turntable help

DMV: Get a piece of notebook paper and roll it into a cone (.3" diameter on small end / 2" diameter on large end). Connect the safety pin to the small end and touch the point to a spinning record. You are now Edison, MUSIC IS MAGIC.

Any clue on what I can do?

If you can't figure it out, post the model numbers

I'm now using a Yamaha P-750 for the home. It sounds just great. However, it is loaded with buttons and knobs, and its manual has never been posted online. Anyway, there is a LOCK/FREE flipswitch by the base of the tonearm. I've farted around with the thing, but I don't know what it does. Help!

I'd imagine it is to lock it in place when you transport it so the tonearm doesn't get damaged.

Thanks. I'll try securing the tonearm in the clasp, then flipping the switch to LOCK -- see if that somehow locks it in there.

I have just purchased a Pro-Ject Debut III (partly due to people recommending it here) and am finding there's something weird about the tonearm/cartridge/needle/I'm not sure — I get this humming sound, mostly in the right channel. If I move the tonearm a little, especially if I lift it so it touches the anti-skating weight support hoop, I can usually get the hum to go away... but it comes back after a few minutes.

Does this sound familiar? Is there a way to fix it? Do I have to "adjust the azimut," whatever that is?

This is my first serious turntable — before I just had this old Garrard changer and didn't ever have to do any assembly or anything, just replaced the needle once or twice.

HEEEELLLLLPPPPP

Do you have the grounding wire connected? (little fork shape cable that runs beside the two phono connections - should screw on to a post on your amp/ phono stage)
If that's not it then it might be a loose connection from the arm to the cartridge - 4 connectors with fiddly little sleeves that fit over 4 posts on the cartridge; try touching them one by one and see if the hum changes or goes away...

Thanks for your reply. The grounding wire is connected. If I touch the metal screws connecting the tonearm to the cartridge, the hum reduces but doesn't quite disappear. Touching the sleeves (black, rubbery things?) makes the hum louder.

Ok - without hearing the hum, its hard to tell (and might be hard to tell anyway) if it doesn't entirely disappear when you touch anything on the cartridge, it suggests a more fundamental earthing problem; if you've just bought this, the safest - and cheapest - thing might be to bring it back to the shop, and either get a replacement or get them to fix it......

I just had a similar problem and it ended up being an internal ground in the cartridge itself. Replacing the cartridge solved it....if it's a good shop they should definitely be willing to replace or fix.

I have a Rega so I'm not sure exactly how the Pro-Ject's ground out...the Rega ground internally in the arm...so it could be a number of things but maybe if you have another old cartridge around it might be worth throwing it on just to see if that solves it.

Thanks again.... I ordered the turntable from NeedleDoctor, which makes returning it a hassle, but I'll probably do that since even the prospect of replacing the cartridge frightens me terribly. (NeedleDoctor provide a link to this Beginner's Guide, but just the list of "tools at a glance" is intimidating.)

Just read the guide....... have the say, I've changed cartridges without a tweezers loads of times but it makes sense to use one; is there anyone local who does repairs who could swap the cartridge if just to eliminate that?

'have to say'

Hey guys I've got a Pioneer PL-990. My cat knocked it off the stack last night and I think the motor might be fucked up: the platter is spinning v irregularly. I thought I might just need to rethread the belt, so I did, but no dice.

Any other suggestions? If it is the motor, is it cheaper to get a motor and repair/have it repaired, or do I just need a new turntable?

i'm getting a cat

pics or its not true

HALP u guys

In case you want to geek out - http://www.vinylengine.com

A repair might work, but it's going to cost you parts and labor and you'll still be left with a Pioneer deck. Double your costs and you could end up with something much better—for example,

http://www.needledoctor.com/Pro-Ject-Turntables-Debut-III-Basic-Black?sc=2&category=352

hoos, kinda echoing michael, but yeah getting them fixed is tough. very few places fix turntables anymore, don't know abt your city.

if you don't want to step up to the 300+ range, like the Rega P1 (which i own) or the Pro-Ject, then i'd definitely check craigslist you can find some great deals on there.

remedial turntable question: with an old, 80s all-in-one cassette/turntable unit, will a microphone input work as a line-in/auxiliary setting? would i be able to run music from a computer through the stereo? and is there a big disadvantage in it being a single jack input, rather than a dual phono red/white input?

