Turntables

@vegasears what special tools you mention? Also, is the cartridge installed on the Rega’s and GR or separate? What’s better, direct drive or belt drive? Also, what the thought on usb or does that defeat the analog benefit?

Do I need a separate preamp to run a cartridge other than my preamp? I was checking out a Rega 6 that comes with a Exact cartridge? Does that cartridge need a separate pre or can it be plugged right into an input on my Proceed AVP 2 and play? Anybody?

@boxer12 & mechans, my AVP 2 does not have anything labeled phono. It has I customizable inputs from 1-8 but none are labeled phone. In the menus there is an adjustable gain function. I don’t know if that would have anything to do for phono operation.

@asahitoro, can’t find any 1200GR’s on AG. Can you send a link?

What’s the thought on a Rega P6 with Exact cart & power supply for $1125? It’s a demo. The phono stage is a Rega MM for $325. Is that a good deal and good table? Thoughts ? I’m looking into many of the suggestions and thank you for all of them. The whole idea is to get the best bang for the buck new or used.

@orpheus10, your correc to a point. I had my last table 35yrs ago but then went digital. It was a Sony, semi automatic, a decent table in the day that was played on my Carver system. Today, I never knew there was so much involved with tables & tone arms requiring protractors, shims etc. I had no idea of that level. Although, I t would probably be a bit before I started thinking about changing cartridges. 

Is is anyone familiar with the Rega Fono MM?

I think that’s the way I’m going to go! 

Thoughts on an acrylic platter on a VPI? Yay or nay?

I snoozed and loosed yesterday on the R6. we were busy and I didn't go to reply until night and it was gone. Oh well, there'll be another lol. As for the 1200, I can't find one of them used. Everyone I see is new and by the time I ad the cartridge and phone pre, Im well over budget. Im looking at a VPI Scout on another sight. Thoughts?

No, I get it. I may have to dip a bit higher. I'd just rather NOT have to deal with the "war department" ( my Wife) to spend more funds.

With all the suggestions, I thank you all. I have looked into every one of them and decided to pull the trigger and have an invoice awaiting payment on a "mint" VPI Scout Aries with dust cover. No cartridge included. The deal is going to set me over budget a bit but I landed the table for $1200, which I think is pretty fair. Now onto the cartridge 

@chakster - The reason I was looking for used is because I was in a budget of $1500 hopefully complete. As I stated initially, I'm new to vinyl so I really wasn't aware of all the in's and out's. $1500 was hopefully a table and cartridge to plug and play. I can't buy a new Technics 1200 alone for $1500. @ Guitar Center which sells them they are $1699 plus tx. At the boutique audio store I deal with, they are $2k. Now add the cartridge and I found out I need a phono pre. Im at $2500 to $3k. I can't do that especially if I'm just jumping in. I have pretty awesome digital and I'm hoping vinyl is going to rock my analog world. If it don't, its gone as quickly as I bought it lol! I get your a huge Technics guy and if found a SL-1200G/GR for $1000  or $1100, adding the extra's (cartridge & phono pre) on top are more achievable. I hope this makes sense.

So my fantastic seller pulled the rug out on me. Long story but guess it is what it is. Bought and paid for a Rega P6 in mint condition, with Exact 2 cartridge, weights, yada, yada,yada. Picking up Saturday. Hope it was a good move. 

Merry Christmas to all! Thank everyone for their input. I looked into every suggestion. So were feasible and some were not. Disappointed the VPI Scout Aries fell through but it would’ve ended up putting me well over budget. From what I’ve read, the Rega P6 is a pretty solid table. I’m happy to say, my original starting point budget was up to $1500. I made my purchases. I needed up with the Rega Planar 6 with New Exact 2 cartrldge and some extras for $1100 along with a New Rega MM mk3 phono stage for $340. I’m thrilled I’m in at $1440 which is just under budget. Any suggestions on cables?

