OLD audiophiles (remember Records?)

[Sniffs]

for those of us that still have and remember records (i believe Gen Y calls them "vinyl"), the crackle of dust is a nostalgic flashback.
however, finding a turntable (outside of DJ supplies) is almost impossible, and replacing a shot needle is REALLY impossible

feel free to wax nostalgic over WAX (and shellac, and vinyl), and the nice quality that the had.

for those not in the know: a record is basically an analog media CD, but it's double sided.

by the way, there is a LASER based record player for sale out there. it can read even shattered records (if you have all the pieces), and deal with warps up to a quarter of an inch (6.35 mm).
however, only true audiophiles shoud apply. it costs a whopping
20 thousand dollars!!

 

[Omnis]

Not really, to both of your "impossible" assertions.

 

[Scaff]

however, finding a turntable (outside of DJ supplies) is almost impossible, and replacing a shot needle is REALLY impossible

I'm a big Hi-Fi and record fan, I can assure you that its certainly possiable to find non-DJ turntables, for example....

Pro-ject - http://www.project-audio.com/main.php?cat=default&lang=en

Rega - http://www.rega.co.uk/

Townshend - http://townshendaudio.net/

Michell Engineering - http://www.michell-engineering.co.uk/

Many more companies still make turntables, with prices from the budget level to mid level covered by the likes of Pro-ject and Rega and silly money items from the likes of Townshend and Michell. Most of these companies also sell tone arms, cartridges and stylus as well. All are avaliable worldwide. I would go so far as to say that the turntable market currently has some of the finest products its ever had avaliable at all levels.

I still own a turntable (a Rega Planer 3) which only last year had an upgrade to the power supply unit and a refurb carried out on it by Rega.


Regards

Scaff

 

[TheCracker]

You can even buy USB Turntables for 'downloading' vinyl to your iPod via a PC.

 

[Sniffs]

Omnis: does that count "loose" needles?
Scaff: lucky UK buggers. an old freind told me you can still get vacumn tubes, there, too. and why are modern decks all belt drive? I've had the belt stretch on me from storage. (if you know where I can get one of the right size, point me)
my specialty is old BSA changer decks. if they still make the driver wheels, point me to that, too
PS...any of those 78 compatable?
Cracker: for 150 bucks. there's also a casette converter available in USB. wish i could, but our CDR/DVD dive immolated itself, AGAIN.
no, i don't own or want to own an iPod. I break headphones

 

[Scaff]

Omnis: does that count "loose" needles?
Scaff: lucky UK buggers. an old freind told me you can still get vacumn tubes, there, too. and why are modern decks all belt drive? I've had the belt stretch on me from storage. (if you know where I can get one of the right size, point me)
my specialty is old BSA changer decks. if they still make the driver wheels, point me to that, too
PS...any of those 78 compatable?
Cracker: for 150 bucks. there's also a casette converter available in USB. wish i could, but our CDR/DVD dive immolated itself, AGAIN.
no, i don't own or want to own an iPod. I break headphones

Sniffs, all those companies I mentioned have worldwide distributors, with Rega having probably the largest. As for why most modern audio grade turntables have belts, its simply down to sound quality, a directly driven platter will transfer drive vibrations and noise to the stylus.

The upgrade I had done to my turntable in part helps isolatle the power supply and motor even further from the platter itself, to help with stability and reduce interference. Belts for most turntables are still avaliable, it depends on who makes it.

In regard to a 78 compatable turntable, well Rega make a Planer varient specifically for 78's...

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/planar78.htm

and you asked about loose needles, do you mean gramaphone needles, as they are still availiable as well. I've never had to find them myself, but a quick google came back with this site....

http://www.mrstylus.com/en/index.html

...who still do them, along with a wide range of belts.


Regards

Scaff

 

[the Interceptor]

Nice to see that there still are people out there who play records. I also do, and surprisingly it's a growing market again, mainly supported by the "veterans" and those who are fed up by all-in-one-multiroom-versatile-disc-virtual-surround-high-gloss-mp3-wma-divx-players ( )

 

[Jim Prower]

Goodwill. Every now and then you'll find an old Hi-Fi come in. Actually, it's a good place for a lot of neat stuff. a lot of it's pretty heavily used, but you never know what'll show up.

 

[Sniffs]

Interceptor: yeah? try feeding your turntable through a surround unit. suroound sound DUST! actually, records sound just fine through my Prologic
Scaff: worldwide? mabey around the commonwealth. remember america's fussbag import statutes? I'll check them out tho...hope they're still "rca" cable ends, tho
needles--I meant the loose kind you have to snap into the tone arm, and try not to lose, cause they're tiny I think even Radio Shack has pretty much stopped carrying them
Deck Drives--I had less trouble with friction wheel table drivers than I have with the whimpy lightweight chinese decks we commonly get
Prower: i WORKED for Goodwill. i know what they actually DO with stuff...pitch it in the bin to the tune of 600k worth of garbage bill. our local, Salvation Army Included, is too busy trying to modernise and make MONEY to keep the place going. last I heard, all of the regular staff was either fired or quit, and half of the clients are tossed out on their disabeled butts.

 

[TB]

needles--I meant the loose kind you have to snap into the tone arm, and try not to lose, cause they're tiny I think even Radio Shack has pretty much stopped carrying them

You mean like these?

 

[the Interceptor]

Interceptor: yeah? try feeding your turntable through a surround unit. surround sound DUST! actually, records sound just fine through my Prologic

I've got nothing against a good surround setup, but if I've learned one thing in my life with HiFi, surround and music are best when rigorously seperated.

