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Would you buy a turntable?

post #1 of 163
4/30/07 at 8:26am
Thread Starter 
Just curious if any members would consider buying a turntable these days...

Would a lot more music titles do it for you?

Would more economical tables work?

Would you stay digital no matter what?

Let me know your thoughts...I'm curious with the vinyl resurgence if anything can be done to expand the base of fans. I don't want to have an analog vs. digital debate...there are strengths and weaknesses to both formats.

So what is your view on analog?
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post #2 of 163
4/30/07 at 9:56am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Personally, I have no desire to buy a turntable regardless of the amount of content available for it.

There are advantages and disadvantage to vinyl with regards to sound quality, but overall it's just not convenient enough for me and I think many feel the same way. Convenience is the reason why MP3 has become so popular at the expense of sound quality.

I'm more than happy with CD and SACD, and only require MP3 for portable listening - I just can't fit vinyl into the equation.
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post #3 of 163
4/30/07 at 10:07am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Since I'd only be listening to LPs on my main system anyway, and I already have SACD and DVD-A capability, I have no need whatsoever for a turntable.

I think I still have a couple of old albums that were never released on CD, but nothing that I HAVE to listen to -- I could always make CDs of them myself if I really wanted to.
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post #4 of 163
4/30/07 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

"Convenience is the reason why MP3 has become so popular at the expense of sound quality."

Sadly true, but I see a nice grassroots swell for vinyl lately. I notice a lot of high schoolers buying the wax these days. I wonder if this is a how to keep a hirez format alive. Warners is reissuing the Rhino catalog so I wonder if this gives a bit more longevity to the niche.

I'm under no illusions for expansion beyond a niche, but as much as I like SACD I see no major pop/rock being issued of note (MoFi is still good but few titles) and I don't like the sound of CDs in terms of resolution. My hope is that maybe the labels will embrace a retro-format like LP as profitable niche so we can have more software in high resolution quality.

I like DVDA and SACD but they seem to be shrinking from what I can tell. Vinyl, while a pain sometimes, seems to be something the younger generation likes and the sound quality is terrific. I also wonder if 16/44.1 CD can hold up well against iTunes.
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post #5 of 163
4/30/07 at 10:51am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

While I like vinyl (but wouldn't get back into it), I have a hard time calling it high resolution.
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post #6 of 163
4/30/07 at 11:00am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I loved turntables & the sound they produced. I kept my high-end table & at least 50 albums, but they've been stored for 10 years. Can't imagine ever going back because of convenience of CDs and MP3s.

However, the saddest part of the turntable's demise is the demise of one of cartoon's greatest audio jokes on future generations. I.E. When cartoon characters like Ren and Stimpy get into a jam, they turn towards the camera and you a hear a sound effect of a needle dragging across an album.

Truly a classic every time & kids probably have no idea what that sound is.
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post #7 of 163
4/30/07 at 11:04am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I bought what will most likely be my last turntable for about $450 three years ago. A nice manual Pioneer direct drive model. I have a large collection of classical LPs that would be too expensive to replace with CDs or for which CDs still haven't been issued. I am in the process of using my turntable to convert some of my LPs into CDs.

One thing I discovered is that it is increasingly difficult to find amps with a proper phono input. A few months ago I assisted my parents in buying a new receiver and found only two with a phono input.
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post #8 of 163
4/30/07 at 11:09am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Maybe, if the one I have breaks down. I don't use it a lot but it is fun occasionally to fire up some vinyl and show the kids the way it used to be. It is very hard to give up the convenience that digital music has brought, though.
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post #9 of 163
4/30/07 at 11:16am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I just inherited one, and with my CD recorder, I plan to use it to transfer albums to cd then to ipod. 100s and 100s of songs not even on CD that I really like and this will give me the opportunity to get them on CD.
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post #10 of 163
4/30/07 at 11:23am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I'm actually just starting to get into vinyl...there happen to be a number of music stores selling (often exclusively) records here in Brooklyn and the other boroughs, so I thought it would be a fun hobby. I don't plan on spending crazy money...I plan to pick up either a used player on craigslist or buying something in the $100-150 range at Guitar Center, J&R or the like. I don't plan to get top notch sound out of these as I'm just going to buy a cheap receiver and bookshelf speakers and set this up in my bedroom. I also still buy a fair amount of CDs from independent artists, so I figure this might be something different, I hear it's a different experience listening to vinyl.
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post #11 of 163
4/30/07 at 11:30am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I've had a ProJect for a number of years now. I love the sound, and when I'm in the mood to screw around with vinyl, nothing else will do. I enjoy tossing an album on and just listening to a side without the temptation to skip around like I always do with other formats. Plus, I'm kind of old school in that I think a stereo rack looks incomplete without a turntable on top.

