Record player question

Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
I do not think it is a fact that direct drive is better, except in the matter of staring speed. Some of the best turntables have been belt drive. The technics line are certainly NOT the apogee of turntables, and I would personally never select one.

I bought my Thorens TD 150 in 1966, and did the first belt replacement about three years ago.
I never said it was the perfect record player. But it does what it set out to do. It is more than likely the best you can get for the money though. It's good and starting and playing. I really don't see what the debate is.

If you subjectively prefer belt driven tables, that's fine. I prefer accuracy over an intentionally slow record player. The Technics offers accuracy at an excellent price, new or used.
 
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Cygnus

Senior Audioholic
Wear on the stylus, and your LPs.
Makes sense. I will say that this thread has given me ALOT more to think about than I origionaly was! My grandma and grandpa have one of those "we'll try to look old fashioned without really pulling it off that well" all in one tiny things with a record player which plays them pretty well. The records will skip though if there's a dent, and vibrations can make that thing pretty wobbly and fussy..and it's been adjusted I think two times because of wobble, but other than all of those reasons, it's not bad (.....its cheap, yeah? hah.)
 
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TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I never said it was the perfect record player. But it does what it set out to do. It is more than likely the best you can get for the money though. It's good and starting and playing. I really don't see what the debate is.

If you subjectively prefer belt driven tables, that's fine. I prefer accuracy of an intentionally slow record player. The Technics offers accuracy at an excellent price, new or used.
I don't particularly prefer belt drive, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with it as an engineering concept.

I have two belt drive turntables, and two Garrard 301s which are about 50 years old, superbly engineered and use idler wheel and eddy brake.

I do prefer to buy my arms separately from the turntables though. A superbly engineered pickup arm I find essential, and turntable manufacturers do not generally make the best pickup arms. I have long favored SME arms.

I have a series two arm and two series three arms. One turntable uses a Decca ffss arm and cartridge. That rig is a 301, with Decca ffss arm and ffss LP and 78 heads. It is complete with Decca lift and brush. I would think that lot alone would create a feeding frenzy on eBay.



 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Belt driven tables require more maintanence than direct drive tables. I'm not suggesting just any Direct Drive, just as you aren't suggesting just any belt drive table. For example, I would shoot myself sooner than recommend a rega table to anyone, because they suck.

Bang for buck, and for simple clean operation (and long lasting durability) I would choose the SL-1200. They can take a beating and still come back working flawlessly. There are certainly a few more tortured SL-1200s that don't make it, but you really have to beat the crap out of them in order to make them worthless for audio playback.

The tone arm that comes on the Technics is a very good stock arm, believe it or not. Obviously it's replaceable in the event you get the upgrade bug, but it's a very good starting point. Some of the home used SL-1200s come with decent carts in them (better than scratch) and would be nearly ready to go once you got them.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Belt driven tables require more maintanence than direct drive tables. I'm not suggesting just any Direct Drive, just as you aren't suggesting just any belt drive table. For example, I would shoot myself sooner than recommend a rega table to anyone, because they suck.

Bang for buck, and for simple clean operation (and long lasting durability) I would choose the SL-1200. They can take a beating and still come back working flawlessly. There are certainly a few more tortured SL-1200s that don't make it, but you really have to beat the crap out of them in order to make them worthless for audio playback.

The tone arm that comes on the Technics is a very good stock arm, believe it or not. Obviously it's replaceable in the event you get the upgrade bug, but it's a very good starting point. Some of the home used SL-1200s come with decent carts in them (better than scratch) and would be nearly ready to go once you got them.
I know those turntables have always had a reputation for being work horses.

It seems strange how the top line older turntables have held value. This is a pretty typical recent sale.

I suppose it is owning the legend as they say.
 
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Cygnus

Senior Audioholic
Very nostalgic
For sure! I was thinking, a new Techics 1200 for edit: $648...bloody scary exchange rate! I might go for that and a phono preamp.
 
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WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
In all fairness, there are great DD and great belt drives. But the Technics example given is going to be substantially superior to most belt drives around the same price range. You have to scale the price ladder a bit before you start to find belt drives with the general range of speed accuracy. Even then, the Technics mentioned here is better than most belt drives even in the $1k range. Remember, most of these lower end 'audiophile' decks are nothing more than a 3/4" or 1" piece of chipboard painted and mated with a low quality motor with substantial speed drift/error. Compared to the Technics SL1200, which is a heavy cast aluminum chassis with heavy dampeniong components to prevent resonance, and it has a top notch motor with quartz locked speed controls - providing for incredible speed stability. The Technics weak point is the resonant arm it uses. But you can swap out that arm for a better one, and have a 1st rate turntable pretty easily. However, very high quality arms with low resonance/coloration and full selection of adjustments and top quality bearings, are usually quite expensive.....

Personally, I use a belt drive, but it's a rather incredible quality one. In fact, it is that high end Marantz that was linked in this thread by Zumbo earlier. It has a superb quality motor with dead on speed accuracy, an incredibly low resonance chassis and platter, top notch main bearing system, and the tone arm is an extremely high grade one, with very low resonance, jeweled bearings with tungsten set points, and every part of this table and arm are machined to the finest level of quality by Clearaudio(it's not really a Marantz - it's a high end table made by Clearaudio in Germany and distributed by Marantz with a Marantz badge on it. Despite what Marantz's page might say - they did not design the first mechanical thing on this unit - they may have specced the shape of the table top and that's about it - every part on there is a known Clearaudio component from the tone arm to the motor to bearing set on the platter). I don't usually go for this type of gear anymore(I used to use high end amps, pre-amps, etc.), but a vinyl system is completey mechanical, and I searched down the best value/quality mechanical system I could find the for dollar, and that Marantz was it, I believe, in the range I searched. Many may consider that too much for a tt, many might consider it too cheap, but it fit my needs perfectly and it has no readily discernible coloration(s) that I can easily detect.

-Chris
 
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A

AudioArcher

Audioholic
I may be a bit biased, but I ain't heard a direct drive yet that sounds better than my Rega.
 
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Cygnus

Senior Audioholic
I ended up buying a Technics SL1200MK2PK and a Shure M92E cartridge and a preamp from the source. Not bad for a starter setup I'd say (at least the turntable anyways ;) ).
 
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