 

[Scaff]

Scaff: worldwide? mabey around the commonwealth. remember america's fussbag import statutes? I'll check them out tho...hope they're still "rca" cable ends, tho
needles--I meant the loose kind you have to snap into the tone arm, and try not to lose, cause they're tiny I think even Radio Shack has pretty much stopped carrying them
Deck Drives--I had less trouble with friction wheel table drivers than I have with the whimpy lightweight chinese decks we commonly get

Nope when I say worldwide I mean worldwide.

Rega desk are distributed in the US by:

The Sound Organisation
Stephen Daniels
159 Leslie Street
Dallas
Texas 75207
Tel: 001 972 234 0182
Fax: 001 972 234 0249

E-Mail: steve@soundorg.com
http://www.rega.co.uk/index2.htm

Pro-ject come into the US via
http://www.sumikoaudio.net/


As for stylus and cartridges, driverbelts and alignments tool in the USA, well 30 seconds on google came up with these guys...

http://www.lpgear.com/

...but to be honest in the UK I would just go to my local audio outlet.

I've got nothing against a good surround setup, but if I've learned one thing in my life with HiFi, surround and music are best when rigorously seperated.

100% agree in every way, my Home Cinema is set-up to give me the best out of films and my Hi-Fi for music. I'm fortunate enough to have the room to dedicate to both, and in seperate room in the house, and more importantly a wife that not only allows me to do so, but agrees with it as well.

Regards

Scaff

 

[the Interceptor]

@Scaff: now I'm curious. Do you read audiophile magazines as well, and if so, do you know the german magazine "LP"?

 

[Sniffs]

TB: yup. except I know people that won't pay five CENTS for those needles. I think they (and I ) believe they cost pennies to make, and they want five bucks?

Scaff: I'm chary about long distance ordering 'cause of Identity theft, the fact they only take credit cards, etc. why does everything have to be out west?

Interceptor: huh? that's just more cords and wires to trip over, for me, anyway. I use vintage speakers that weigh 35 lbs (i actually stepped on a scale with one, and went holy crap). heck, I use vintage equipment and old floor models to keep costs low. most of the stuff i DO run into needs a can of contact cleaner, a can of grease, and a few transistors replaced.

 

[the Interceptor]

I use vintage speakers

names and/or photos?

 

[wfooshee]

You want old, I'll give ya old.

I'm running a Thorens TD150 that I got from a guy who thought it was broken. It's strictly manual, and when it wouldn't lift the tone arm at the end, he let it go for 20 bucks. I haven't lost any sleep, yet. Belt-drive, very heavy cast aluminum platter, isolated well enough from the chassis that it actually sits on top of my speaker; only place I could put it that I can reach. I've said this elsewhere before, but if I crank it, the tone arm jumps off the record before I get feedback! (I've learned where that point is, and move the turntable if it's going to be used at that volume.)

My speakers are JBL L100 Century, the consumer version of the 4311 studio monitor. The cool foam grilles are long gone, replaced with acoustic cloth, but they work perfectly at 30 years old, and even the adjustment knobs are clean and un-crackly. I wiggle 'em every few months just to keep 'em clean. For the cabinet size, they are still the best-sounding speaker I have ever heard. Oh, yeah, I gave a guy 200 bucks for the pair, consecutive serial numbers, when he decided to "upgrade" his system with an all-in-one home theater set to get surround sound.

BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

 

[the Interceptor]

(...) when he decided to "upgrade" his system with an all-in-one home theater set to get surround sound.

See, you're the one on the lucky side of the equation. 👍

 

[TopHat]

Sniffs:

They sell Sony Turntables at the Best Buy around me for 80 bucks...

 

[V1P3R]

It's nice to know there are people older than me. lol

I thought this was gonna be a thread full of... Huh? what's that?

 

[Sniffs]

I don't keep a seperate photo archive like Photobucket, but...

my little barrell speakers are Panasonic SB-201. 70's vintage I think. Matsu****a is on the back as well

my units are old Soundesign 80's multifunction cubes with paper thin platters
my oldest units have been canned by my trying to fix them, and someone automatically cleaning up after me, which means they went straight in the bin. one of them was a Magnavox unit with a BSR deck and an 8 track RECORDER. an ex took that.

Top Hat: I think the nearest Best Buy is in Pittsburgh, as is the nearest Target. we have a Wal*mart, a couple Radio Shacks, and almost all the rest are womens clothing and shoe stores (sears included)

V1p3r: actually, so did I. i'm glad I'm invoking a lot of nostalga.

 

[matski]

My money, if I was of the vinyl persuasion - which I'm not - would got to a pro-ject debut 3 phono SB, good all-rounder for sensible money, and there is a USB version too.

In the UK you can still get pretty much any stylus fairly easily, back to the 50's for £20 or less.

 

[Sniffs]

the thing I've noticed with the UK especially is that it is much cheaper to buy replacement parts. mostly 'cause they still make them. for example, an ex of mine told me he could get a tie rod end for £15, VAT included, in 2001 (when the exchange rate was around a buck and a half, I think). over here, the same piece was 30 bucks without any taxes tacked on yet!

America works in reverse. the parts are expensive, and generally rigged so that the reassembly procedure is best left to professionals who charge up to 80 bucks an hour.
Over here, it generally cheaper to buy a whole new unit than it is to buy one replacement part. that's why I appreciate people also posting sites for whole units, as well.