Got my rega RP6 TT, cart and rega FONO MM today and am going to set it up a bit later. Thank you got all the great information as I knew I could count on this AG forum for excellent info. I am looking forward to hearing it on my system. I heard it on the sellers system which was amazing and also a top notch guy. So far, great experience!

So, the journey has began. I set up my Rega RP6, Rega fono MM and almost immediately I’m about ready to sell it lol! I have 2 albums. One was given to me with the table and the other is a brand new Norah Jones Come away with me. As I did 35 years ago when I had a TT and vinyl, immediately the first thing I did before playing the album was clean it. This album is horrible, scratchy sounding in spots with all kinds of crackles & pops. Is this what you get with “new vinyl” or is it a bad album? The Rush album I was given is fine with minimal pops. The SQ is not of my digital set up but that cold be because I’m using pretty shitty Monster Cables until funds build to get a pair of Transparent Audio Ultra’s. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I’m definitely going to start looking into all of them. I’m also going to try a pair of my Transparent Ultra’s from one of my other systems. The Pre phono stage may be an issue in itself. I noticed as I crank up the volume I have a hum coming from my speakers. The turntable is grounded. As I move the arm towards the center if the album, it gets worse wtf? It does this with the TT running and when it is off. Anytime the phone stage is on, I get a hum. Thoughts?

@gshepardbuster- I can put it on a different outlet which is a totally different circuit. It’s just not dedicated with upgraded outlets like my main. Also, what ground are you mentioning may have come loose? The one from the table to the pre phono is tight. Is there another I’m not aware of?

@paulcreed I will try leaving the pre on 24/7. As for the cables crossing the power cords, that’s not an issue. I will be poking and prodding pretty much all day tomorrow. Thank you guys for the input. Greatly appreciated!

Guys thank you again for your input. Sorry I’ve been away with the holiday. Here’s some things I noticed and things I tried. I brought down my Transparent Audio Ultra cablesand the sound quality is pretty awesome. Some progress made. As for the hum and noise issue with my Rega, I tried isolating power sources, moving the power supply and pre phono with the same issue. The hum and noise level is definitely higher as I move the arm in towards the LP. I found the ground connector had a loose connection, it pulled off in my hand. Ithought this was it but as I connected it direct to the phone pre, it still had the hum. I crimped a new connector on the end of the ground. I have 3 systems in my home. I brought the TT up to my Mc setup which is pretty simple. It consists of a Mx-130 used as pass through 2 channel pre and a MC7300 amp. The MX-130 has a build in phono stage so I didn’t use the Rega Pre phono. Powered the system up and there is still a hum and static pops. I’ll get more into the pops in a minute. I brought the table on to my 3rd system which is a Jolida RC-1000 tube integrated amp. Plugged in the TT along with the Rega phono pre and as strange as can be, there is no hum and the amp noise level through the speakers is minimal. When I mentioned I’d get back to the popping sounds. I have said way back the disappointment of the Norah Jones LP I purchased but I noticed something else and it’s on all 3 systems. When I remove the arm from the album and the arm is in its rest, there are pops and crackles coming through the speakers. There’s no doubt the LP is not a good pressing but I believe some of the pops I’m hearing is the same pops I hear with the needle off the record. The last thing I tried for today was something the seller suggested. I have the TT on the very top of my rack which is right above a power conditioner for my DVD player and projector. He suggested unplugging that unit and sure enough, the hum dropped drastically. The system noise is still exceptionally loud and the crackling and popping when the arm is NOT on the record still exists. Gonna keep poking away.

I was just able to catch up on these threads at lunch.

@gshepardbuster- you’ve been phenomenal with trying to get the problem rectified and I will continue to try and correct it. I listen to it at your house and I know there were no issues heard that day. I think we both just want it corrected and if we can get to that point, I’d love to keep it.

@paulcreed- Thank you for all the suggestions, lord knows I’ve tried almost everyone of them. Gshepardbuster and I have been trying to figure out and work out the culprit. I am so appreciative to have a AG community with so many seasoned veterans so to speak to lend expertise. 

