Topic: Entry level ($300-500) turntable recommendations

[cshepherd]

The slider with the '0' and '2' is your anti-skate.  This controls the amount of pull the tonearm has towards the outer edge of the record.  Rega tonearms have a bit of anti-skate built into them so even at '0' the tonearm will drift a little to the outside while it is balancing.  This needs to be set around 1.5.  The balancing weight should be pushed all the way forward.  It will click over the rings.  You might want to play around with rotating the balancing ~ 1/4 turn back from the 'all the way forward position' once everything is going.  'All the way forward' represents 2g of vertical tracking force.  By rotating the balancing weight back a little, a tracking force of slightly less than 2.0g will be achieved.  The VTF and the anti-skate settings should be the same or close to it.

Don't worry about your needle.  They will take a little abuse.  The Ortofon cart that comes with the P1 is a keeper.  it will last 500-600 hours.  You can keep the needle clean with a scrubbing tool called Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  They are available at places like Wal-Mart for $5 in the cleaning section.  Just gently touch the pad to the needle tip a few times.  We highly recommend these.  When it's time to replace the cart, I would ge another Ortofon.

The floor is probably the worst place to have it.  A wall mount is the best, but definitely work towards getting the table onto some sort of stand or table.  Also get the level out and make sure the table is flat.  A poorly leveled table will never sound its best.  This is important for the needle's performance in the groove.

Chris

[scervin]

I will second the Magic Eraser!!  They are great for many things.

[mizary]

Have you cleaned the "new" vinyl?  I always clean a new LP before use.  Get's all the processing junk off of it.

If I see stuff on it I will clean it with a brush...

--mizary

[carlbeck]

You can make a home made record cleaning machine for cheap money & it will be the best money you spend towards vinyl.

As far as cheaper carts, check out the Denon DL-160, very highly regarded.

[nickgregory]

I don't know if you can get them over in the States (or how much they cost) but I recently got a Project Debut 3 turntable which cost just over £100 (so in the region of $200) and it sounds great to me - really good for very little money.

I am actually looking at these tables as my local dealer carries them and if I buy from them, I get a 90 day, trade up opportunity, where, if I dont like the table or the phono pre, they will take it back at the price I paid in the first 90 days and I can use the funds to upgrade to a different pre/table, or to ditch analog all together if I determine it to not be my thing.

That said, I am curious if anyone has done any comparisons in the Rega R1 vs. Pro-ject Debut III vs. Music hall tables...As the only reason I am trying to get into vinyl now is because I uncovered my collection from when I was a kid (ton of zeppelin, rush and metal ) and I want to see if vinyl is something that I want to explore...initially I want to keep the investment in the ~$600 range...so anyone have any head to head type comparisons...or why they chose the rega over the music hall table?

[cshepherd]

Vendor alert...although I'm sure everyone knows this by know.   

The Rega P1's are made in Great Britain.  The Muisic Hall tables are built at the Pro-Ject plant in the Czech Republic.  I think for an entry level table, it's hard to argue with Rega's knowledge base.  They make OEM tonearms for 16 different turntable manufacturers.  I have moved from the P1 to the P3 to the P5 now.  The phono stage in my system is almost 7 times as much as the entry level Rega Fono that I started with.  think my point of reference is pretty solid when I say that the P1 gives you a lot for the money.  It is easy to setup (~10 minutes) and easy to maintain.  The P1 will bring the magic to your system.  I think it's a great table to rediscover vinyl with.

FWIW, we recently had a very good customer of ours sell his Pro-Ject table for a comparably priced P3.  It was a sideways move, not an upgrade.  He was stunned at how much better the P3 was.

Thanks for supporting your local dealer.

+T to Team Turntable!

Chris

[mizary]

The rega P1 w/ the glass platter

And yes, the album is yoshimi battles the PINK robots.




And here is a 100% crop of the stylus

I accidently shot this at 800 ISO... (I just noticed)

it was 1/8 sec at f4.8


--mizary

[nickgregory]

ordering a P1 and Rega phono pre (thanks Chris)...cant wait to throw houses of the holy on it !