Aman
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
- Posts
- 4,475
- Likes
- 21
Hi everybody!
I am a newcomer to Vinyl, and this is my first review, so be kind to me
I was on the search for a good turntable for under 500 dollars. I searched, and researched, and searched some more, for over a month and I concluded with a Goldring GR1, a British-manufactured OEM version of the Rega P2 turntable. It also happens to come with a Goldring Elektra cartridge already mounted, another 80USD on its own.
First, the setup. It was too easy. I almost felt cheated at first, having spent almost four hundred dollars on a turntable, and all I had to do was weigh the arm and set a tonearm bias meter. I was playing my own records in under ten minutes! Talk about ease of use! I also loved the fact that the turntable was just about assembled when I took it out of the box. I took the protective tape off of the arm and the cartrdige, and untied the motor so that it could spin. I then put the platter and then the felt and then the record on, and I was set!
Now, for sound impressions. I have played a few albums in my experiences with this turntable. First was Thick as a Brick (from Jethro Tull). I think it was one of the better-recorded albums in my collection. Note that all of my records are very old, but have been cleaned thouroughly with a 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and distilled water solution
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
This record really showed the detail and the impact of the record player. Ian Anderson's voice was strong and beautiful coming out of this TT, unlike my dry computer setup. Drums and guitar on the impactful parts almost made my head shake. The flute even had a great musical tone. The soundstage and the detail was also quite amazing. The flute, the drum fills, and the guitars, all had very distinct places in my head, and they all went in very obvious directions. That's a good sign! Next was the detail - I heard a keyboard part in the 2nd split of the first side, and I have never even heard that before on the CD/FLAC version of the album! I was very impressed to see the incredible signs of detail.
However, I did notice that sometimes some of the floor noise (inevitable, I suppose) overpowered the softer parts of the song. In addition, I also felt that sometimes the bass and the drums overpowered some of the other instruments. However, I never experienced this in any of my other tests, so I am assuming that this is just on account of how the record's condition is and the mastering of the album.
The Beatles - 1962 - 1966
This album really showed the fantastic resolution that vinyl records can have. The group singing of The Beatles in "Love My Do" is heard much better on the vinyl than on the CD, and the Goldring GR1 doesn't skimp much on the quality of this record. For anybody not familiar with this particular album, it is where the first five years of the Beatles were mastered better and put onto one compilation. There are approximately six to seven songs per side. Four albums. The quality doesn't ever fluctuate because they were all mastered by the same person.
Interestingly enough, the famous Beatles left -------- right recordings really are of highest quality on this album. The separation is obvious but at the same time more blended because of the soundstaging that this player is capable of.
The detail is amazing on this record as well. on "From Me to You" I heard an echo on the build up to the chorus. I've never heard this effect before, and it's great to be hearing little details coming from all of the songs!
Runt - Runt
For anybody not familiar with this album, this is Todd Rundgren's first album, before he was actually called Todd Rundgren - this is his first band - before Utopia and before his band Utopia.
On the song "We Gotta Get You a Woman", the group singing is harmonious, but you are still able to pick out the different voices, from Rundgren to the drummer - you are able to tell who is singing what. Very nice detail!
The impact of the cowbell and drums is also great, and the pianos are extremely articulate and musical. Very impressed by this album in particular.
Pink Floyd - Meddle
I really wish I could have done Dark Side of the Moon, Ummagumma, and The Wall as well, because they all have incredible sonic performance in different areas, and they happen to be my favorite band.
However, Meddle is nonetheless an amazing album. At the very intro of Side 1, the double-bass (left and right!) solo is really gripping, and the background details of the wind blowing past you is just frightening! Short cymbal rolls and keyboard strokes come in with the bass solo, and all of the instruments start to collaborate into one. The CD has them too separated and I didn't get nearly the same feeling from the Goldring GR1 as I did from my FLAC setup on my PC.
The impact of the drums, once again, is just incredible and the wailing guitars are musical and frightening! This is by-far the best experience I have had with vinyl.
This album alone is worth the four-hundred dollars. Just to hear this is just a luxury and a true pleasure. I have never experienced this kind of performance with source equipment before.
So, there concludes my sound tests. I can conclude from that this is probably one of the best value-priced turntables available.
In addition to this, the setup and the build quality is substantially acceptional, and this makes the value all the better.
I highly recommend this full-featured, incredibly sounding turntable to any skeptics that want to get back into vinyl without breaking the bank. This is one of the best purchases that I have ever made. A BIG thanks to Todd The Vinyl Junkie for getting this to me so quickly, and making special arangements for me to receive it!
Edit: Pictures of the unit in action will come tomorrow.
EDIT: Some new tracks
The Doors - Morrison Hotel
The first thing that I noticed was the amazing attention to detail with the distorted guitars in the beginning. This was the intro to Roadhouse Blues. The pianos came in articulate and detailed. The drumms were sharp and strong. The impact was incredible.
