[binkgle]

As some of you may know, I've been on the lookout for a turntable recently, and I recently found a system in a local antique store for a good price. it's a zenith allegro turntable/tuner combo, with accompanying speakers. i'd mainly be listening through my new akg k240s, though, and it has a built-in headphone jack (thus a built in phono stage), so i'd probably be using that. it would need a new cartridge, and because of this the tt part hasn;t been tested, though apparently the tuner works and sounds great.

anyone ever heard of this thing? i don't want to buy crap, but i'd love a tt and it's really convenient that it has the headphone jack, even though i'm sure an external phono stage would be better.

 

[memepool]

Sounds like a console system form the 60's or 70's. Basically a receiver with a turntable mounted on top which is not ideal for many reasons.
Although there were really high quality systems made in this style, even the ones with Garrard decks are more of a curiosity for antiques enthusiasts than serious Hi-Fi these days so I would stear clear.

 

[RooX]

low'ish end console stuff. certainly not a high end source at all. might be fun to play with for a while if its very cheap, otherwise i would pass.

 

[binkgle]

it's ~$40, so maybe i'll get it. any more opinions would be great.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've seen a few like this. Many are very, very cool if you're into the retro thing. A quick search on eBay pulled up a Zenith Allegro 2000. It IS cool. At least I think so. Here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zenith-JR596W-Al...QQcmdZViewItem

As a source, it might leave a lot to be desired. However, if you like it and are handy with DIY projects, one of these can be fantastic.

For starters, $40 is a pretty fair price. I see that it has an 8" woofer and a 3.5" tweeter. Those are pretty standard sizes, so what I'd do would be to go to Madisound with the dimensions of the speaker cabinets and have them find replacement speakers and design a crossover. Odds are, you can turn them into pretty good speakers. The receiver should be OK, and it should have an adequate amp. If not, the amp section can be bypassed and you can slip one of your choosing into it.

As for the turntable, you could probably hack a modern tonearm onto it and a better cartridge.

All this would take some money and a few weekends, but you'd end up with a great little stereo.

 

[binkgle]

i've thought about it more, and i really think this is a bad idea for me. i've got a budding cd collection (~60 cds now), and no vinyl yet. i guess it's the retro appeal of vinyl that I like, but I've never done any diy and a good used denon cd player would be much easier (and also less of a gamble, seeing as, for instance the dcd-1500 and dcm-280/380 get great reviews around here).

thanks for your help guys, but i think i'm going to stay in the (relatively) modern world with this

also, the only information i've been able to find on zetih allero systems is with the speakers, but all the pictures i see are of much bigger speakers than the ones at this antique store. i somehow doubt that the ones i'd be buying are the same that people have been giving good reviews for on the web

 

[Denim]

I remember those things from my high school days. I never had one, but they were very common. Probably mid 70's era. Todays version would be the gaudy boomboxes you see at WalMart with the LED's, flashing displays, and ugly-ass speakers.

Actually, the Alegro would be a bit better than the modern-day boombox, but you get the point.