I would try it, but most mic imputs are a lower impedance level than line inputs. some of those older systems have built-in preamps though. the jack is probably 1/4" stereo, but it might be mono (which might also be a problem for you).

ehh, i think i might just go for it. there's always headphones if not. thank you.

i bought this, by the way, it being small enough to fit my needs and also being really cool. i was shocked - SHOCKED - to see how cheap stereos are generally on ebay, though; anything without a cd player, even if it's separates with a turntable and decent speakers, can be had for >$75, inc. shipping.

anyone got any experience with packing and shipping a turntable overseas?

it's a thorens td 160 in exc

I have an experience receiving turntables sent air mail.

Dust covers shattered, a lag (in the spinning part) in both of them which never really went away, and unsurprisingly little foam/air bags in the box.

Should have known, the guy's name was Elvis Santana.

ouch

did you get a refund?

At a minimum you need to strip the thing down. Most important is to take the platter off. I'd pack it under the turntable where it can do the least harm

There are also sometimes shipping screws for the suspension accessed from under the turntable. If you don't have a manual for the 160, sometimes you can get one online. Tightening the screws will immobilize and protect the suspension.

Tie down, or tape down the tonearm to the support so that it can't get loose and damage itself or the stylus.

If the stylus has a cover, pop it into place, or take the stylus out if that's easily done. Some styli come as an insert that is removable from the larger cartridge.

Unscrew the counterweight from the tonearm.

In a perfect world, think about shipping the plexiglass cover separately. They're fragile and crack/scratch easily; if you don't pack well, the turntable (and especially the platter) can shift around and damage them.

Xpost, we sent back the non-working mixer and got much more than it was worth. I managed to get two years of use out of those turntables though, although there were always good and bad days with them.

If you have an original box they came in, preferably with appropriate fitting pieces of styrofoam that keep it in place, I imagine that would be a good receptacle.

thanks michael, just what I was looking for

reposted from another thread (threads, actually, my mistake(s))

I think I'm going to get a new set of Shure cartridges
I'm looking at these and realizing that it might be worth the extra 17 (X 2) dollars to step up to something better, namely the M44-7, especially if it's going to have a significantly longer life than a more entry level cartridge.

I really don't know anything about needles, I'm changing them now because I got a pair that came with used turntables and I'm afraid they're worn out (there's skipping here and there, sometimes I have to raise the counterweight, etc.), but ultimately I have no idea. I'm not playing at clubs or on a HiFi system, so I'm not sure (not shure?) what difference it ultimately makes for someone like myself.

― EDB, Tuesday, September 15, 2009 8:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

It's going to wise to change your cartridges if they've seen a lot of use as they wear down, and eventually get to a point where they might start damaging your records.

Always set the weight of the cartridge to the maximum recommended by the manufacturer - less weight could mean the arm may bounce up and down, again damaging records. As a general rule, hi-fi carts are set to around 1.5g, house and techno DJ carts where some back-cueing is used are around 3.5, and scratch DJs will use at least 5g to lessen the possibility of skipping.

Records skipping can sometimes just mean the records are damaged of course.

It's always good to have some spare cartridges around just in case anyway - they'll last virtaully a lifetime if not used.

I'm sure you know this, but for anyone who doesn't:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4886060_set-turntable-tracking-weight.html

Actually ignore that - it's good up until point 4, which seems plain wrong. Just turn the counterweight to the required number which should correspond to the weight you are after. If setting DJ tracking weights you may need to add a weight to the headshell (very often this will be a small coin held on with blutack!)