That said, I'd prefer to have everything I own in SACD...
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post #12 of 163
4/30/07 at 1:33pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Plus, I'm kind of old school in that I think a stereo rack looks incomplete without a turntable on top.

Concur One of the difficulties I had in buying a good audio rack was finding one that accommodated my turntable.
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post #13 of 163
4/30/07 at 2:12pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Harris
Concur One of the difficulties I had in buying a good audio rack was finding one that accommodated my turntable.

I had an incredibly difficult time as well. I think I ended up getting my rack from some airline magazine or sky mall, I can't remember which.
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post #14 of 163
4/30/07 at 3:11pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Scoggins
Sadly true, but I see a nice grassroots swell for vinyl lately. I notice a lot of high schoolers buying the wax these days. I wonder if this is a how to keep a hirez format alive. Warners is reissuing the Rhino catalog so I wonder if this gives a bit more longevity to the niche.

I wonder how much of that is due to actual interest in vinyl as an audiophile format as opposed to interest in it for DJing purposes.
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post #15 of 163
4/30/07 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman
I wonder how much of that is due to actual interest in vinyl as an audiophile format as opposed to interest in it for DJing purposes.

I think it's three things. I talk to the kids from time to time and some say they prefer the sound, some say they are doing needledrops to iPod from albums they like, and some are DJs.
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post #16 of 163
4/30/07 at 4:50pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Regardless of anecdotes, I seriously doubt that more than a very small fraction of one percent of kids have any interest in vinyl, and very few even know what it is. I predict that it will have essentially zero viability once the generations that grew up with it are gone.
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post #17 of 163
4/30/07 at 5:26pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Scoggins
I think it's three things. I talk to the kids from time to time and some say they prefer the sound, some say they are doing needledrops to iPod from albums they like, and some are DJs.

When you mention that kids are DJs, are you referring to record-scratching type of DJs? (I'm more out of touch with kids than I thought... I feel so old).
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post #18 of 163
4/30/07 at 7:07pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
While I like vinyl (but wouldn't get back into it), I have a hard time calling it high resolution

Same here. It would be like giving up your car and going back to the horse and buggy.
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post #19 of 163
5/1/07 at 12:39am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Scoggins
Just curious if any members would consider buying a turntable these days...

Would a lot more music titles do it for you?

Would more economical tables work?

Would you stay digital no matter what?

Let me know your thoughts...I'm curious with the vinyl resurgence if anything can be done to expand the base of fans. I don't want to have an analog vs. digital debate...there are strengths and weaknesses to both formats.

So what is your view on analog?

Yes, I would....if I have the extra $$$ laying around. Until then, I am in the process of connecting my Technics TT to my new Sony TA-S7 integrated amp and its build-in MC phono pre-amp.

As for software, I am always involved in various formats....if not vinyl, then CD, or SACD. And I just added DVD-A with the purchased of an Oppo 970.
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post #20 of 163
5/1/07 at 2:45am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I still have my circa late 70s Pioneer turntable and somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 lps.

And while I admit I rarely fire it up these days, I couldn't bear the though of parting with it (nor the albums).

Once in a while I'll glance through a few of the records and surprise myself by what I have; for example, the other day I was taken aback when I discovered the depth of my Neil Young catalog.

I'd like to attribute this to the vastness of my collection, rather than old age setting in.

