Turntable Path-of-Least-Resistance

[Bo Deadly]

I found an album that I must have but it's vinyl only. I know nothing about record players. What's the best < $300 solution for playing an LP these days? Do the new ones perform noticeably better or worse? Something with old mojo would be a plus but not at the expense of performance. Noise performance is paramount.

 

[shabtek]

audio technica are still making stylus and turntables. pioneer also but more £¢$

 

[scott2000]

I heard a couple good things about these...Never heard one though.....

https://www.fluance.com/turntables

but I think a balanced turntable pre may be the best in regards to any noise performance regardless of table....

Like the one on the kirkwood site.....

https://www.proaudiodesignforum.com/forum/php/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=753&start=30

 

[Gold]

ProJect or Rega are probably your best bet if you are looking to buy new. They have the best price performance ratio. The only noise that a turntable injects is rumble. That usually isn't a concern if the turntable is reasonably well made.

The most prominent noise sources are the preamp including the  interface cabling and the pressing of the record.

 

[Bo Deadly]

Unfortunately it seems like the new ones are mostly bluethooth and USB and so on. Ideal for me would be something with RIAA amp integrated and RCA outputs.

Thanks for the inputs.

 

[shabtek]

another consideration is that it does the least harm to the vinyl

 

[user 37518]

I have a couple of Stanton turntables, they are sturdy as a MF.

 

[scott2000]

You could always just have Mr. Gold archive the vinyl in digital for you.  Probably the best representation of what a record could sound like anyhow if someone's setup isn't optimal.....

 

[JohnRoberts]

I found an album that I must have but it's vinyl only. I know nothing about record players. What's the best < $300 solution for playing an LP these days? Do the new ones perform noticeably better or worse? Something with old mojo would be a plus but not at the expense of performance. Noise performance is paramount.

For only one recording putting together a high performance playback system is not trivial.

Noise will generally be dominated by the preamp so consider a decent stand alone preamp. Turntable noise (rumble) is less widely characterized but if you get the turntable/preamp noise floor suitably lower than the vinyl surface noise it can sound pretty transparent.

I suspect there are hundreds of thousands of serviceable playback systems gathering dust in old fart's living room. I haven't fired up my turntable once in the last decade.

Check out the used equipment market (I just took a peek at EBAY and they have a wide offering of turntables from <$100 to >$1,000). Maybe check out local yard sales or estate sales. Modern op amps have gotten a lot better in the decades since these were popular, you could probably make a simple drop in op amp upgrade to polish an older preamp (use JFET input op amps for high input Z).

For a truly one-off requirement you can probably get a single record transferred to digital for far less than your budget. If you buy smart you should be able to put together a serviceable system for $300 but then you may be tempted to keep spending.

JR

 

[ruffrecords]

I have a Lenco L84 turntable which has RCA and USB outputs. Nothing special, dirt cheap with ceramic cartridge but fine for playing old vinyl.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Gold]

You could always just have Mr. Gold archive the vinyl in digital for you.  Probably the best representation of what a record could sound like anyhow if someone's setup isn't optimal.....

I am proud of my playback system. It took a long time to get accurate and quiet playback from the lathe. It’s much harder to do on a lathe because the location  of the tonearm doesn’t make short cables an easy proposition. The lathe also has a very dirty ground. Ground referencing the lathe is a recipe for disaster.

Accurate and quiet playback is difficult to do.  I’m priced for people who want to rerelease a record that only has vinyl as a source.

BTW the bottom of the line Pro-Ject. Is about $375 and not USB. The Bottom if the line Rega is about $475.

If buying used I’d go for a Technics 1200. It’s hard to do better than a 1200.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I found an album that I must have but it's vinyl only. I know nothing about record players. What's the best < $300 solution for playing an LP these days? Do the new ones perform noticeably better or worse? Something with old mojo would be a plus but not at the expense of performance. Noise performance is paramount.

The AT LP120X is actually a badge-engineered Technics SL1200. They are both made in the same factory, on the same lines, by the same people. The USB output is a plus, but don't use Audacity for click and surface noise removal...