To all although the seller and myself are trying to work out the plaguing issues, I always throw out test and different things tried so we all can learn and maybe share to the next victim of....”sound issues lol” once I get gone tonight, I’m am going to start poking again. Paulcreed, I think I am going to connect a bastard ground wire from the screw on the head shell/cartridge to the ground on the pre just to test. I’m also going to check humidity levels in my home. Although I have (2) whole hound humidifiers and they’re both working, I want to check the levels. If I recal, the popping and crackling is usually after the needle comes if the LP and I don’t think it pops prior to playing. I have to double check. If so, this would lead me to static? Still have to address the hum issues once and for all as well.

@viridian- I’ve tried about everything. I messed around with it again tonight with no luck. At this point I’m not willing to buy a different cartridge right out of the gate or buy longer cables plus another stand etc. just to accommodate this setup. The seller and I are going to hook up Saturday and try a couple experiments. Hopefully we can figure it out. If not, I’ll probably  be in the market for another table & cartridge. 

As you all know, my first TT experience didn’t start off very good but the seller gshepardbuster  came over this morning. Having attempted several different things, we opted to try a different TT with a different cartridge on it. Sure enough it was silent with no hum or buzzing of any sort. It was a Technics TT with an Audio Technica Cartridge. He was willing to sell the TT and Cartridge at a very fair price and refund some of the money I paid for the Rega RP6. I wanted to keep the Rega for now so we swapped out the Exact 2 Cartridge with the Audio Technica AT150MLX. All the hum, buzzing and popping were gone. The sound was so sweet and I am a happy camper! I’m now afraid because I like I’m hearing so much, I’m already thinking about doing vinyl on one of my other systems. @gshepardbuster- Thank you for everything 
@ the AG forum members, thank you for all the help and ideas trying to help remedy my issue. It is greatly appreciated.

@dramatictenor & @sleepwalker65- I don think there is any extra source causing the hum. When I had the Exact 2 Cartridge in the arm, I also had a power conditioner which was used for a projector and DVD player. It was one shelf below the turntable in my rack. When it was powered up, that cartridge humid even more. When we swapped cartridges, no hum at all any time powered up or not. At the end of the day, the seller & I got the issue rectified by changing the cartridge. There’s a ton of info about hum issues from the Rega’s and the Exact 2 Cartridge. There’s also another upgraded power supply which supposedly helps this problem. At this point, I’m going to stay right where I’m at. I’ll be totally honest, although I love the sound of vinyl, I’m still having a rough time with the snap crackle and pop associated with it. Even after washing the albums and with 34% RH in the home, still get them pops. It’s a very hard decision and it’s still up in the air, but vinyl for me may be short lived :(

Any thoughts! Always at the beginning silence to the first song on an album or sometimes in the silence between tracks I can faintly hear the start of the next tune. Does that mean anything or is that normal?

@sbank 34% RH = Relative Humidty in the house. I use the spin clean system when I first receive them, let them air dry and the prior to playing use the Audioquest carbon fiber brush or Audioquest micro brush with cleaning solution.

@whart thatbis what I thought about the pressing. gsheppardbuster who has gone well beyond the call of duty had also commented similar on possible pressing issues. That is not really a deal breaker on the LP. Just didn’t know if I had a tracking issue or something along those lines.

I live in the Midwest. I have (2) whole house humidifiers. I really don’t know how to get anymore humidity based on outside conditions. If I crank up the humidity much more, then I get a lake on all my windows frames from the glass pouring h20. I may try adding a portable humidifier just in that room. My thought is water seeks its own level. As the furnace fires up and I pull air from my listening rooms return air, that RH will probably drop and in theory gonup in the house? Anyway, I’ll keep poking with it and give it a shot. 

@viridian I’m sorry, I don’t know how I missed this. So far, so good! Getting use to the Vinyl. I now buy new albums because at least they may not be analogoly( is that a word?) recorded, at least their not abused over 30 or 40 years of non audiophile grade players. Bottom line, I do enjoy the sound. Diana Karl sounds amazing on vinyl.