[deaby]

i want to start getting into buying LP's.. where can i find out about records and players? and what are some good ones that arent too expensive.

 

[gaineso]

The Music Hall 'tables from Audio Adviser & others are generally well recommended. From about $300.00 up.

I've got the MMF2 and love it.

 

[Anders]

Depends on what you mean with expensive. Rega is a good alternative with players at different prices. The relatively cheap P2 and P3 and more expensive as P25 and P9. Rega has recently updated the whole line so there may be new old ones for a good price.
The old P2 and P3 are upgradable with kits from Rega, I like that. Another good thing is that there are third party upgrade kits for the arm, making the cheap RB250/300 competitive with expensive arms.
This is just one suggestion, there are other alternatives in US that I have never seen in real life (Music Hall, VPI). A good alternative is also to buy an old turntable with a good deck and a good arm and put in a new cartridge.
You will probably also need a phono preamp. Most amplifiers nowadays have no phono input. May be nothing to grieve about because these were usually very cheap stages with bad performance. Don't buy a dirt cheap phono stage ($30 etc) if you want performance. Creek has a relatively cheap one and an enhanced version, there are also Musical Fidelity XPLS and the Lehmann Black Cube, which cost a little more.
If you are on a low budget, used gear (except the cartridge) is probably the only option for performance.
British magazines regularily review turntables etc (Hifi News, Hifi Choice, What Hifi, and also the less expensive models). You can also look in Stereophile, but the focus is on expensive gear.
If you get a decent turntable combination, you will be surprised by how good it sounds!

 

[deaby]

are there any webpages for newbies.. for information and stuff? and do you know any online retailers? the problem is that i know what you mean when you say cartridge stylus armweight etc.. but i dont know enough to understand how important each can be and what not.

 

[Old Pa]

Welcome to Vinyl! You are going to have funs with stuff you just can't find on CD. This is the stuff I grew up with and it's gotten much better in the last decade. Not the least of the improvement is the fact that filter down has brought good gear to lower prices. Both Stereophile and The Absolute Sound have regular budget vinyl tests and features. Try AudioAsylum's vinyl asylum.

Also, HiFi Heaven has a vinyl section with lots of articles

 

[Anders]

I can't remember any comprehensive site. I have looked around a lot and found pieces here and there. For a general introduction on turntable technology I would recommend the turntable chapter in Robert Harley's The Complete Guide to High-End Audio.
You can find some information on review sites as:
www.tnt-audio.com
www.soundstage.com

Some dealers:
www.audioadvisor.com
www.elusivedisc.com
www.britishaudio.co.uk
www.originlive.com

There seems to different views on the importance of different components. Origin Live says that you should put most on the deck. I doubt it and think that the tonearm and cartridge are most important. But of course you must also have a decent deck and phono preamp.
The cheap Rega 300B arm is class B in Stereophile. Audio Advisor doesn't mention this because they don't sell it currently.
You have to do much research, or find a good dealer that can help you.

 

[DeanA]

While we are on the subject, I'd like to buy either a decent used pre-amp or phono amp. I have a turntable and about 450 LPs, all in mint or near mint condition, that I have not listen too for over 15 years. Can anyone recommend a brand/model I could look for in the used equipment market? While my wife has been very patient about the dust collectors, it has pretty much come to the point where I either listen to them or put them n eBay.

So I’m going to give them one more spin before I decide. My component receiver can handle a turntable, but my current setup does not have room for it. So this experiment will be headphone only with the Maxed Out Home and whatever amp I end up with.

 

[deaby]

what components would i need to purchase if i want to do headphone listening.

 

[JML]

I suggest that, for starters, you go to

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html
http://www.needledoctor.com/
http://www.audioadvisor.com/default.asp

If you look at these sites and the past year's worth of audiophile magazines, you'll find a significant number of reviews of moving coil transformers, phono pre-preamps, preamps with a phono sections, and integrated amps with phono sections. LPs are equalized (bass cut, treble boosted), and a phono stage (or two stages or a transformer, for low level moving coils) is needed to apply the reverse RIAA equalization so you can listen, and to boost the cartridge signal close to line-level.

For something in solid state that's decent, but not cheap, I'd consider something new or used from Parasound, Rotel, NAD, Creek, or the harder-to-find UK manufacturers.

And don't forget you need something to clean the LPs, particularly if you're buying used.

 

[Anders]

deaby:
You need the same components either you connect it to a heaphone amp or a regular amp. The phono preamp is connected to a regular source input on an amp. A more exact name would be phono pre-preamp.

DeanA:
This is not a complete list but I think these components should work well.

Creek OBH-8SE (for MM cartridge)
Creek OBH-9SE (for MC)
Musical Fidelity X-LPS (MM and MC, note that there is also a previous X-LP model that is not so good)
Lehmann Black Cube (MM and MC)
Clearaudio Basic (MM and MC)

There are also Creek models 8 and 9 without SE, I think these are a little too simple for your setup. But that is my opinion.
These are the models that I considered when I bought the Musical Fidelity, later complemented with the external power supply X-PSU. One reason that it ended out with the Musical Fidelity was that I could borrow it from a local shop for home audition.
I think all of these will work well. If you want something clearly better, you are appraoching the $1000 class.
I don't think it is a good idea to buy a used preamp when it is the phono section you want. Even expensive preamps can have phono sections that are clearly worse than these phono preamps.

 

[deaby]

thanks for all the info.. i didnt think it was this complicated but this is actually good since i cant afford everything..now i can save up and research.. thanks a lot guys.

 

[Tuberoller]

Hey,If you are in NYC make sure to attend the Stereophile show.You will at least be able to see many tables from many makers and know what is available.


Don't overlook the Thorens tables.they are great values and sound amazing.They are the only really "audiophile" quality auto and semiauto tables right now.They come with excellent cartridges and have great build.The Creek phono stages are the very best value stages.The Black Cube is also excellent but needs an expensive power supply to sound it's best.The fine tube stages from ASL and AES should not be overlooked either.

I hope you decide to buy a table, you won't be disappointed.