Sorry to bother you all...hope it's not a waste of your time...

But I was able to get back to my parent's home and bring back some boxes of my mother's old vinyl, so I wanted to go ahead and invest in a turntable. I've got the Outlaw 1070 coming in the mail along with some custom built speakers with ribbon drivers so I'm pretty excited.

Either way, knowing next to nothing about turntables, I don't know where to start. Every search I run seems to come up with DJ-style looking turntables. I don't have a problem with them...they look nice (Numark TT200, Stanton T.60) but I don't want to get one of these if it'll make me a dork with a turntable that I don't use. Are one of these sufficient for casual listening or do I need to be looking at more 'casual' lines.

Also, if I could understand a few more things...
:: how does one go about discerning quality in cartridges?

:: and, while my new receiver doesn't have a phono input, it does allow 'analog bypass' allowing the information to go through no decoding. How does this fall with a preamp? Is that something that is a must, or just more important for better sound?

Again, I'm so sorry to come to this forum with such a lack of information, but several days of searches have turned up a very minimal amount of information.

Thanks always.
Joel.

Welcome to AK Joel.

It might be better for you if you modified this post and ask one question at a time, so one of your questions does not get lost. You can post a TT/cartridge question in TT&Tape, a preamp question separately, in General Audio, etc. Multi question threads tend to go off in too many directions and the original questions tend to get lost in the shuffle.

Cheers,
Joe

It sounds like you will need to pick up a separate phono preamp to connect into your receiver.

For the price you will pay for the Numark turntable, you should be able to find something vintage that is of equal or better quality that doesn't have a DJ look to it.

A technics sl1200mk2/3d/5 arent bad at all, have a dj look to them, but if you leave the dust cover on, they fit right in.

Be careful that you don't get an actual DJ turntable. A lot of those are designed for back-cueing and scratch mixing and the tonearm to groove geometry is all wrong for your purposes. You will damage your vinyl in short order. Better to get a good vintage TT like a Technics or Kenwood etc. There are plenty out there. The archives on this forum are full of infomation on this subject. Best.:music:

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for all the advice (and keeping it simple).

So, to go with keeping this post tt-specific: Thom, your last post is what interests me most. Most obviously I want the tt for casual listening only...but in my room, and in my rack, one of the more modern players would look much better than one of the vintage ones. That's why the Numark and Stanton had some appeal...their more modern appearances.

So what do I need to look for (or stay away from) to keep from getting a player that will contain specifics that will hurt the vinyl or make listening a pain.

Is one of the cheaper ($100ish) dj-looking tables going to carry the design features that will hurt (or are they too low end on the dj side that they won't carry such)?

Thanks always.
Joel.

If you go to a website such as needledoctor, you will notice that they have a separate section for DJ Turntables and DJ gear. Some of the turntables are definitely specifically made for DJing and feature shorter tonearms. You definitely want to avoid those. Although something like a Technics SL-1200 MK2 can be a good entry table. There are plenty of ideas on what you could get in the section simply titled "Turntables"

http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/DJ-Equipment;jsessionid=ac112b1d1f439e0aecf792d04b419 b49832f6556066d.e3iKaNePch4Re34NaheQc34Rchz0

Here's a description of the kind of table you want to avoid:

Surpassing the industry standard for starting torque, the iTT provides a heavy duty 2.2kg/cm CPU controlled motor system, which is sure to satisfy both beat mixing DJs as well as scratch enthusiasts. The +/-10% variable pitch slide control allows for precise adjustments, and the solid aluminum platter features easy glide grooves for quick and easy pitch bend manipulation. The iTT also features a height-adjustable (up to 6mm) straight tone arm system, for superior tracking and skip resistance under the most strenuous conditions.

So these things would be to stay away from?...

:: straight and short tonearms
:: high starting torque
:: straight motor driven
:: pitch control (as long as I leave it unadjusted, will it hurt?)

And again, am I dumb for going this route (worrying about looks secondly after playability). I hate to, but'll it'll be sitting out in the open, in a nice room, next to some very modern equipment.

As always, thanks.

stick to a belt drive, all manual vintage turntable

Pitch control is a good thing, that's what allows you to adjust the correct speed. I was referring mainly to a tables that are accompanied with DJ style lingo such as scratching, battle mode etc...

