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Vintage Entry Level Options

As long as you don't buy something that wrecks your records you can still play them when you can upgrade. You haven't mentioned any of the usual culprits (i.e.Crosley), so buy whatever feels right.

A bad stylus on the best table will damage an LP, so better to have a cheap one in known-good condition.

Budget for some microfiber cloths for cleaning and some cleaning fluid which you can make.
 
Bryan Davies said:
I'm leaning toward the u-turn orbit now as it seems that if i have any issues, I will be able to contact the company directly and solve the issue. If something were to go wrong with a vintage however, I feel as if i would have more trouble as I am well below handy in fixing things in general, let alone machinery such as a turntable. Thoughts on that type of rationale?
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Bryan, as you've probably noticed, there's been some technical difficulties at AK headquarters and some recent posts have been lost for the moment. They'll probably get the rest of them back up soon, but if not, let me know how far you had read into what I was posting here for you, and I'll see if I can get us caught up so you can get your records spinning.
 
After much back and forth, I've gone with the pl-12d. All I've read about it seems to be positive and fits what I'm looking for almost exactly. I was coming across people saying that going with a vintage, it's very important to go with a vintage receiver and vintage speakers...any opinions on that?
 
Bryan Davies said:
After much back and forth, I've gone with the pl-12d. All I've read about it seems to be positive and fits what I'm looking for almost exactly. I was coming across people saying that going with a vintage, it's very important to go with a vintage receiver and vintage speakers...any opinions on that?
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Hell yeah, dude! :thumbsup:

I noticed that the listing had ended. I was wondering if it was yours, or if someone else reading this thread snagged it.

No, you don't need vintage stereo or speakers. How we talked about setting it up before will work just fine. If you find yourself in the market for a receiver/stereo in the future, a Phono In would be a nice feature, but with the phono preamp you'll be using for now you can carry it over to any receiver that has RCA inputs.

Vintage speakers, while nice, can also be a PITA because they require recaps and refoaming the surrounds and stuff. Stuff you probably don't want to get into at the moment. There are plenty of great modern speakers out there that won't require any of that if you want to replace your current C3s in the future.
 
Even if you just got the stylus, you'd definitely want to at least verify its alignment, which would require almost all of the work that new AT95 would.

If it was me, I'd get the AT95E. It's totally new, it's a great sounding cartridge, plus it has upgradability.

So, what about a preamp? Any decisions yet?

Btw, I think you made a great choice getting that pioneer. That's a really nice machine. Take good care of it, and you may be passing it on to your own kids.
 
I think i'm gonna go with behringer microphono pp400. It seems to do the same job as the other pre-amp, but i save $20. The 95e gets a good amount of praise as a cartridge replacement for the pl-12d, but is replacing the cartridge really something a newbie should be doing?
 
Bryan Davies said:
I think i'm gonna go with behringer microphono pp400. It seems to do the same job as the other pre-amp, but i save $20. The 95e gets a good amount of praise as a cartridge replacement for the pl-12d, but is replacing the cartridge really something a newbie should be doing?
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Absolutely. Learning how to replace a cartridge (which really isn't that difficult) helps you get familiar with what makes a turntable work. Everyone who has a record player here was a noob at changing the cartridge until the first time they did it.

If you can work a small slot-screwdriver, and have a set of tweezers handy to help change the four wires on the pins (pull off-plug in) then you're ready. Patience, like I mentioned before, is the only thing you'll need a little experience in. Getting the alignment is tricky at first, but once you get the idea, it's pretty easy.

We'll walk you through it.

In the mean time, download the "stupid protractor" from vinylengine and print it at exactly 100% full size. You'll need that to set the alignment properly. Don't take that name of the protractor personally, that's just what they call it. LOL Same one I, and many others of us use.

Also, have a look at this video of a standard turntable setup that one of our other members made. It'll help you get familiar with what you'll be doing to yours once it all arrives.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=457897

Now, as far as when you go to set up your system. You'll want to keep your speakers a decent distance from the turntable - not miles, or anything extravagant, but at least a few feet. The farther away, the better so the sound doesn't interfere with the cartridge and the bass doesn't shake the turntable too much. Yours is suspended, so the vibration is a little less of an issue.
 
"Platter, mat and belt is under the base and bubble wrapped. Tonearm counterweight packed separately and tonearm secured to the stand with a rubber band. Cords bubble wrapped together (so they don't scratch anything). Turntable bubble wrapped and firmly wedged into the box with 1" thick corrugated cardboard on top and sides. Let me know if anything goes wrong. Thanks!" This is how he packaged the table, sounds like he knows what he's doing with shipping.
 
Bryan Davies said:
"Platter, mat and belt is under the base and bubble wrapped. Tonearm counterweight packed separately and tonearm secured to the stand with a rubber band. Cords bubble wrapped together (so they don't scratch anything). Turntable bubble wrapped and firmly wedged into the box with 1" thick corrugated cardboard on top and sides. Let me know if anything goes wrong. Thanks!" This is how he packaged the table, sounds like he knows what he's doing with shipping.
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Sounds good, dude.

So, now that the turntable is on its way, how long do you think til you get it?
 
While you're ordering the AT95E, you might as well throw in a record brush and a stylus brush - the AT95 doesn't include a stylus brush in the box.

As long as your records are already clean, a record brush should be sufficient to keep the dust and lint off.

Velvet or carbon fiber, your choice.
 
Bryan Davies said:
I'm definitely going to get the stylus brush but not sure about the record brush. Are there better ways to clean records?
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How much do you have left to spend? LOL

ADESKVC.jpg


Realistically, there's a great thread here that goes through the best way to clean records:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/record-cleaning-youre-doing-it-wrong.689430/
 
PL12d is a good place to start. But look, you need to actually go see these things and spin them to see if they have issues... Best is a good working example of any of them. Good/bad reviews mean little if it does not work right ...

Changing a stylus (needle) is not hard. Needs a bit of care, but it is always best to start there.

Changing whole cartridge and doing alignment is way further up the difficulty chain ...

First round cleaning of old records - Windex and cut down paint brush on an old towel. Spritz, brush round and round, don't push down too hard. Use another old towel to dry off. You'll see the gunk that comes off. Play record. If it's decent and no worn track, bad skips, etc. You can clean a second time with a better solution (look up record cleaning solutions). But the Windex approach will save your stylus from most dirt/goo and allow you to quickly clean vinyl enough for a good preview :)
 
Brocluno, you would suggest against changing whole cartridge? There's an empire 2002 on there currently, not sure if any good styli would go with that.
 
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