may be. Thanks @fredeb, with your help I knocked this one out of the park \/. Talking Heads on vinyl for breakfast FTW! It's been a loooooong time:).

    20161209_065156 (2).jpg
     
  5. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Most turntables use the same motor and just have a different pulley to accommodate the different frequency. Use this in the meantime.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K7UZ0VG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_94MsybCXBKEN5
     
  6. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Found a great site;

    http://www.theobjectiveturntable.com/

    So far he only has three tables and the winner is the Music Hall. He also places the Uturn above the Pro-ject. Something we can all appreciate are the measurements he has and tweaks you can do to reduce rumble and some other issues.
     
  7. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Well, the guys over at u turn recommended a frequency inverter like this:
    http://www.kensclockclinic.com/products/1930-115v/
    Which was a bit too much money. But if you say that a cheaper thing like that would work just as well, that makes things interesting again
     
  8. powermatic

    powermatic Friend

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    It's odd though, that even with all of his testing and seeming detail orientation, there's this from Uturn (my bold):

    "Hi Dan,
    Here are our service tech's notes on this repair:
    "returned spindle, platter, belt. no cart cover but stylus appears fine (giant dust ball crusted on). belt wasn't wandering too too much. platter is ok. spindle is tight - replaced. belt has low freq - replaced. no belt wandering and WF has improved to less than .15"

    I checked this out when it came in, and was surprised to see that the belt wander was much less than in your video. This makes me wonder if maybe you are twisting it a bit during installation. (My response: Before this last return belt would start out ok, then increase wandering dramatically over a few hours of use). Also surprised to see all the debris on the stylus - did you hear this at all?(My response: yes, but I didn't want to damage the stylus by cleaning it...What method do you recommend?)".


    So, rather than just googling 'how to clean a stylus', you're just going to let the Giant Ball Of Stylus Crud build up until it finally splits off, lands on your foot and breaks a toe? Kinda makes his "Listening Tests" just a little suspect.

    Playing vinyl, at least from an "audiophile" perspective, is fussy as f**k. If you don't enjoy,or at least aren't willing to do, all the tasks needed to maximize the resolution of this very mechanical form of music reproduction, you'll be far better off to invest that vinyl money into the DAC of your dreams. And that includes cleaning off the damn stylus.
     
  9. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    So ... I find myself in possession of a Jotunhiem with phono-module ... for the office. It'd be fun to add a turntable to that setup; even if it won't get that much use compared to my at-home rig. The question at hand is fairly simple:

    With a desire to keep this thing under $1,000 (since a MAJOR primary-turntable upgrade is now pending) ... Pro-Ject or Rega?

    Or should I just say "f**k-it" and put my current Pro-Ject RPM 9.2 EVO in the office and then buy something profane for my main rig?
     
  10. Pyruvate

    Pyruvate Friend

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    Honestly, I'd say to just grab a Uturn orbit. In my opinion, they are a better buy than the project/ rega. With all the trimmings, you'll be under $400 for sure. They have a nicer wood finish now too for a little extra. It'll be perfect for the office.
     
  11. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    The U-Turn stuff is tempting, at least on price and aesthetics ... I am having trouble getting my head around that tonearm though ... how many parts are in that?

    Have you heard the current Orbit (genuine question)?
     
  12. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I've heard the first gen orbit and thought it was an excellent entry level table, keeping in mind that I think most other entry level tables aren't worth much. For casual listening I think it's hard to beat.
     
  13. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    That being said I recommend your second option of upgrading your main rig and migrating your current table to the office. :D
     
  14. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    I'd like to know what you think is "profane". But that maybe beyond the scope of this thread.
     
  15. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    The Pro-ject / Rega / Orbit conundrum has been discussed some in this thread:
    http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...equired-for-a-good-turntable.2957/#post-90503

    My takeaway is to stray away from the Regas, and that Pro-ject is generally more overpriced than the Orbit... Some of the issues with the lower-end Pro-jects are discussed there.
     
  16. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    If I was going to go that route (which is awfully tempting), then, say, 10x what my current vinyl setup is worth.

    And there was me thinking that the "classic British" Rega Planar 3 was still considered "very good value". Of course, at the time/in-the-day, I bought a Linn Axis instead anyway. Though I tend to prefer mass-loaded rather than suspended stuff these days.
     
  17. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Turntable for an office rig!

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Almost convinced myself to go with the U-Turn Orbit ... and then saw it's a two-week BTO deal regardless of what config I went with (would probably be black, with the acrylic platter, lever and Ortofon 2M Red).

    A little more looking around and I wound up incrementalizing myself up to a VPI Scout Jr. - at which point I've left the realm of "novelty for the office". So now it's either muster some common sense and patience, or do something silly! Unfortunately I do "silly" really well ...

    But, your collective comments did give me pause to take a longer look at the entry-level Pro-Ject and Rega stuff and discount those for this application!
     
  19. MoatsArt

    MoatsArt Friend

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    @Torq

    [​IMG]

    In the past few days I've seen you use the following three words in quotation marks: "office" "work" "silly". In the contexts you used them I interpreted them as analogous to the modifier "ostensible".

    1. Your so-called work - What do you do? Quality control at a bakery? Experimental brain surgery? Dolphin wrangling?
    2. Your co-called office - Where do you work? Is it a tropical island? A mad scientist's basement? A bar?
    3. Your so-called silly purchases - Ahem.... What do you do? Where do you work? How can I get in on some of the action?
     
  20. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    LOL!

    I "make the tea" ...

    Quality control at a bakery? I'm not a donut tester, if that's what you mean!? ;)

    I "work" in a number of fields across several domains, mostly with a technology bias (both hardware and software), and I en-quote "work" since it's more like play than any actual hard slog. Benefits of a misspent youth that, out of entirely blind-luck, just happened to leave me well prepared for some interesting niche professional pursuits. Along the way I've earned a modest number of interesting patents, which have worked out quite well.

    I mean "silly" as in "not smart" rather than to trivialize them.
     

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