I'm not familiar with the model of TT that you have, but many mass-market designs typical of the era will display problems like wiggly tonearm bearings, motor rumble, platter resonances, bouncy suspensions, and susceptability to coloration, mistracking, noisiness and feedback in general (especially if they're changers). You may want to take it to a TT specialist for an assessment of its condition and potential before starting down a road with it. It would be a shame if your foray back into analog were disappointed by the wrong tool for the job - peoples' audio expectations have been raised a lot since the time some of these "oldies (maybe not goldies)" were made. Who knows, yours may be worth working with, but there were reasons Linn came out with the LP12!
Turntable help Please
I am seriously considering getting back into analog. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated...would it be worth the time to try out my old turntable from college (26 years). It is a Philips Electronic 777 Direct Control. It is on a suspended table and is belt controlled. Interconnects are non-detachable - is it possible to change out the tonearm? Is it worth investing in a decent cartridge? Does anyone do mods on old turntables? I don't presently have a phone stage only a line stage (CJ premier 14). Thanks for any suggestions...This table sounded good back them but that was when I was into music and not an audiophile!!!