[bundee1]

I stopped by my moms house to drop her off at the airport and what do I find? My old turntable and mixer from high school. Its a cheap Gemini DD20 semi automatic direct drive turntable. Man I had about 50 house, hip hop, and techno records. The thing is my house flooded a few times and the only records left are a New Order "Blue Monday" 12" single, and an Afrikaa Bambataa "Planet Rock" single. I abused the heck out of that TT and the records. Back to the future.
Im broke now (check out my modest system), so I cant afford a new budget TT but I want to listen to my rare Baby Huey and the Babysitters LP. Without knowing what condition or what kind of cartridge(mm or mc?) I have is it safe to play my record?
How would I find out? How do I set the counterweight and all that jazz? Anyone know of an analog newbie resource? Thanks for all the help!

 

[zowie]

A lot of trouble to play two records -- do you know someone who can burn CDs for you?

 

[bundee1]

I hooked it up and played the Baby Huey LP and boy did it sound like crap. I took a look at it and found out I got ripped, sort of. I found that record in a bin on a street and bought it for $12. It said sealed on it and I thought WOW what a deal. After I played it and it sounded like crap, I took a closer look to find it was pretty scratched and sounded like it was worn. I played my 2 other remaining records and they sounded pretty good even though they were warped (damn flood). They were just a little sibilant in the highs. Oh well now to find a good budget deck and some good LPs