LOL... too funny. I'm assuming you are tongue in cheek here. |
Dear 18764: do you know what is better than owning a vinyl rig? Having a friend
who owns a vinyl rig. That's right, find a friend with a nice turntable and go
listen at his house. Take your own records over and clean them on his cleaning
machine. Use some of the money that you save to buy him a few records as gifts
and always bring some Chinese take out with you so he actually looks forward to
your visits.
Sure, digital sounds like crap; but do you know what it takes to get good sound
out of 19th Century technology? It takes a lot of money, time and yankee
ingenuity, aka tweaking. You will be trying to reproduce beautiful music out of
molded in squiggly grooves, moving at low speed, with a tiny chip of rock.
Could it be anymore medieval? Heck, the LP concept was probably put together
by a couple of engineers over beers as a bet. "Lets see how tightly we can
pack grooves onto a 12" disc and still get music out of it and see if people
will buy them."
Your friends will think that you have lost your mind when they see you spending
8 minutes prepping a disc for play, carefully cueing it up just to hear some tones
with background noise (tell them its supposed to sound like that) that gets really
edgy when down to the last track. Next, you'll be shopping for a vacuum tube
amplifier that throws out more heat than music just to have that charming
nostalgic glow to go along with the spinning vinyl and bobbing tonearm.
Use your money to get into HD Audio. Once you have invested in a state of the
art HD Audio DAC, you won't feel so bad when a new state of the art DAC comes
out a year later. You can just think of all the money that you saved not getting a
vinyl rig so that you can upgrade.
Once you start down the vinyl path be prepared to upgrade, tweak, throw things
against the wall, pull hair out and use naughty words. Remember as you snap off
a cantilever that it is ok. It is part of the learning process. Some records will
sound better than others. Some records will have skips. Its that one out of a
hundred great sounding record that will have you pawning the china for that
next level preamp, phono cartridge or even turntable.
If I haven't convinced you yet, lets do the math...
Process to play a CD:
1. Push button to open drawer
2. Select a CD and place in tray
3. Push button to close drawer
4. Press play on the remote once you have settled into your favorite listening
chair
5. Listen to 46+ minutes of beautiful music, doze off in your chair
Total time to prep= 20 seconds or so
Total listening time= 46 minutes
Listening time to prep time ratio= 138
To play a record:
1. Inspect and clean stylus (2 minutes)
2. Select record and remove from jacket
3. Clean record on your cleaning machine (1 side) (4 minutes)
4. Place record on platter
5. Clamp record (optional- but you will get there) (1 minute)
6. Start turntable and cue tonearm (40 seconds)
7. Turn up volume on pre amp (10 seconds)
8. Run to listening chair before music starts (5 seconds)
9. Listen to 23 minutes of beautiful music, then jump out of your slumber when
you hear the big "KER CHUNK" as the stylus falls into the locking
groove at the end of the record.
Total prep time= 8 minutes
Total Listening time (1 side)= 23 minutes
Listening time to prep time ratio= 2.9
So as the math shows, digital music offers a listening time to prep time ratio 48
times greater than vinyl. Think about all the extra time in your life you will have
to a) listen to more music b) get a life.
There, I hope that helps you decide. |
I'd love to. Looks like my Juice Plus business is really starting to take off. That's all my play money so to speak. What cartridge are you using? If I go that high end (which I need to), I want the right cartridge and phono pre amp with it and that has to be in the equation. |
I have a well tempered amadeus and it is excellent. If you can skip ahead and start here you should be very pleased. |
what device do you use and how? thanks.
I've got a couple of boxes left of LP's that the ex didn't toss by 'accident'. I've got a Rotel RT855 with VandenHull MM1 with very low hours. Both are working nicely. I worry a bit about the arm bearings and wonder if they need to be oiled or anything. Going with a 16.5 most probably and also getting the Bellari tubed MM pre amp as it's not too expensive and my dealer loves it for what it is. I'd love to hear the Well Tempered Simplex and Amadeus vs each other with a better pre and maybe Dynavector cart |
If you are starting with no lps, I would be factoring in a VPI 16.5 for cleaning so you can build your collection with good used finds. In a year you will have a stand alone phono, mc cartridge, and a different table. |
Don't forget the steam unit for cleaning the vinyl. At about $30 it is a must. Think about it, steam is the best way to clean your carpet, it also is the best way to clean your vinyl. |
Good advice by Les....
Vintage Japanese DD turntables are the cheapest way to 'buy' into quality vinyl sound.
Second hand vintage MM cartridges can often sound better than über expensive LOMC cartridges......unless you're a brain-washed herd-following snob....:-) |
Ok, If you want to follow on here. This is what I would look at doing with about $1000 to spend.
First, I'd shop for a good/great used turntable. I'd look for vintage higher end Made In Japan, Direct Drive models circa oh say 1975-1985 or so. Denon, JVC, Technics, Yamaha, Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer etc all had quality tables that would be very good spinners. (price range oh maybe $500 ).
Next I'd buy a good reliable cartridge. But not spend more than $200 max. Check out Shure M-97xe, Denon DL-110, Audio Technica AT-440, Ortophon 2M Red or 2M Blue. To name a few (price range $80.00 to $200.00)
Finally, I'd buy a Spin Clean Record Washing system (about $80.00) a Carbon Fibre Brush (about $20-$30) A basic stylus cleaning brush. about $10.00>.
IMO this will get a listener off to a great start in enjoying vinyl. Total cost under $1000.00 |
I'm doing the same thing. I've done a lot of research and the Rega 6 is a great choice in that price range. I'm most probably going to save until I can afford a Well Tempered Simplex based on what my friend has told me about their upper line tables. It's one of the few TT's that sounds a lot better than anything in it's range is what he's said and there are a ton of reviews on that one and the Armedeas that say the same thing. That golf ball pivot set up for it's arm is amazing I guess. Just something you owe your self to look into. |
For your table/cartridge look into U-Turn Audio, a start up in Boston. It sells direct and has gotten some great reviews. Go for the Orbit Plus model. |
Hello M.
After 50 years of analog, I find that a well-set-up budget vinyl rig is superior to a poorly-set-up premium rig. I suggest that you buy a minimum vinyl rig (new, because then you can expect it to be OK) and learn how to set it up. Everything matters, so it takes patience and practice.
After you are pretty good at set-up, buy a better rig. The better stuff is not only more sensitive to set-up, but more sensitive to damage. Buying good stuff before you have set-up experience is risky, and can be counter-productive. |
Denon DP62LSave $600 and buy used, this one seems like a deal. Best of Luck Peter |
RP3 is a solid table. A groove tracer ref subplatter will make it much better. I would try it with an audio technica ml440la cartridge. You can get them for less than $150 on amazon.
Did you try listening to an audio refinement complete integrated when you were looking for amps? I have on for sale. PM me if you are interested. |
