[mrdelayer]

Being a high school student isn't always that great. Being 17, I have never really had any experience with vinyl. So last night, I won two auctions on eBay: a Gemini XL-120 turntable and some no-name phono amp. Total came out to about $66 shipped.

Today I took a walk up to the local record store (about a mile from my house; Hogwild, for those in San Antonio). I browsed through their various records for some time. I took a used copy of The Wall (hey, just because I'm 17 doesn't mean I can't appreciate music 1.5 times my age) from the rack and brought it over to the listening station.

There sat a Gemini turntable, not unlike the one I had pulled the trigger on just hours before, and an old, beat up pair of Koss headphones. Closed, circumaural, looked to be from the late 80s. I looked at them and thought they would sound like crap.

I pulled out the record, set it on the platter, and hit the Start button. Platter doesn't move. "Hmm," I thought. I moved the tonearm and set the needle on the record, which created a bit of a popping sound. Still no movement from the turntable. I pressed the Start button again. Finally, it starts turning. But no sound.

So I picked up the tonearm and moved it somewhere towards the middle of the record, right in the middle of Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1.

And that's when I realized why everyone says vinyl sounds better than CDs.

Even on these old, beat-up headphones, the sound was clearer and much more open. (I can't wait to hear it with these HD580s.)

Fully satisfied (and not wanting to piss off the people waiting behind me to listen to stuff), I picked up the tonearm, moved it back to its original position, put the record back in its sleeve and set it back on the rack.

I was sure I had made the right purchase decision.

(The second record I tried, for those who care, was the "U Can't Touch This" single by MC Hammer. At first, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the record. It was all low and distorted. Then I realized it was a 45 and the platter was spinning at 33 RPM.)

 

[analog'd]

good for you! you've made a great start in what will inevitably be a lifelong pleasure.

if you hit any minor bumps in the road, just ask and you will receive solid help from a lot of vinyl lovers.

btw, audiogon is a great forum for all things analog.

regards from up north,

jimmy

 

[alrose312]

the Gemini XL-120 was also my first turntable. I recently upgraded to a Stanton st-150, but I remember the gemini as being alot of fun. Make sure you get a decent cartridge and set it properly. I would also invest in some brand-new records. New vinyl is easily accessible. My favorite online vinyl source for indie music is Insound (www.insound.com).

 

[mrdelayer]

Any suggestions on what sort of cartridge to get? (It's not as high up on the priority list as getting a good amount of vinyl, but it'd be nice to know.)

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdelayer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any suggestions on what sort of cartridge to get? (It's not as high up on the priority list as getting a good amount of vinyl, but it'd be nice to know.)

Look around and see if you can find a Grado Black for about $30 USD. For the money, it's hard to do better.

 

[lini]

mrdelayer: With the XL-120 being an entry-level dj-table, do you have any ambitions in that direction? If yes, going for a dj-oriented cartridge would be a good idea - compared to hifi-oriented pickups, these usually have more robust cantilevers (especially for scratching/back-cueing), higher output levels, less refined stylus types (mostly spherical/conical - which makes 'em less sensitive to sub-optimal alignment (and thereby also less destructive to the vinyl, if misaligned) esp. in combination with short dj-turntable arms) and are designed for use with higher tracking forces.

If no, you could also go for hifi-oriented cartridges. However, I'm pretty sure that the quality of the table will hardly justify going for the really good stuff (> ~ US$80) and will probably do better with stiffer cartridges with a dynamic compliance below 20 µm/mN (just an educated guess, though - I've checked the manual for the XL-120II online, but unfortunately it only mentions the weight of the headshell, not the effective mass of the arm itself...) - so, considering all of that, I'd suggest to try the Audio-Technica AT-95E.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lini /img/forum/go_quote.gif If yes, going for a dj-oriented cartridge would be a good idea - compared to hifi-oriented pickups, these usually have more robust cantilevers (especially for scratching/back-cueing), higher output levels, less refined stylus types (mostly spherical/conical - which makes 'em less sensitive to sub-optimal alignment (and thereby also less destructive to the vinyl, if misaligned) esp. in combination with short dj-turntable arms) and are designed for use with higher tracking forces.

I think you would be better going for a DJ cart anyway because as Lini says these kinds of turntables are not really designed for anything else.

There are plenty of good quality conical stylus profile carts out there which will do a lot less potential damage than any badly aligned eliptical and the cantelivers on the cheaper AT carts are so fragile they are very easily knocked out of alignment.

I would go for a Nagaoka MP10, which has a good solid heavy body and will add some mass to the tonearm. Shure's M-44 is also a good choice.

Other tweaks you may consider are a better quality mat. Chances are the deck will come with a cheap nylon DJ style slipmat. Get rid of this and look for a really thick heavy rubber mat like the ones that come with the Technics SL1200. KAB will have these. Also look out for a silicon or acrylic mat on ebay as these will also do a good job of deadening the ringing effects from the lightweight pressed steel platter that these tables have.

A better quality headshell is another good upgrade. Again check ebay for an old ADC , Nagoaka or Sumiko. Any 70s headshell off a Japanese direct drive will be better quality than the lightweight ones that you see today.

Lastly make sure you set the table up on a solid surface away from any speakers or equipment that vibrates. Put it on a solid table on a concrete floor or else on it's own solid wall shelf for optimum results.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdelayer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even on these old, beat-up headphones, the sound was clearer and much more open.

Funny, that's what I thought about CDs when I first heard them back in the mid-1980s.

 

[brianth]

Another budget cartridge that sounded nice when I had a Pro-Ject turntable was the Sumiko Oyster.

 

[Minimauled]

Pink Floyd to MC Hammer

From sublime to ridiculous!

 

[mrdelayer]

I'm not sure if I'll want to go the DJ or hi-fi route at this point; I do want it to be listenable, but DJing does sound kinda fun, too.

 

[JXBJXB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdelayer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any suggestions on what sort of cartridge to get? (It's not as high up on the priority list as getting a good amount of vinyl, but it'd be nice to know.)

There are many vintage cartridges out there that can make serious music for not too much $$$. Sure, a Grado Black does little wrong, but for about the same money you should be able to go on eBay and find a Shure M91ED "hi track" model. It will sound great, it will track much better than the Grado, and new stylus replacements are still available for it.

If you want to buy new, and still not spend very much, the Audio Technica AT95 is a great choice, and so is the AT120 (but that's around $55).

Garage-a-records and LP Gear are two places to go for excellent cartridge prices - I'm not affiliated with either, just a happy customer.

 

[mrdelayer]

As it turns out, the turntable I bought didn't come with a stylus. (Yes, the item description said it did and the pictures showed one, too.) And I can't find any place that sells replacements. So I went out today and bought a new cartridge—a Shure M25C. $30.

The turntable will be here Tuesday, at which point I will probably listen for a while and post some more.

 

[mrdelayer]

Alright, so my turntable is finally here. After about an hour of trying to get the damn cartridge installed, I am now listening. I just finished side A of AFX's Analogue Bubblebath ($9 brand new at the local record store!)

Wow. Just, wow. Turning the record over now. This sounds much better to me, for whatever reason, than a CD or MP3. I bought a few more records today, too, that I'll be listening to as the night goes on.