Jim Morrison's voice was incredibly strong and the turntable in particular was able to take advantage of the unique and low voice he possesses. This vinyl was 180 gram so it was high in quality and there wasn't a single pop or scratch in the entire album.
Jethro Tull - Greatest Hits
As with Thick as a Brick, the same dynamics, resolution, and detail were all shared.
The only thing I really have to comment on this one is that the tracks Aqualung and Locomotive Breath sounded completely different, full of life - I didn't know why.
When I researched this, apparently the CD version is so lifeless and edited to the point that it doesn't even sound the same anymore. The guitars were just so exhilerating and full of life that I couldn't even tell what song it was.
All I have to say, is that this album is the proof that vinyl can breathe such amounts of life, detail, soundstage, and resolution into music that the difference can almost affect the entire sound of the song!
EDIT #2: Another album added:
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
This is the first album which has both dissapointed me and amazed me at the same time.
The opening song "Let there be more light" was recored very well, and it, once again, excellently demonstrates the qualities of this table. "Remember a day" has an interesting mix of bass and vocals on the same channel, and the drums and guitar on the other side. An interesting blend of very opposite instruments. "Set the controls for the heart of the sun" was just freaky. The mysterious and trembling bass lines, the incredible harmony with the guitar and vocals - was all too incredible.
But then, one of my favorite songs on the album, "Corporal Clegg", was what shocked me -- in a bad way! I cannot tell if this song was just poorly recorded, or if something on my record player was wrong. I am under the impression that this track just was recorded poorly.
What was so wrong? Well, to begin with, the instruments overpowered the vocals much of the time. Headphones improved this, but the vocals were too weak, coming only from the left channel for the majority of the time. And I also felt a lot of distortion coming from the vocals in particular - was this a problem with my source? Well, I have it hooked up to my vintage Pioneer receiver, which could explain a lot. This is so because I have my NAD phono stage on loan. Oh well. Forgot to mention: The kazoos in this song (you're probably thinking: Kazoos in a Floyd song? - very well-done though!
) were also very strangely done. Distortion was eminent in the recording.
"A saucerful of secrets", however, one of the last tracks on the other side, really got me back to thinking that this album was incredible.
Once again, in this track, we have a very slow, dark, creepy build-up. Then part 2 comes, and the instrumentals blend perfectly. Soundstaging and fluidity of sound is very good, and when the vocals hit on part 4, it makes you tremble, and the hairs on your neck stick straight up. It's as if I've been living for far too long without a real source of music - but this is another album which just further helps prove to myself that I made the right decision in jumping on this turntable. It's a whole other world when it comes to analogue.
That's all for now.
I am a newcomer to Vinyl, and this is my first review, so be kind to me
I was on the search for a good turntable for under 500 dollars. I searched, and researched, and searched some more, for over a month and I concluded with a Goldring GR1, a British-manufactured OEM version of the Rega P2 turntable. It also happens to come with a Goldring Elektra cartridge already mounted, another 80USD on its own.
First, the setup. It was too easy. I almost felt cheated at first, having spent almost four hundred dollars on a turntable, and all I had to do was weigh the arm and set a tonearm bias meter. I was playing my own records in under ten minutes! Talk about ease of use! I also loved the fact that the turntable was just about assembled when I took it out of the box. I took the protective tape off of the arm and the cartrdige, and untied the motor so that it could spin. I then put the platter and then the felt and then the record on, and I was set!
Now, for sound impressions. I have played a few albums in my experiences with this turntable. First was Thick as a Brick (from Jethro Tull). I think it was one of the better-recorded albums in my collection. Note that all of my records are very old, but have been cleaned thouroughly with a 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and distilled water solution
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
This record really showed the detail and the impact of the record player. Ian Anderson's voice was strong and beautiful coming out of this TT, unlike my dry computer setup. Drums and guitar on the impactful parts almost made my head shake. The flute even had a great musical tone. The soundstage and the detail was also quite amazing. The flute, the drum fills, and the guitars, all had very distinct places in my head, and they all went in very obvious directions. That's a good sign! Next was the detail - I heard a keyboard part in the 2nd split of the first side, and I have never even heard that before on the CD/FLAC version of the album! I was very impressed to see the incredible signs of detail.
However, I did notice that sometimes some of the floor noise (inevitable, I suppose) overpowered the softer parts of the song. In addition, I also felt that sometimes the bass and the drums overpowered some of the other instruments. However, I never experienced this in any of my other tests, so I am assuming that this is just on account of how the record's condition is and the mastering of the album.
The Beatles - 1962 - 1966
This album really showed the fantastic resolution that vinyl records can have. The group singing of The Beatles in "Love My Do" is heard much better on the vinyl than on the CD, and the Goldring GR1 doesn't skimp much on the quality of this record. For anybody not familiar with this particular album, it is where the first five years of the Beatles were mastered better and put onto one compilation. There are approximately six to seven songs per side. Four albums. The quality doesn't ever fluctuate because they were all mastered by the same person.
