[calipilot227]

I might just pull the trigger on a Shure M97 for my PL-518. Everyone seems to like it, and it's in a price range that I can afford. I'll look into the Novus 2 since my dustcover is a scratched up mess (but for $50 on Craigslist, I'm not gonna complain 

).

 

[MorbidToaster]

I might just pull the trigger on a Shure M97 for my PL-518. Everyone seems to like it, and it's in a price range that I can afford. I'll look into the Novus 2 since my dustcover is a scratched up mess (but for $50 on Craigslist, I'm not gonna complain 

).

I'm going to replace my 518 soon but in the meantime I think I'm going to pop a 2M Red on it and then keep it as a backup when I get my P3 and a Bronze.

On that topic...anyone know whether the Red will fit the stock 518 shell just fine? I think it will.

 

[calipilot227]

Quote:

I'm going to replace my 518 soon but in the meantime I think I'm going to pop a 2M Red on it and then keep it as a backup when I get my P3 and a Bronze.
On that topic...anyone know whether the Red will fit the stock 518 shell just fine? I think it will.

If it's a standard 1/2" mount (mine is), then it should fit just fine.
 

 

[roker]

Quote:

Great job, I wish I had the skills/time to work on my turntable like that!
 

 
thanks!
 
You know, these aren't the most complicated forms of machinery out there.  I think just as the DIY'ers on this site encourage people to build their own amps to understand them better, I'd also like to throw my hat in the ring and encourage people to rescue/restore these otherwise neglected forms of hi-fi audio.  It's definitely a good way to spend a lazy Sunday.  
 
I think I may still buy another turntable just because I love them so much.  But for right now, this is my main rig.
 

 

[Skylab]

Setting up a turntable properly is sure easier than building your own amps! MUCH easier. Just requires a few very basic tools, some reading, and some practice.

 

[sbradley02]

I had a friend buy the Bronze. I was swayed by the TAS review which likened the 2M line to the much lamented Shure V15-VMR, one of which I still have on my Transcriptors, with a new SAS stylus.
 
Quote:

Thanks both. There doesn't seem to be so many owners of the Bronze out there, it's the other three in the range which get all the attention.

 

 

[jtaylor991]

I have that cartridge in a plastic baggie now (stylus already ruined). My local record store looked at it and said the stylus was just ruined, trahsed etc. (the tip is rounded off and splitting in two somehow, idk how that happened lol). I could get a new stylus for it for $50, but I can't be sure the rubber pieces and other inner workings of the cartridge are working and worth risking my $50 on, so now I have the silver $30 Ortofon Omega cartridge, and for the price it is great. Surely more detail and soundstage could be retrieved, but for this price I am satisfied.
 
Quote:

I had a friend buy the Bronze. I was swayed by the TAS review which likened the 2M line to the much lamented Shure V15-VMR, one of which I still have on my Transcriptors, with a new SAS stylus.
 


 

 

 

[jtaylor991]

Do the Groovetracer upgrades make a big difference? Is the Reference Sub platter worth it?
 
Quote:

My Rega RP3 with recently installed Ortofon 2M Bronze MM cartridge and Groovetracer upgrades (click images to see larger versions).
 

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Groovertracer Reference Sub platter ​

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Groovetracer Counterweight​

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Ortofon 2M Bronze MM Cartridge​

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Before installing the 2M Bronze (the table came with a Rega Elys 2 cartridge originally) and Groovetracer upgrades, I was happy with the performance, as it let me enjoy that 'vinyl sound', but in terms of resolution and clarity I felt my digital setup still trumped it.
 
The 2M Bronze changed that though - what an improvement over the Elys 2! I can now enjoy the sound of vinyl with greater clarity and resolution than my digital setup. I installed the Groovetracer upgrades together - after installing the 2M Bronze, so I can't say which upgrade provided the biggest improvement/change in sound, but as a set they have served to further enhance the sound by providing additional clarity, resolution and a blacker background. You can now safely call me a vinyl convert!

