[Lechango]

So I've recently found my parents old stash of records (surprisingly relevant to my taste) and an 80s(?) Pioneer PL-202AZ TT. I have not yet tested to see how well, if at all the TT works. I don't have a receiver to plug into for power, but I'm guessing this TT isn't very good (by audiophile standards anyway). I know analog sound is different and better sounding than digital, and I really want to get into vinyl. I'm assuming even an average turntable setup will sound better than my uDac and lossless audio (correct me if I'm wrong).
 
I can only spend about < $300 on a setup. I want to either get this pioneer TT fixed up to sound decent (if possible) or buy a new turntable.
 
I'd love to buy a technics 1200 but even if I do find one used for $300 I'm still going to need a good cartridge and pre-amp which will push me out of my budget. So in the case I buy a new turntable I'm thinking somewhere along these lines:
 
Turntable: $100-150
Cartridge: $50-100
Pre-amp: $30-60
Additional components: $?
 
If anyone can give me some guidance on what I should buy that would be great. Also, I'm planning on listening through my Ultrasone Pro 750s. I have a Bravo tube amp, can I plug my TT straight into that or will I hear a significant difference with a pre-amp?
 
I appreciate any help.

 

[computerparts]

Make sure the pre-amp has phono. There isn't anything I can think of in your price range. But I will say that an average TT setup sounds better to my ears than any dac I've tried below $2.5k used.

 

[nikongod]

Another vote for hitting up garage sales and craigslist. certainly for TT's. Use the internet to look up the various TT's.
 
If you are not a member of Vinylengine, I would advise signing up there. If you find a TT locally at a good price that you dont know about check them out. There are LOTS of good old (primarily) Japanese TT's out there that simply dont have the Technics name. Old denons for example are awesometoast, but arent the wheel of steel so they sell cheap... 
 
Phono-stages & preamps are a little harder to google for, but with patience you should be able to find something nice. DONT turn your nose up at older integrated amps (bonus round if it has a nice tuner!) they can be quite the score.

 

[memepool]

The Pioneer is pretty basic but if you set it up carefully on an isolated surface it should give you a taste of vinyl. It's a P-Mount cart bay the look of it so that limits your choice to something pretty inexpensive from the outset. Something smooth like an Ortofon OMP 10 will sound decent enough on there.

 

[Lechango]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions so far. Say I can't find anything vintage locally, would a new USB turntable from Guitar Center with an upgraded cartridge sound decent?

 

[nikongod]

 
Quote:

would a new USB turntable from Guitar Center with an upgraded cartridge sound decent?

Avoid the USB turntables! From what I have read they are mostly quite bad. Expand your CL search, and hit more garage sales. 

 

[falis]

You might look at something like a ProJect Debut III or a low-end Rega if you can't find a good used one.  Phonopreamps.com http://www.phonopreamps.com/ has reasonably priced and decent sounding phono preamps (surprise)!  I happen to have an extra TC-754 in silver (http://www.phonopreamps.com/tc754pp.html).  It was out of the box for 15 minutes when I was diagnosing a ground loop problem, and I never got around to sending it back.  PM me if you're interested.
 
- Ed

 

[Uncle Erik]

I don't know much about the deck you have, but I'd recommend cleaning it up as a lesson in how to set up a turntable. You'll learn a lot and a careful setup ought to give you adequate to good sound. A good place to shop for budget components is Garage-A-Records. You'd also do well to read through the Vinyl Anachronist's articles.

 

[Lechango]

I ended up buying a Stanton T.62 Dj TT and a phono pre-amp from Guitar Center. I decided on this TT over buying a cheaper $100 usb model and upgrading the cartridge. I'm very pleased with the sound (my records are old and could definitely use some cleaning though, I'd like to see how a brand new one sounds). I don't have my ultrasones back from repair yet so I'm using some etymotics earbuds, and it sounds great even through them. I'm looking forward to maybe upgrading the cartridge once I get some more cash and at least getting an anti-static brush for my records. I know I probably could have bought a CD setup that sounded just as good or better for cheaper, but I'm very impressed anyway and the whole vinyl experience is really more engaging and fun.

 

[nikongod]

erm, Im not sure if I should say it or not...
 
I would return the Stanton. its not that Im inherently suspicious of Stanton, its the straight arm. Straight arms (with the cart in line with the arm) are VERY bad for hi-fi. They track better when "scratching" for DJ's which is why they still exist but the tracking error is pretty bad.
 
I would check up on whether straight arms are documented worse for record wear, I cant remember.

 

[Lechango]

Hmm, ok. It sounds real nice to my ears, but I haven't heard other turntables. If the straight arm is really going to wear my records quickly then I might need to look into something else. The needle is not straight, it's angled to fit the record (not sure if this is what you mean by the cartridge aligned with the arm.)
 

 

[nikongod]

In some DJ arms the needle is perfectly in line with the arm. If the needle points towards the center of the record its not bad.

 

[Lechango]

Ok, my cartridge is definitely aligned pointing inward, not straight. I'll probably save up for a while, buy a better cart, then sell this TT eventually and buy a technics 1200, but I'm happy with this one for now. I really do need to get some cleaning materials though, most of my 80s records sound good, but some of the 70s can get really crackly and staticy.

 

[memepool]

Sorry but as Nikongod says this Stanton 62 http://www.stantondj.com/v2/prod_t62_gal.asp is actually designed to scratch records for turntablist DJs, NOT to play music. If the cartridge alignment looks anything like in those pics take it back or it will trash your records. It may sound ok but you'll soon realise when you upgrade that it's cut a new groove into your precious vinyl.
In Hi-Fi terms it's a toy basically so even if you can get the cartridge to align correctly be very careful about using any cartridge other than a very basic conical DJ cart like the Stanton 500AL. Download alignment protractors from Vinylengine and check the alignment.
 
The Pioneer deck you have is better than this to be honest. It may need a new belt and stylus but this will give you a much better deck than anything Stanton make.

 

[sk3383]

I agree with memepool, you would be better off to keep your Pioneer and upgrade the Cartridge or replace the stylus.
 
If you are still keen on getting a new table, look into something like the Pro-Ject Debut III, a really inexpensive entry level table.