Clueless Analog Newbie, Looking to Buy

Yahoo! Good for Nrenter!!!

Before I had read through this entire thread, I was getting ready to recommend the Audio Technica PL-120 as well, but Nrenter beat me to it, and named the ideal vendor as well. Amazon's current price on this turntable is $161.78

At its price nothing can touch it, and for all the yammering on this thread about the Rega P1 and P2, this Audio Technica beats it all to hell on build quality and ease of operation. AT is able to offer up so much more value for the money thanks to more automated manufacturing (to very close tolerances) and the economy of scale that results.

Go to this page of Tone Publications' online magazine and download Issue 11. In there, Jeff Dorgay, the publisher/editor, reviews the Audio-Technica and gives it a very favorable review as a $300 machine. Now you can get it for a little over half that. Jeff and the others at Tone have fairly rarified tastes, and typically listen to multi-thousand-dollar belt-drive 'tables in signal chains of handmade electronics. Yet Jeff saw the inherent value and performance of this AT 'table.

Another cartridge--the one that Jeff settled on with this 'table--is the Ortofon 2M Red (or the Blue version if you care to spring for it). The 2M Red is roughly the same price as the AT 440MLa; it's just another alternative. Anyway, the PL-120 plus the 2M Red come to under $270, and I think you'd get a lot of enjoyment out of that combo.

04-22-09: Nrenter
I know...I know...

Some people make this far more complicated than it really needs to be.

Especially when you consider that BILLIONS of people enjoyed LPs from 1949 to the mid-'80s, of which 90% played their beloved music on turntables nowhere near as good as the PL-120.

04-22-09: Tvad

If you don't like the AT table, you'll get most of it back by selling it here on the 'gon.
Nrenter

Really? Based on what evidence?

Well, since the PL120 can be had new with warranty through Amazon for $161.78, you can't lose much at all. Even if you take a 50% hit, you've only lost about $80--the cost of 2 or 3 new albums.

The Audio Technica would be worth keeping around at that price to play 78s if nothing else.

And you don't need to spend a lot on cleaning or aftermarket accessories. The PL-120's counterweight calibration is accurate enough, and a bundle of Fibertex microfiber towels from Costco plus a spray bottle of record cleaning fluid will do the job. And you can get a Magic Eraser for $2 to clean the stylus forever.

04-28-09: Jwglista
And about the expensive LPs, if you don't mind building your collection to include mostly used classical, jazz, and classic rock LPs, you can find them fairly cheap.

Today I brought home a 2-LP album of the Oscar Peterson Trio (1976) on Pablo in excellent condition for $6.

The Audio-Technica turntable makes things even easier because it has a built-in phono stage. You can just plug it right into today's line-stage-only receivers and integrated amps.

Of course you can get a better phono stage by buying separately, but the AT-PL120 can get you started without that additional complication.

I want to add one more thing: different people hear things differently. It's why some languages have five different versions of the letter "p" and English has only one, why only a very few languages have a "th" sound at all.

My point is this: some people will never be satisfied with LPs regardless of how much is spent, while others will hear a marked and preferred difference even with the humblest of turntable/cartridge setups. Digital excels at the boom and sizzle--the sharp transients, dynamic contrasts, and frequency extremes. LP playback gets expensive to achieve the very best of that, but even my $2 (garage sale) belt drive Yamaha turntable with included conical stylus P-mount cartridge gave me the magic of the music between the bits that you can't capture via redbook (or even 24/96) no matter how much you spend.

So this idea that you have to spend $2K and up to begin to sound better than CD is highly subjective; it comes down to what you hear and what you listen for. If you hear the "music between the bits" you'll hear it right away on any turntable, even if it sounds compressed with a limited frequency response.

After all, it's the iPod generation who have been bringing back vinyl. They want something meaningful and involving to listen to when they get home and take off their earbuds. Do you think most of these new pressings are being played on Rega P7s with an Exact cartridge? They're either being played on Dad's old direct drive, B.I.C., or a new $150-300 Denon or Yamaha belt drive with cast aluminum platter.