 

 

[jtaylor991]

(sorry for two questions in a row)
 
So, I played a really dirty 45 record on my new stylus and first it skipped off the edge onto the mat (twice, the first time for a few seconds even), and it looked a tiny bit shorter but still sharp. I then played the record, and now the tip seems half as short (if not less) as it originally was, and a bit less sharp. Do I already need a new stylus? Sheesh, vinyl is pissing me off. I'm enjoying a few reel to reel tapes I've gotten from eBay in the meantime.

 

[Skylab]

Honestly that doesn't sound good. I'm afraid you probably wrecked the stylus. And I hate to say it, but you really shouldn't play "really dirty records". To be into vinyl is to be committed to cleaning records. Otherwise they won't sound good anyway, and the hobby can get expensive, for sure.

Reel to reel definitely kicks butt though What reel deck did you get?

 

[jtaylor991]

Akai GX-230D. I got it and my current stylus I spoke of free with a trade of some stereo equipment I had on a shelf in my basement as a trade at that store I talked about earlier in the thread. He said he got it up and running, and indeed, but I think further service wouldn't hurt. New and/or demagnetized heads maybe, and it won't record. When I record, it erases but nothing is recorded. And when I play tapes backwards only the left channel works, so on a couple I've had to get them off the reel and then put the tape in one of the slashes on the side (you know those things?) and have it folded and play the tape backwards . I need a splicing kit too, I broke one tape a bit into the first track. Scotch tape was working, but I know it's bad for the heads and it will leak over time, etc so when it came apart today I just left it alone.
 
I know that, but I played this "really dirty record" because I have a big box of 45s and another pile of used records and I was listening to see which ones I would keep, and I would clean as well. The no-keepers I wouldn't waste use of my brushes, fluid and time to clean them. Shucks, I'm like broke now from buying music, so I guess again it'll be awhile before I can listen to vinyl.
 
But, the guy did say that my old tip might be OK after he stretched the needle back out. Apparently it had been shoved up into the rest of the tip (this is apart from the cartridge, so that's not it in case you were thinking that). Like it was a bit bent back and he straightened it.
 
So, could this tip be OK for playing the really dirty records or would it still mess them up?
 
Quote:

Honestly that doesn't sound good. I'm afraid you probably wrecked the stylus. And I hate to say it, but you really shouldn't play "really dirty records". To be into vinyl is to be committed to cleaning records. Otherwise they won't sound good anyway, and the hobby can get expensive, for sure.
Reel to reel definitely kicks butt though

What reel deck did you get?

 

 

[Skylab]

Unfortunately there is no way for me to say. But for I can tell you I wouldn't use it on any record I cared about.

 

[MohawkUS]

I did the same thing recently. I didn't have a record cleaning brush at the time, and I was listening to some new records I have. Unfortunately the B side seems to gather quite a bit of dust while I'm playing the A side, and I wasn't paying much attention to it. Once I got to the B side of the second half the album, the needle was caked in dust and it just skidded right across the record. I think it may have left a scratch on the record, but I'm not really sure. The table isn't really in the best of shape itself, it has a rhythmic thumping noise whenever it's playing a record and a loud static whenever it's not, which I think may be a muting circuit gone bad. It's a supposedly restored Dual 1209. Seeing as the rubber mat around the edge of the platter is coming unglued I'm not so sure that it was restored at all.

 

[Skylab]

The Dual 1209 was a popular turntable in its day, but it is a pretty old deck even by vintage TT standards...even one that was restored could have developed a problem, especially the kind you describe, because that Dual used an idler wheel drive system, and if anything is out of whack with he idler wheel, it could make a thumping sound (not sure what to attitude the loud static to, though).

 

[jr41]

 
Quote:

The table isn't really in the best of shape itself, it has a rhythmic thumping noise whenever it's playing a record and a loud static whenever it's not, which I think may be a muting circuit gone bad. It's a supposedly restored Dual 1209. Seeing as the rubber mat around the edge of the platter is coming unglued I'm not so sure that it was restored at all.

RE the static, is the tonearm properly earthed?