The link that should have been where I wrote that was lost, so there it is again.

Thanks, though. Mainly I'm mixing records, so I'm concerned about wear. At this point I'm definitely going to buy new cartridges, the question is whether the M44-7 is worth the extra $17 (times two, $34) dollars over the M92E for a bedroom DJ like myself, looking in the long run (i.e. how long these will last for, etc.)

Sorry, can’t help you there, I’ve always been an Ortofon man myself. The main thing to take into consideration with wear is that a spherical diamond will damage records much less when back-cueing, but will not have the clarity of an eliptical diamond.

Well I got cartridges and everything is set up (properly, I hope). My question now is what's the deal with this screw in the cartridge at a 23% angle business? I've had Stanton cartridges which came pre-angled, but turned clockwise, and with a straight tone arm if that makes a difference?), but otherwise I am again in the dark, but it seems to make sense, and better tracking is better tracking...

Are there potential pitfalls to this? If it's angled at say 15, 20 percent will it make a difference?

Thanks.

You can get pfs of protractors to help with alignment. Make sure you print at 100%

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml

I've just used the 'stupid protractor' in the past. Haven't bothered the last few times tbh.

An hour researching on google and I still have no idea how to use that.

You just print them out, make a hole where the blank dot is and then place it on your turntable to see if the cartridge lines up (more or less) in both positions when viewed from above. Simples.

So, when do you know when it's time to replace styli?

When your music sounds like shite! How long have you had it, and how much music do you listen to a week?

The first sign for me is always that LPs start to sound a little fuzzier toward the center of the record.

Ta, sleeve.

I have a Rega and at some point I won't. It isn't the quietest turntable and has intermittent hum issues - probably because they don't use a ground wire like every other turntable in the world.

Ah, the Rega Planar 1 was the other one I had pondered.

I have no idea what can just be connected to my amp or whether I'd need a pre-amp??

Does your amp have a “phono” input? If not you’d be looking for “built in preamp” or “line level output”on the specs of the TT. Otherwise it’s preamp time.
By the way you can use a secondhand amp with a phono input and e.g. tape output as an inexpensive pre.

if you don't know whether you need a phono preamp or not, i'd get either the A1 or the E1 with phono preamp, seems like best bang for the buck. you probably don't need to worry about the T1.

Thanks - yes, it does have a phono input.

I've had a Rega p1 for years, I have not personally had any hum or ground issues, been a champ

if you have a phono input on your amp then i’d go for the cheapest unless you think you’d benefit from the automatic features of the a1

all five 1200s i’ve owned were bought used and then internally grounded as part of the initial service appointment. i don’t know how much it would cost to have the internal grounding done by itself but these guys took the whole thing apart, cleaned all the gears and bearings, replaced all the belts, tuned it up and internally grounded for about $100 each. no hum at all

of course 1200s are built on a big metal frame. not familiar enough with rega or project turntables to know if internal grounding is possible. if it is, i recommend it! very nice not to have to screw around with a ground wire

i had a line on a used rp-1 for $250. regret passing on it, what made me skip it - aside from needing to buy a preamp, since the stereo i wanted to connect it to only had an aux input, not phono - was not wanting to deal with having to switch a belt to play 45s!

Do you listen to your 45s or do you like to think about listening to your 45s? Cuz I'm in the latter camp and I think most are

I have a few recent punk lps that play at 45, (granted they are only 10-15 minutes per side)

I mean sure I have 45rpm albums

Oh but wait late great might have a lot of dance stuff

well i am in that camp too. house, disco, techno tends to be on 12” not 7”. the one genre that sticks to 7” 45* is funk edits, and i guess funk and soul singles also tend to be easier to find on 7”. i only have a few dozen, and since 7”s don’t fit in the kallax with the non-dance records, or in the kallax-sized fiberglass ikea bins on the floor with the dance records, i put them in a cardboard longbox. the longbox is ugly and fits nicely in a closet, so it lives there, and it never occurs to me to grab them. somewhat related i had a copy of “funkier than a mosquito’s tweeter” on 7” with me at my thing last week, and it would have slayed, but i totally forgot about it because it got buried deep in the bag between the 12”s

* = i have not yet descended into the madness that is reggae 45s

Can't work out the most current turntable thread.