Jon
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post #21 of 163
5/1/07 at 4:30am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I'll buy a cheap used one when I come across one. I have a bunch of LPs and 45s I'd like to listen to again. Nostalgia. But my preferred choice is CDs.
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post #22 of 163
5/1/07 at 5:48am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

For me - no.

But my mother went out and got one after my grandmother died and she ended up inheriting about 500 mint condition LPs from the 50-70s that belonged to her and my grandfather. Mostly Motown, R&B and such.
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post #23 of 163
5/1/07 at 6:02am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Bored lateley Lee? Ready to starty your bi-annual vinyl debate on HTF?

If my Denon broke I'd replace it because I have a lot of old records. I do not see vinyl as sounding better than CD, it sounds great though.
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post #24 of 163
5/1/07 at 8:16am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Nah, no way I'd buy one now. I know there are some decent ones out there for relatively little money, but there's just too much involved IMO to keep the cost low...the table itself, the tone arm, the cartridge, the pre-amp plus the LPs. I just tend to think that it requires a bigger outlay of cash to make things sound really good. Those things plus the fact that the LPs are large in size (although thin), can be pricey and require a lot more storage space than CDs. Oh and LPs get scratched a lot easier than CDs in that they're exposed while they're playing.
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post #25 of 163
5/1/07 at 9:18am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I've always had a turntable in my systems. Right now, I have a cheap JVC, and I had to buy a phono pre-amp to use it with my latest receiver. I continue to play my albums and also do needle drops now and then.

What is cool though, is that I just inherited a Thorens TD124. Sadly, my father in law passed away a couple years ago, and he had this turntable which he bought around 1962 or 63. It needs a new tone arm and, hopefully only some lubrication. It could also use a new plinth. I plan on fixing it up soon and then start looking for some vintage tube equipment. I love the looks of those early 70s receivers. I may opt to build the pre-amp and amp via Bottlehead or similar kit.

I guess my answer is I'm still into vinyl.
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post #26 of 163
5/1/07 at 1:06pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

I plan to get one at some point as my parents have several hundred LPs and a large collection of 78s that need to be archived (so any turntable has to play 78s). I have a small (30 or so) LP collection as I got into CDs back in 1985. I had a Technics turntable for a while (though it's been gone for over 10 years). It clearly was trying to compete with CDs as the tone arm was in the cover and it moved laterally across the LP. It was also equipped with some sort of sensor that would allow me to skip a track (or a few) like a CD.

I have a phono input on my receiver, so if I can find a TT for under 400$ that plays 78s, I'll be happy. I don't consider vinyl to be hi-res, though I do agree it can sound nice. Also, there are many vinyl stores in Montreal, so it would not be a wasted purchase.
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post #27 of 163
5/1/07 at 4:42pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

"Bored lateley Lee? Ready to starty your bi-annual vinyl debate on HTF?"

Nope. I'm just curious what might cause members to consider a turntable addition.

I got a VPI Scoutmaster in January and I'm really enjoying it. I like being able to get hirez versions of albums I love for $5 a piece. I'm also pleased to see Warner's new reissue campaign.
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post #28 of 163
5/1/07 at 5:44pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Anyone know anything about Gemini turntables? Found someone locally selling basically a brand new XL-20 but I can't really find much info about it online.
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post #29 of 163
5/1/07 at 8:45pm

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Looking into buying a Stanton T-80 to replace a Philips from the 70s that died. This is a model with a digital audio output, which I find desirable (analog output is picked off before the ADC stage, of course).

A major point is that it plays 78s — there's a lot of good music out there on shellac Standard Play records. Not even the biggest analog freak is going to call that "hi-rez" (OK, so maybe the guy who claimed 8-tracks were better quality than CD), but I love 'em, and they can be had for next to nothing.
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post #30 of 163
5/2/07 at 5:48am

Re: Would you buy a turntable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Fisher
Anyone know anything about Gemini turntables? Found someone locally selling basically a brand new XL-20 but I can't really find much info about it online.
Cheaper Technics alternative for amateur deejays. Not intended for hi-fi use. AVOID!!!
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