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Technics SL-5200

R

RJCJR

New Member
Hey all - new to group and curious what the general consensus is on a vintage Technics SL-5200 I recently got out of storage. Currently w well kept Stanton 881S. I have a Rotel system w B&W speakers.
1) Is this still considered a decent turntable for getting back into my vinyl?
2) what is the reco to connect the analog turntable to a preamp that doesn’t specify phono?
 
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Sure it is a decent tt, and a very well regarded cartridge.
Since you already own it plug it in and give it a spin.
You are going to need a phono preamp to get a useable signal,
you can spend as little as $20 or $200, or $2k. Have fun.
 
ESP said:
Sure it is a decent tt, and a very well regarded cartridge.
Since you already own it plug it in and give it a spin.
You are going to need a phono preamp to get a useable signal,
you can spend as little as $20 or $200, or $2k. Have fun.
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Thanks for the info. I tried to get to TY going some time ago w my Rotel pre-amp and a phono PA. Signal didn’t seem to get through and maybe I was doing something incorrectly, so will try again…
 
RJCJR said:
Thanks for the note. Great to know!
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That stanton stylus is damn near worth it's weight in gold, there are virtually no oem left. One of the best, enjoy it.

Unless you are only playing pristine records i might invest in a more disposable stylus to use.
 
Thats great tto hear. Will check it out under a scope and consider. What is your opinion as the best replacement stylus for this cartridge?
 
Best, D81 – JICO
I have not used one so I am only going by the accolades of users of
Jico styli across many different brands of cartridges.
Nothing is going to be as good as an original stylus unfortunately.
 
Best course of action if needed, is to get it retipped. That way you save the original suspension and cantilever. I reccommend Joseph Long in Hartford.
 
Seeking advice on TT stand placement and length of leads from TT pre > main pre.
- what is the max length phono extension cables? Ground?
- what is the closest a well isolated TT on a steady, heavy and isolated stand?
Thanks!
 
RJCJR said:
- what is the max length phono extension cables? Ground?
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Usually you'll only need to connect the ground cable to the phono stage. And a well-designed phono stage should have no problems with a cable length of several metres to the pre-amp. I'd suggest you to buy an interconnect of sufficient length rather than working with an extension cable, though.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
lini said:
Usually you'll only need to connect the ground cable to the phono stage. And a well-designed phono stage should have no problems with a cable length of several metres to the pre-amp. I'd suggest you to buy an interconnect of sufficient length rather than working with an extension cable, though.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
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Thanks, Lini! That is great info. I plan on having the TT go into a Cambridge Audio Duo - with 3.5 meters of high end phono cables to the preamp. Is that suffice and sound? What do you mean by interconnect - can you suggest a product or cable line?
 
RJCJR said:
(...) with 3.5 meters of high end phono cables to the preamp. Is that suffice and sound? What do you mean by interconnect - can you suggest a product or cable line?
Click to expand...

Well, that's a matter of personal preference. I.e., personally I use the term "phono cable" only for a signal cable between a turntable and a phono stage (integrated or separate) or an MC step-up transformer - be it captive or not. Whereas for a typical 2x RCA to 2x RCA stereo/twin cable for line-level signals I prefer the term "interconnect". Main reason being, that an audio cable for line-level use may, but not necessarily has to also be good for phono.

Well, and while I personally would also avoid all too cheap, questionable audio cables, in my view "high end" audio cables very often are questionable, too - be that merely in terms of price-performance or also regarding technical aspects. Simply because a perfectly suitable audio cable doesn't have to be very expensive.

Can't really help you with specific recommendations, though - foremost because I'm not really familiar with US cable brands/makers, but also because I prefer to make most of my audio cables myself (so I can choose the connectors, cable type and length, that I deem optimal for the specific pupose).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
The preferred setup would be the preamp as close the TT as practical, then the amp/receiver can be further away.

My TT's are connected to the Preamp with a little more than half a meter of cable and then preamp to the receiver is roughly a 6-7 meters:

fr_5931.jpg

(my preamps are the two black boxes in the center between the TT's)

The reasoning is the TT puts out a very low voltage signal, so you don't want it to travel any further than it needs to reach the preamp. The preamp sends out a line level signal, which can deal much better with the losses that can be encountered traveling a larger distance. It's all about feeding your amp/receiver a good, strong, clean source signal.

Interconnect is the RCA cable. Bascially, anything that's not speaker wire to the speakers is an "interconnect". An interconnect "connects" all your various pieces of audio equipment to the receiver/amp. I make my own cables, but you should look for good shielding, decent wire gauge, good strain relief, at least gold plated ends and good solid rca connectors that won't go "weak" after a few disconnection/re-connections . If they list it, you should prefer internal connections to be soldered for long term reliability.

Higher cost does not always equal higher quality. Nor does thick heavy cables always mean high quality. I build my own, so I can't recommend a particular brand.

You only need to "ground" the TT to the first component in the chain to eliminate "hum". In this case, that would be the preamp.

Good luck.
 
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Ok, thanks.
My latest issue is the path of TT > CA Duo > Rotel RSP-1066 pre seems all legit.
I tried both the “tape” and “video2” inputs on the rotel and NO sound or barely any when input to tape. The length of phono cable is what was originally designed as is, about 1m length. I understand what an interconnect is and I the cable I note has been prescribed by an audio tech and I do not think it is the problem. I understand the correct ground here, so nothing not known in this equation, just a v low signal.
Will try headphones from the CA Duo as a process of elimination.
 
This rotel is one of those that have an on screen display no? Do you have that set up? I wonder if there's some internal mute or something...
 
I just swapped carts and everything seems to work w an Audio-Technica A6 and set the CA Duo to MC and it works.
That begs the question that has the Stanton 881E gone bad? I sure hope not and curious if there is a way to test it?
 
RJCJR said:
I just swapped carts and everything seems to work w an Audio-Technica A6 and set the CA Duo to MC and it works.
That begs the question that has the Stanton 881E gone bad? I sure hope not and curious if there is a way to test it?
Click to expand...
A meter will tell you if the cart is in electrical spec, inductance etc. There's not much that can fail in a mm cart, maybe the magnet has shifted on the cantilever?

You may need another stylus and/or cart to figure out which is bad if that's indeed the issue. Carts without styli are accessible.
 
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