modas88 Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 Hi all wondering if anyone could recommend a budget TT at a cost of under $500. Would also be helpful if you could tell me where to locate the dealers. Have benn out of the vinyl game for abt 5 yrs & thinking of getting back in. regards
kzone Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 I'm considering of going into vinyl too.. my first foray... Just saw a rega Planar 2 on sale at echoloft for $300. I know Norman Audio brings in Project TT & their entry level player wud prob be just above $500. This is OT, but can I know if placing a TT on a rack in between the 2 speakers is a recipe for disaster (sonically)? Btw, I still need to get a phono amp rite?
SiriuslyCold Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 you don't need a phono amp if your integrated amplifier has a phono input
kzone Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 No phono in a amp, its labeled phono input but its just a line level in.. now there's a planar 3 on sale too
SiriuslyCold Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 huh? they wouldn't just label a line input "phono" normally
kzone Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 Cos the amp also has a phono version.. but they prob only manufacture one face plate for both... Hmmm.. or maybe its labeled as Phono/Aux... Anyway, wats a gd budget phono amp to get? planning to set it up end of the yr..
maxpower1624705738 Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 get a used Technics SL-1200 Mk2 turntable. Used ones are going around 400. Echoloft forums has one time to time.
kwhv Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 I would rather go for used regas or technics 1200mkII than project's budget TT. The regas are very robust in construction. The RB250 or 300 arms are very well regarded and are used by other high-end players. The 1200mkII is a veteran deck which has been around for a long time and still in production. There must be reasons this deck is still around. For budget phonos, there's the project phono stage and NAD PP2. I would go for the NAD PP2. I appear to be biased against project stuff but this is for a reason. I had two auditions at Norman. 1st one was when I wanted to get a budget TT and auditioned for debut. Set-up was no good. There was channel imbalance and the Norman guy say it's my record which sounded fine when I played it in other shops. Second was with my friend who wanted to check out electrostatic speakers. I brought my records again, this time the Project experience TT sounded very soft. Then they this discover that there was something wrong with the project phono stage. Everything was ok when they substituted clearaudio basic phono stage. I've got a friend who bought project phonostage which was problematic. Brought back to Norman, Norman discover the whole batch got problem. I think Project stuff has QC problems. Just sharing my experience.
soundaudio Posted October 6, 2006 Posted October 6, 2006 Saw a technics 1200mkII on sale at today echoloft for $320.
gleam Posted October 6, 2006 Posted October 6, 2006 Some advice from an old timer... Direct drive turntables such as the Technics are prone to speed fluctuations after some years due to the direct weight of the platter on the motor so make sure the speed is still constant by checking the strobe. My friend had a Technics t/t many years back and when I spoke to him after 20 years, he said he still had the t/t, but doesn't play it as the speed is not constant anymore. And beware of any audible motor hum. Belt drives like the Rega do not have this problem as the platter doesn't rest on the motor so noise is isolated. I remember when UK mags sabo-ed Japanese direct drives years back, causing them to suffer poor sales, because they were protective of their own British belt-drives like the Linn and Rega. So be careful. Good luck.
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