Anyway, anyone fancy explaining the difference between the various Pro-Ject turntables currently on sale at Richer Sounds.

E1 - £249
E1 Phono £249
T1 - £299
E1 BT - £369
T1 Phono SB - £379
Debut Carbon EVO - £399

BT = Bluetooth. Can't quite decide whether that is going to matter/future proof a bit?
The EVO comes with a £100 needle, apparently. And is £100 off. And comes in fancy colours.

If it helps, I have an ONKYO a-9010 amp. Don't have a pre-amp or anything like that.

This is partly a "plagued by indecision" sort of question (being meaning to replace a broken record player for years but failed).

Would I regret buying the cheapest rather than the fanciest (don't want to go over £400)?

The E line are the budget/entry-level models; the most lightweight material (in theory the lighter the plinth and platter, the more susceptible to vibration and therefore distortion). The T line uses better/heavier material and (I believe) a better tonearm so supposed to be less prone to vibration etc. I believe that both the E and T lines have a fixed anti-skate setting, meaning you’d probably be best sticking with the same or similar Ortofon cartridge down the line as they’ve been optimized to work with that one.

The Debut line uses better material still, has the motor suspended from the plinth to reduce vibration even more, comes with better cart, and has adjustable anti-skate which will give you more options for future cartridge upgrades.

The ones with Phono in the name include a phone pre-amp. I’d skip that personally; the one in your Onkyo should be fine. BT includes Bluetooth and phono pre-amp; I’d skip that too unless you know you need it now; if you ever need it in the future you can add a transmitter. One thing to pay attention to if it matters to you is which models come with a speed selector switch. With the non-phono/non-Bluetooth models you often need to manually move the belt with a little tool to select 33/45 RPM (I’ve been doing that for close to 30 years with my Pro-Ject and it doesn’t bother me but some people find it annoying).

I’d probably skip the E line; if you’re just looking to be able to play your existing collection and aren’t doing critical listening you’ll probably be fine with the T; if you’re still collecting records, have time to sit and listen to music without doing other stuff, like the idea of trying out different carts/needles eventually, I’d go with the Debut.

I have a carbon debut and it has always had some motor rumble. If you have any place near you that sells refurbishment turntables, I’d get a classic older model instead of any pro-ject.

Also, having to buy an additional component to easily change from 33 to 45 = duuuuud

Thanks both.

I have $1k to spend on a turntable, amp and speakers. What would you all recommend ?

If I was doing it from scratch I'd get...

NAD C316BEE V2 - $400
Elac Debut 2.0 bookshelf speakers - $230

Take your pick of turntables. I might get something like the Denon DP-300F - $329

i'd go so far as to say that setup would be "tite"

Sweet! Thanks buddy

You can check out the cheap audio man's recommendations.
Randy doesn't have great taste in music, but I like his videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOYicgCSPA8

Here's a couple of receivers that have caught my eye recently:

Refurbished Marantz PM6007

Dayton Audio HTA200

speakers as the cheapest part, really?

never built an all new system. watching with interest.

The Elacs sound amazing but yeah there are a million right answers here

you may wanna check out Facebook marketplace, sometimes you can get high end stuff for cheap because people just really want it out of their house

one nice thing about audio equipment is it lasts forever. my receiver is like 35 years old. speakers probably 25. the turntable I bought 2 decades ago still works as good as it did when I bought it. so buying used is a pretty good option I think.

for me the biggest audio upgrade was going to a microline stylus, the AT-VM95ML if you're curious. it was $150 for the cart (if you have an AT turntable you already have the headshell) and not only did the records sound better but it basically eliminated inner groove distortion. plus they last like 2-3x as long as regular carts.

yup I switched to the AT-VM95ML and huge improvement over I think an Ortofon Red

speakers as the cheapest part, really?