Interestingly enough, the famous Beatles left -------- right recordings really are of highest quality on this album. The separation is obvious but at the same time more blended because of the soundstaging that this player is capable of.
The detail is amazing on this record as well. on "From Me to You" I heard an echo on the build up to the chorus. I've never heard this effect before, and it's great to be hearing little details coming from all of the songs!
Runt - Runt
For anybody not familiar with this album, this is Todd Rundgren's first album, before he was actually called Todd Rundgren - this is his first band - before Utopia and before his band Utopia.
On the song "We Gotta Get You a Woman", the group singing is harmonious, but you are still able to pick out the different voices, from Rundgren to the drummer - you are able to tell who is singing what. Very nice detail!
The impact of the cowbell and drums is also great, and the pianos are extremely articulate and musical. Very impressed by this album in particular.
Pink Floyd - Meddle
I really wish I could have done Dark Side of the Moon, Ummagumma, and The Wall as well, because they all have incredible sonic performance in different areas, and they happen to be my favorite band.
However, Meddle is nonetheless an amazing album. At the very intro of Side 1, the double-bass (left and right!) solo is really gripping, and the background details of the wind blowing past you is just frightening! Short cymbal rolls and keyboard strokes come in with the bass solo, and all of the instruments start to collaborate into one. The CD has them too separated and I didn't get nearly the same feeling from the Goldring GR1 as I did from my FLAC setup on my PC.
The impact of the drums, once again, is just incredible and the wailing guitars are musical and frightening! This is by-far the best experience I have had with vinyl.
This album alone is worth the four-hundred dollars. Just to hear this is just a luxury and a true pleasure. I have never experienced this kind of performance with source equipment before.
So, there concludes my sound tests. I can conclude from that this is probably one of the best value-priced turntables available.
In addition to this, the setup and the build quality is substantially acceptional, and this makes the value all the better.
I highly recommend this full-featured, incredibly sounding turntable to any skeptics that want to get back into vinyl without breaking the bank. This is one of the best purchases that I have ever made. A BIG thanks to Todd The Vinyl Junkie for getting this to me so quickly, and making special arangements for me to receive it!
Edit: Pictures of the unit in action will come tomorrow.
EDIT: Some new tracks
The Doors - Morrison Hotel
The first thing that I noticed was the amazing attention to detail with the distorted guitars in the beginning. This was the intro to Roadhouse Blues. The pianos came in articulate and detailed. The drumms were sharp and strong. The impact was incredible.
Jim Morrison's voice was incredibly strong and the turntable in particular was able to take advantage of the unique and low voice he possesses. This vinyl was 180 gram so it was high in quality and there wasn't a single pop or scratch in the entire album.
Jethro Tull - Greatest Hits
As with Thick as a Brick, the same dynamics, resolution, and detail were all shared.
The only thing I really have to comment on this one is that the tracks Aqualung and Locomotive Breath sounded completely different, full of life - I didn't know why.
When I researched this, apparently the CD version is so lifeless and edited to the point that it doesn't even sound the same anymore. The guitars were just so exhilerating and full of life that I couldn't even tell what song it was.
All I have to say, is that this album is the proof that vinyl can breathe such amounts of life, detail, soundstage, and resolution into music that the difference can almost affect the entire sound of the song!
EDIT #2: Another album added:
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
This is the first album which has both dissapointed me and amazed me at the same time.
The opening song "Let there be more light" was recored very well, and it, once again, excellently demonstrates the qualities of this table. "Remember a day" has an interesting mix of bass and vocals on the same channel, and the drums and guitar on the other side. An interesting blend of very opposite instruments. "Set the controls for the heart of the sun" was just freaky. The mysterious and trembling bass lines, the incredible harmony with the guitar and vocals - was all too incredible.
But then, one of my favorite songs on the album, "Corporal Clegg", was what shocked me -- in a bad way! I cannot tell if this song was just poorly recorded, or if something on my record player was wrong. I am under the impression that this track just was recorded poorly.
What was so wrong? Well, to begin with, the instruments overpowered the vocals much of the time. Headphones improved this, but the vocals were too weak, coming only from the left channel for the majority of the time. And I also felt a lot of distortion coming from the vocals in particular - was this a problem with my source? Well, I have it hooked up to my vintage Pioneer receiver, which could explain a lot. This is so because I have my NAD phono stage on loan. Oh well. Forgot to mention: The kazoos in this song (you're probably thinking: Kazoos in a Floyd song? - very well-done though!
"A saucerful of secrets", however, one of the last tracks on the other side, really got me back to thinking that this album was incredible.
Once again, in this track, we have a very slow, dark, creepy build-up. Then part 2 comes, and the instrumentals blend perfectly. Soundstaging and fluidity of sound is very good, and when the vocals hit on part 4, it makes you tremble, and the hairs on your neck stick straight up. It's as if I've been living for far too long without a real source of music - but this is another album which just further helps prove to myself that I made the right decision in jumping on this turntable. It's a whole other world when it comes to analogue.
That's all for now.