I think that a direct drive Technics table could be an option also. It comes down to a matter of personal preference. After being exposed to a number of different models and types of turntables, some people end up preferring certain styles over others. Some swear by belt driven, while others are believers in idle wheel driven, and some will take a liking to the trouble free dependability of a good quality direct drive player.

And again, am I dumb for going this route (worrying about looks secondly after playability). I hate to, but'll it'll be sitting out in the open, in a nice room, next to some very modern equipment.Do you have a budget? How about a nice Denon TT. Not really vintage looking and not overly modern looking just great looking. Here's what they look like.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29557&d=1162593836

If you are not against buying a used one, check out Ebay, or site like this where they have a "for sale" section. But of course it is "buyer beware" with Ebay sellers. A good TT with little or no set up is a Technics Linear Tracking such as an SLDL-2. They feature a P-mount tone arm in which you simply plug in a P-mount cartridge and play. I have two and they've given me reliable service for 20+ years and they still look contemporary. I have a number of other TTs I use throughout the house for various purposes from pristine LPs to old Edison vertical cut discs. I've not been too impressed with the looks or specs of these Numarks and Stanton turntables and I am a fan of Stanton carts. Some of the new stuff they're peddling out there is nothing more than cheap plastic junk that couldn't hold a candle to vintage gear produced in 60s and 70s. Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a rant there. :rant: However, that said, I am inclined to choose based on how a TT plays vinyl and not on how it looks in my studio. Just my two cents worth. Good hunting.

:: straight and short tonearms
:: high starting torque
:: straight motor driven
:: pitch control (as long as I leave it unadjusted, will it hurt?)


Nothing wrong with a straight tone arm. I have one here on a Technics tt, and one on an Onkyo tt.

High starting torque, nothing wrong with that either.

I assume you mean Direct Drive, and again, Technics had some great Direct Drive turntables. I have one that is 25 years old and never had to change a belt. :D

Pitch contol, excellent.

The only problem buying a turntable on ebay is that 95% of the sellers don't know how to pack a turntable so that it won't be damaged in transit. There is a thread here somewhere about how to properly pack a turntable. You might refer the seller to that thread, and even offer to pay extra to have it done right.

Jrcarter,

What is your budget? Very important for folks here to know, so the discussion can stay within bounds. Also, state whether your purchase has to be new. This will eliminate the talk about used and vintage gear.

If you haven't found this site yet then check it out. I've linked direct to the budget TT section.
http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Budget-Turntables

There are standard TT's there that to me don't look bad to me, and are made for regular household use. At least the money you spend on these goes into proper tonearm geometry and perhaps better quality as they are simple,i.e. you are not paying for all the bells and whistles on those so-called DJ tables where they have to cheapen out on other things. I say so-called, because I don't think a real professional DJ will be using a 200$ TT . I think these cheap DJ things are using looks and marketing hype on the DJ fad to sell tables. How functional they are I have no idea.

Some of these TT's have a built in phono preamp, which means you can plug it directly to one of your receivers spare inputs (aux, CD, tape in etc). If there is no built in preamp, then you have to get an external phono preamp or a receiver or amplifier with a Phono-in jack.

I noticed the Audio-Technica PL50 has an integrated phono cartridge. This will limit your ability to change or upgrade the cartridge later. I would avoid that myself.

My views are based on being on the downhill side of the life cycle and prefer to play with the vintage stuff for the fun of fixing them up and getting good quality for cheap. I can understand the need though for a no fuss plug and play solution. I don't know about those DJ tables, but based on the comments so far, unless you do understand the design of those things, and if you have no need for scratching and battling ? etc., stay away and buy a normal turntable.

Maybe some of the younger crowd here may have some other views and informed knowledge :D
Good luck.

Good advice.:thmbsp:

There is some confusion about what is meant by straight tonearm. DJ tables meant for back cuing have arms that are straight -- no offset angle to the cartridge. The reason for that is that you can reverse the rotation without the arm jumping, but it is at the expense of terrible geometry, so you really need to use a conical stylus.
The straight arms that you find on audio turntables are straight as opposed to S or J shape, but still have the headshell offset at an angle so tracking error is minimized. The advantage of a straight arm of this type is the potential for lower mass than an equivalent S or J shape. With high compliance cartridges or with warped records, that could be a good thing.
I agree with the posters who have suggested given a price range, and to add to that, some suggestions about what sort of sound you like, and how fiddly you are.