Finally!

[Catcher]

I got a TT! Linn Basik with Akito arm. Been playing vinyl all afternoon it beats CDs hands down and Id take the Pepsi challenge on that.

 

[apatN]

Beautiful. Enjoy!
Don't think I will ever change to vinyl though. Way too expensive and digital is so much more convenient.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Nice setup, welcome to the "FINALLY" club.

 

[-=Germania=-]

Seeing as I went threw 3 tables in less than 5 months.
Finally going to keep this one for a while.

It Never ENDS!

Just use digital to listen to "test tracks" and if you really like it, get the Vinyl.
Classical, Jazz, and Vocal on Vinyl is magic compared to the digital counterparts IMO.

 

[Catcher]

I couldn't agree more Germania. I listened to Joan Sutherland and Mozart and Bach all afternoon yesterday and it is 'different'. Once the initial cost of getting a TT set up is paid for its going to be a lot cheaper for me. I picked up 4 albums yesterday for 50p each and only one was scratched. I live in central London so I have bargains galore waiting for me.
Can't wait to get some jazz.

 

[-=Germania=-]

I recently picked up a lot of Karajan and Berstein recordings of mostly Vienna school and Russian composers along with some Joan Sutherland and Perlman solos.

Personally, really looking forward to my Mercury "Living Presence" of Resphigi's Pines and Fountains of Rome. Two of my favorite pieces to listen to as well as play and personally I like playing 4th horn better than playing 1st on this piece as you need a 5 and a half octave range!

Would like to get some large choir with orchestra Masterworks, but they seem to be extremely hard to come by as well as some lesser recorded Opera stars since I usually like Dramatic Sopranos and Mezzo's.

 

[Catcher]

I would imagine the Karajan would be fairly easy to come across with all those deutsche grammophon and EMI issues floating about. Have you had any experience of how Mono recordings sound? Like you I'd like to get some old Opera recordings and some Furtwangler recordings but I think some of them might be Mono. I'll see for myself soon enough for about £1.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catcher /img/forum/go_quote.gif I live in central London so I have bargains galore waiting for me. Can't wait to get some jazz.

Congratulations, the Linn Basik is a very decent deck. That Akito arm is £700+ on it's own these days

Is that a K9 on the end of it? I used to use one of those. It's basically a rebadged Audio Technica which was made for Linn back in the '80s and '90s, so if you like the sound of it you can still get an AT110 brand new for 30 quid, which is about the same quality. Audio Technica carts generally sound good through Linn equipment, as do Sumiko at the budget moving coil end of the market.
If you are going to play a lot of '50s mono records you might want to look at something like a Stanton 681EEE which has a range of different styli to suit different records. Older mono records are cut differently so a wider stylus is beneficial. I use a Denon DL-103 which has a pretty basic stylus but sounds good with these.

I also live in London and there are loads of good record shops still around although they are going through tough times, so it's well worth actually going there and supporting them while they still exist.

For Classical there is a great shop called Gramex in Lower Marsh Street behind Waterloo which is a real treasure trove having one of the best collections of classical music in the city going back to '78s and even Edison wax cylinders!

For Jazz try Mole Jazz, which used to have a whole floor of Jazz records in Kings Cross but has now moved to Harold Moores in Great Marlborough St. Soho, another famous classical shop which is now mostly CD sadly. They sometimes have 2nd hand bargains though. I've picked up a lot of original Toscanini Decca pressings there in the past.

Then there is the famous Ray’s Jazz Shop which still exists upstairs in Folyes on Charing Cross Road. A bit more off the beaten track is Broadway Records in Dawes Road off Fulham Broadway which has a good selection of Latin, Soul and Jazz.

Other good classical record shops are the Classical (Tape And Record) Exchange in Notting Hill Gate and Oxfam Records in Marylebone High Street.

Also worth checking in Notting Hill is Honest Jons in Portobello Road which has one of the best Hi-Fi systems of any record shop, with full range Tannoy Westminsters ! Also off Portabello is Rough Trade for more recent music including some jazz and classical, and they have a 2nd shop under Slam City Skates in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden.

Sister Ray in Berwick Street, Soho appears back up and running after a recent shaky period when they moved into Selectadisc's old shop. They always have interesting new and 2nd hand stuff and lots of reasonably priced repressings.

Happy hunting.

 

[krmathis]

Looks clean. Congratulations!

 

[ghostmusic]

Catcher, mono recordings sound great with certain phono stages that have mono/stereo switches, but if you have a lot of them, you really owe it to yourself to get a mono cart to really do your LPs justice. Sounds like you're into classical, and if that's the case, your mono collection will inevitably get big.

 

[panda]

not familiar with exposure but love those speakers! one of my favs, have you tried naim in your system? linn source, naim electronics, linn speakers is supposed to be one of the best classic systems if you're into the rhythmic type sound.

i thought about getting the basik, but decided to look for a technics deck and maybe put on a roksan arm.

for jazz, look for prestige and impulse recordings, they're usually sold for dirt cheap and sound a lot better than the blue note sessions. although i have to admit some of my favorite albums are on blue note.

 

[Catcher]

Meme, that was a VERY helpful post. Thanks for taking the time to do that. I've printed it out to keep in my bag so I can call at these places on my travels round.

I was thinking about the Denon DL-103 as the cartridge will need replacing/upgrading at some time. I've been recommended the Grado Gold as well. Wont be upgrading for a month or two though.

 

[Catcher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif not familiar with exposure but love those speakers! one of my favs, have you tried naim in your system? linn source, naim electronics, linn speakers is supposed to be one of the best classic systems if you're into the rhythmic type sound. i thought about getting the basik, but decided to look for a technics deck and maybe put on a roksan arm. for jazz, look for prestige and impulse recordings, they're usually sold for dirt cheap and sound a lot better than the blue note sessions. although i have to admit some of my favorite albums are on blue note.

I love my Linn Kans to death. It'll be a sad day when they bite the dust and I can't fix/replace parts. I have no desire whatsoever to change/upgrade them.

I know theres good synergy between Linn and Naim, I used to have a Naim set up (sold to go travelling) but Exposure are cut from the same cloth. Linn/Naim/Exposure all have their adherents. If I had to replace the amp I'd think about Naim but I'm happy with the current set up.

The floors that system stands on is a bit shaky so Im thinking the next thing to buy might be a big slab of marble to put underneath that deck and a clamp.

Given the advice I've got here might also look at a phono stage that does mono at some point.

 

[robm321]

Congratulations Catcher!! And welcome to the fold

 

[Catcher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif not familiar with exposure but love those speakers! one of my favs, have you tried naim in your system? linn source, naim electronics, linn speakers is supposed to be one of the best classic systems if you're into the rhythmic type sound. i thought about getting the basik, but decided to look for a technics deck and maybe put on a roksan arm. for jazz, look for prestige and impulse recordings, they're usually sold for dirt cheap and sound a lot better than the blue note sessions. although i have to admit some of my favorite albums are on blue note.

I love my Linn Kans to death. It'll be a sad day when they bite the dust and I can't fix/replace parts. I have no desire whatsoever to change/upgrade them.

I know theres good synergy between Linn and Naim, I used to have a Naim set up (sold to go travelling) but Exposure are cut from the same cloth. Linn/Naim/Exposure all have their adherents. If I had to replace the amp I'd think about Naim but I'm happy with the current set up.

The floors that system stands on is a bit shaky so Im thinking the next thing to buy might be a big slab of marble to put underneath that deck and a clamp.

Given the advice I've got here might also look at a phono stage that does mono at some point.