Re: [ARSCLIST] turntable recommendations

[eugene audio <eugeneaudio@xxxxxxxxx>]

13 June 2005
    That's funny - the statement about the Thorens
crashing into the dumpster being the best sound it
ever
made.

   I've had a few of the Thorens 124's and 160's.
I never liked them much. I've also had a thousand
 other turntables over the years.
   If you want to buy new, I lke the Technics
1200Mk2. We just received a new one here at work.
They have improved the feet and chassis to
help isolate external vibrations. And they
have a simple adjustment to set tonearm height.
IT IS NOT SEMI-AUTOMATIC, only manual. But it
is a nice heavy turntable that should give many
years of reliable use. At $450. it leaves money for a
good cartridge compared to much more expensive tables.


  If you want to buy used, I have a Technics 1700
at home which is an auto-return model.(not for sale)
It's ok, but
not as nice as the 1200. They also made a model
(1900?) which was an automatic version of the 1200.
But buying used may put you into another situation
where you might have problems. Some older turntables
developed problems with the cueing mechanisms which
caused the stylus to scratch across the record during
auto-return. Some were easy to service, some not.

  What I like about the 1200 is that you can listen
to your records as the debates flow back
and forth comaring/contrasting belt drives, platform
isolated tonearms, S-shape or straight tonearms,
linear tracking arms, la de da, la de da .......

  My opinion is, buy a turnatble with plenty of
weight/mass and a sturdy toearm, then put your money
into the cartridge which is where most of the sound
characteristic comes from.

  I'm NOT a big Technics/Panasonic fan. But they
did consistently make some nice turntables. And
some cheap ones too.

Chris
@eugene-audio





--- James Lindner <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I would like to get a turntable for personal use -
> not for restoration, just
> to play back some of my personal collection of LP's
> for personal listening.
> No transcription disks or anything fancy - just for
> home use, no "DJ
> Scratching" - just playing some old disks in
> reasonably good condition.
>
> I want something that has good isolation, that may
> be the most important
> issue where my turntable is located. People will
> walk on the floor nearby -
> it is unavoidable. Nothing huge - it has to fit on a
> normal "entertainment
> center" shelf.
>
> I hate hum - I had to throw away a thorens 145c -
> worst hum in history and I
> could not get it out of the system no matter what I
> did and no matter what I
> tried, it did however make a very nice sound as it
> smashed into the dumpster
> when dropped 20 feet - that was probably the best
> sound it ever made. I am
> not interested in another  "project" - I just want
> something out of the box
> that works.  I would prefer automatic or
> semi-automatic.
>
> Suggestions??
>
> Jim Lindner
>
> *
>