thinking about buying a turntable

Dave,
I went with Clarity Caps for all the film caps in the system. I didn't change out the last electrolytic in the power supply because it is my understanding that the shunt regulator portion of the Integration negates the need. (BH gurus please chime in if I'm confused on this.)
Karl
 
Consider the Schiit Mani Phono Stage. Good price, good sound and well liked. But, have a look here
https://www.analogplanet.com/content/u-turn-pluto-versus-schiit-mani-votes-are
 
Hi,

I'm getting very close to pulling the trigger on a Uturn Audio turntable.  Usually I like to make decisions on audio purchases after hearing them, but I haven't figured out a way to hear different cartridges, short of listening to YouTube samples. 

The question is what cartridge to pick from these 3:
Ortofon OM-5E
Grado Black
Ortofon 2M Red

Anyone have experience with these?

Dave
 
I have the turntable figured out, which is the hardest part.  Was hoping to get some suggestions on the cartridge before pulling the trigger next month.  Right now i'm leaning towards the Ortofon 2M red, and found out that the best buy near me has a pro-ject debut carbon, which has the 2M red.  Granted the Debut Carbon and Uturn are 2 different animals, but at least it will give me a good idea of what it sounds like.  My only concern is it possibly being too bright.

We are buying a house at the end of next month, and then i'll have room for a turntable too, so that will come next.  Got a 2 year old and 5 year old, so keeping it somewhere safe is very important.  That's the main thing that's been keeping me from getting one. 

Dave
 
ya...keeping it safe might be important.

I thought I had my Technics SL1300MK2 from years ago what I thought was high enough...

Found one of my kids with one hand on the arm driving it like a car - zoom zoom - back and forth over the record....

Was laughing too hard to get worked up about it.  Cost me a new cart.  Sold it all a few years later.
 
ALL212 said:
ya...keeping it safe might be important.

I thought I had my Technics SL1300MK2 from years ago what I thought was high enough...

Found one of my kids with one hand on the arm driving it like a car - zoom zoom - back and forth over the record....

Was laughing too hard to get worked up about it.  Cost me a new cart.  Sold it all a few years later.
Click to expand...

That's a good reason to upgrade your cart  ::)  I laughed when i read that and was picturing one of my kids doing that too. 

Went to see the debut carbon at Magolia Hi-fi today.  It looked really nice, unfortunately that, along with an Essential III, and an Expression were all out of calibration.  Kind of disappointing.  They did have a Mcintosh one that was really nice, it was the brand new one that just came out.  Unfortunately it was out of my price range  :P  Going to try and find another dealer and hopefully will have more luck.

Dave
 
If your after some good performing phono on a tight budget take a look at the Boozhound Jfet RIAA kit pick up the PCB's for $29 and stuff them with surplus Russian Teflon caps and for around $100-$150 you will have a cracking little phono recently I was able to compare it with the Lounge Audio LCR phono $300 (£500 here in the UK!) the Boozhound walked all over it imho. I put the Boozhound in a Bottlehead style enclosure.

Not to sure on how I managed to end up with three US phono amps at the same time. The Eros is of course in a different league alltogther.





 

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Thanks for the tip!  For now I need to get a turntable first.  Got a phono stage in my old Sony 70's integrated amp.  If it doesn't sound too good, I'll definitely have to build something.

That does look really cool!  Normally I lean towards tube equipment in general,  but even the stock kit looks pretty good!  The voltage is pretty low, looks like a good candidate for battery power 8)  How are you powering yours?
Dave
 
Hi Dave it will run on a 12-24VDC supply so batteries are always an option. I just use a standard cheap 19v switching laptop power supply. I built mine stock first with the paper in oil caps the same as they sell with the kit then later swapped them out for the Russian teflons for the RIAA and output stages and thought it gave a solid improvement.
 
Very cool!  I thought I saw someone post that they used a voltage regulator along with 2 9v batteries.  Is the voltage regulator really needed?  Also, does more voltage mean the phono stage will have higher output?

Dave
 
Is it easy to use a record player without a cue lever?  Uturn audio offers an optional cue lever for their turntable (which can be added later).  Was wondering if it makes sense to try playing records without it, and save the $40 temporarily (to buy more records of course!).  Eventually I think it would be nice to have.

Dave
 
I can always try without it.  I'm not too old yet 8)  Figured it would be better to get a few more records first, since right now I have 5.  Got a pretty good list going, so maybe I can score some deals at the local record shop or garage sales. 

I've read its a good idea to clean records before playing.  Is a carbon fiber brush good enough to start with?

Dave
 
Dave,

Buy the table and get accessories as you need them later.  They are not required for you to listen to your first album. Sure some people clean every album before playing, but those people probably have a $5,000 to $15,000 cartridge on their arm. You are talking about an entry level table. Stop worrying about perfection (which no one achieves), buy the table, and have some fun!
 
Last night I pulled the trigger on a Uturn orbit with the Grado Black cartridge and cue arm  8)  I know this is a couple of years in the making, wanted to make sure there is a safe place to put it first (got a 5 year old and a 2 year old).  Can't wait to listen to some vinyl!

Dave
 
Congratulations. It's been a long time coming. Just like kids change your life, so can a turntable. GOOD LUCCK!

A
 
It definitely has, thanks  8)  I think it only makes sense to have a turntable since most of my music is from the 60's, 70's, and 80's.  There are some really awesome Billy Joel Albums from the 70's I can't wait to listen to, and you can't forget Abbey Road from the Beatles too.  There's something really awesome about vinyl playback.  Of course this is the gateway to phono preamp upgrades, platter upgrades, and cartridge updates, plus lots of fun little gadgets like record weights, 45 adapters, anti-stat guns, cleaning brushes, and probably other things too.  Fun times!

Dave
 
Today is the big day!  The orbit came very nicely packaged, and I was able to set it up without any issues whatsoever.  It currently has the Grado Black installed, and the cue arm.  Right now I am listening thru a set of wireless headphones, and already cannot believe how natural and amazing the sound is after only listening for a few minutes.  8)  I should have done this a really long time ago.  Someone on this forum suggested the orbit, so thanks are definitely in order too.  Time to get back to the listening!

Dave
 
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