If I were starting over and buying new I’d probably go with something like:

Integrated amp: Yamaha A-S301 - $350 (sometimes available as a refurb for $300)
Speakers: Triangle BR03 - nice sale at Adorama right now, $230-$290 depending on finish
Turntable: U-Turn - best one I could get depending on how much I paid for the amp and speakers

calstars in nyc iirc, which is a really competitive and expensive market for used gear

And yeah, I actually switched to an AT-VM95ML a couple of months ago, inner groove distortion disappeared!

is it easy to fit an AT to a rega planar

apparently it’s a skoosh

when I put on the new cart I used one of those print-out protractors to align it, turned out to be a waste of time because if you're using the AT headshell it's already aligned properly.

Microline stylii absolutely changed my life. No inner groove distortion ever again. It was incredible to realize that the final song on every side of every record didn't have to sound distorted.

I can highly recommend the AT-VM95ML. I've also had great results with the AT440MLb.

I splurged a bit last year and got my first moving coil type stylus and it is a revelation. AT-OC9XML, also by Audio Technica.

for me the biggest audio upgrade was going to a microline stylus, the AT-VM95ML if you're curious. it was $150 for the cart (if you have an AT turntable you already have the headshell) and not only did the records sound better but it basically eliminated inner groove distortion. plus they last like 2-3x as long as regular carts.

I want to fourth this recommendation. Only problem is they spoil you for normal stylii and when it's time to replace they're obvs a fair bit more spendy than straight ellipticals (but totally worth it)

I found out about it via the Steve Hoffman forums, I hate to say it but if you have serious audio questions you may want to ask those folks. they're obnoxious but they know their shit.

I had that same Denon model before my dad gave me his Pro-Ject debut, it was a solid deck!!! I did have to get under there and blindly twist a tiny screw to adjust the speed at one point.

and yeah I have that same at stylus too! wow, inner groove distortion just melts away

Buying used basically doubles your spending power.

I have a Rega P2. I got a replaced the Rega cartridge with the same thing due to a broken stylus a few months back and have been having intermittent tracking problems since then that have worsened recently. It started skipping on dirty records originally but now even on records that I know are clean and have never had issues. In addition to skipping where it repeats the same groove, it appears to be skipping to a different spot without actually repeating.

I have adjusted the tracking force, which seemed to work a while back but just tried it again and it didn't seem to help.

Could this be caused by a worn belt? The table is 6 years old and has the original belt.

Could it be the alignment of the cartridge? I had a lot more trouble installing this cartridge than in the past. The bolts didn't fit nearly as well, but I think I got it and sound wise I don't hear any audible issues other than the skipping.

I am decent at trouble shooting audio issues but this is very strange.

got a

Not the belt, that would affect the speed/pitch. does your P2 have anti skate? it could definitely also be the alignment of the cartridge or the tracking force, it's probably a combination of all three. The last time I replaced the cartridge on my P6 I brought it into a shop to have it properly set up and it was well worth the hundred bucks or whatever.

Thanks. The P2 doesn't have anti-skate and I have been feeling like it has been skating lately. Seems to want to fall off the outside of the record if I don't get it solidly in the run-in groove, which has never previously been an issue.

I realigned the cartridge and reset the the tracking force and it played ok yesterday. So far so good.

I'm going to replace the Rega in the next two years. I don't like their closed system, lack of a ground wire, and lack of anti-skate.

iirc the regas use a weird geometry?

Probably.

I'm highly suspicious of a single company thinking they have the special sauce on a technology that has been solved since the 1960s.

you can try one of the rega protractors here towards the bottom of the page https://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml

I have tried those in the past and found them confusing. Maybe I will give it another try.