Record Player - Do I REALLY care?

A

Actran

Audioholic
For Christmas, my dad gave me some old records that I used to love as a kid, but I don't own a record player. I want to buy one and am seriously considering some low end options with analog outputs. Do I REALLY care or need anything more than that?
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
It depends on the records you were given, how much you care about fidelity for those specific records, and how much money you have. I personally would not bother getting a record player at all, but that is because I remember those tools of the devil from when I was younger, and want to have nothing to do with them anymore.

If you ever do decide you want to try to get good sound from records, put your money into a good turntable. It matters far more than the cartridge.
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
Vinyl can open up a whole can of worms but you don't have to go silly about it.

First off, does what you plan to plug that turntable into already have phono inputs? Most modern stuff doesn't and that should factor into what you are looking at.

For light use you can get decent performance with a built in phono preamp for a reasonable price.

Of course, if you want to jump in with feet and a fat wallet for "audiophile approved gear" then the sky is the limit.

So, what do y0u have and what do you want to spend?
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
For Christmas, my dad gave me some old records that I used to love as a kid, but I don't own a record player. I want to buy one and am seriously considering some low end options with analog outputs. Do I REALLY care or need anything more than that?
May want to check on line if the music on those records are available on a CD or other digital format. If so, I'd recommend spending $ on them, not a record player. By the way, does your dad still have his player?
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
May want to check on line if the music on those records are available on a CD or other digital format. If so, I'd recommend spending $ on them, not a record player. By the way, does your dad still have his player?

This is a very good idea. How many LPs are we talking about? It might well be cheaper (and likely better) to buy the CDs of the LPs instead of a record player.
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
You can get an ATLP60 for under $100 and the usb version for just over, its a decent unit, will do the job and you can have it forever, I know people that love vinyl, maybe you will be one of them, I honestly pretty much only play vinyl when I am using one of my jukes, I havve a decent Pro-ject unit and a bunch of nice stuff on pancakes but its too much work, and i have to listen in their order, with my itunes I can touch the songs I want to hear in the order I want to hear put my phone back in my pocket and Its playing...
 
A

Actran

Audioholic
Thanks guys. It's just a nostalgia thing. It's only 10 records, but I want to play them. I'm hoping for a solution between 50-100 bucks that I can plug into my Denon 2312 AVR. While I don't want to add any new hissing or popping to the soundstream, I'm sure anything available today is better than the player my dad threw out .... THREW OUT!!!
 
ahblaza

ahblaza

Audioholic Field Marshall
Thanks guys. It's just a nostalgia thing. It's only 10 records, but I want to play them. I'm hoping for a solution between 50-100 bucks that I can plug into my Denon 2312 AVR. While I don't want to add any new hissing or popping to the soundstream, I'm sure anything available today is better than the player my dad threw out .... THREW OUT!!!
I'm pretty sure the 2312 doesn't have a built in phono stage so you can't just hook a TT to it unless you can find a cheap TT with built in phono stage, check Ebay for TTs with phono stage built in.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
May I remind all of you anti vinyl fanatics :p that in the listening sessions conducted by Gene, that most if not all preferred the vinyl version over its digital counterparts.

To the OP, the Orbit recommendation that was made by a fellow poster is a solid choice. Keep in mind too that there is material that one can only find on used vinyl which is NOT available in the digital world.
 
ahblaza

ahblaza

Audioholic Field Marshall
May I remind all of you anti vinyl fanatics :p that in the listening sessions conducted by Gene, that most if not all preferred the vinyl version over its digital counterparts.

To the OP, the Orbit recommendation that was made by a fellow poster is a solid choice. Keep in mind too that there is material that one can only find on used vinyl which is NOT available in the digital world.
Most if not all of my vinyl collection is only available in that format. I started collecting in the early 70's and from my sig you can see my Sota bought new almost thirty years ago, best investment I made in all of my years in this hobby. Vinyl is alive and well, I think beyond how good my analog setup sounds it's the process that's at least to me fun to achieve the sound from a vinyl record on a decent table. I suggested the Orbit and would buy that in a heart beat for a well above starter table, this stuff wasn't available in my day at $2-300 for a complete setup (arm, table and cartridge that's aligned) so it is a plug and play device. The platter upgrade for $100 is well worth it and that includes the better cart.;)
Cheers Jeff
 
N

nodixe

Audiophyte
Funny. My dad gave us a bunch of records awhile back, lots of good 70's rock, and my grandma gave us some classical. Having never listened to a record before I was completely blown away...and this on the RP that came with all in one sharp stereo I got in 5th grade. So at the very least you should try them out.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2
 
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