Turn table questions

[basil]

I'm in the market for a turn table and it has been suggested that a Scoutmaster with VPI tone-arm is a good buy @$US2500. Any comments on value for money or by Scoutmaster owners re its features or sound repro?
Since TT's have become sooooo sophisticated, if one plays vinyls which are in less than mint condition, will the sound produced not be distorted by the presence of scratches,scuffs etc.that are picked-up by the super-sensitive cartridge? What if the vinyls are cleaned using a professional record cleaning machine?
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has been down this road.
What I'm afraid of landing-up with is an expensive TT and super-static sound repro.

 

[3db]

I'm in the market for a turn table and it has been suggested that a Scoutmaster with VPI tone-arm is a good buy @$US2500. Any comments on value for money or by Scoutmaster owners re its features or sound repro?
Since TT's have become sooooo sophisticated, if one plays vinyls which are in less than mint condition, will the sound produced not be distorted by the presence of scratches,scuffs etc.that are picked-up by the super-sensitive cartridge? What if the vinyls are cleaned using a professional record cleaning machine?
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has been down this road.
What I'm afraid of landing-up with is an expensive TT and super-static sound repro.

I own a $700 turntable and it picks up the trapped dirt and scratches as well. Most of my albums are in good condition and I can hear very little surface noise between tracks. ts one of the trade-offs that comes with going vinyl. Does it bother me? No, I grew up with turntables and expect to hear some static once in while. Would I still buy vinyl? In a heartbeat!!

 

[skizzerflake]

I'm in the market for a turn table and it has been suggested that a Scoutmaster with VPI tone-arm is a good buy @$US2500. Any comments on value for money or by Scoutmaster owners re its features or sound repro?
Since TT's have become sooooo sophisticated, if one plays vinyls which are in less than mint condition, will the sound produced not be distorted by the presence of scratches,scuffs etc.that are picked-up by the super-sensitive cartridge? What if the vinyls are cleaned using a professional record cleaning machine?

All of this will happen, but it won't be worse in a good turntable. The signal will be as good as the record. Old records that have been played on cheap tables will sound "compromised". Sometimes old records can be helped by a good cleaning.

I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has been down this road. What I'm afraid of landing-up with is an expensive TT and super-static sound repro.

If you're worried about spending too much, just don't spend too much. There are decent turntables available for much less than $2500. Check a few audio catalogs or look on E Bay. There are plenty of tables available on E Bay that end up costing a couple hundred for a "vintage" unit. Brands like Thorens and Dual may date back to the 80's but still be excellent. The technology of vinyl hasn't moved that much over recent decades. In my case, I use a circa 1980 Dual with an Empire cartridge (new stylus from the Needle Doctor) and get great sound. If you really fall in love with vinyl, you can decide to spend more.

 

[TLS Guy]

Buy this or a turntable!

QitemZ270216364378QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270216364378

Then purchase this cartridge.

http://www.needledoctor.com/Ortofon-2M-Black-Phono-Cartridge?sc=2&category=378

You won't go wrong!

The older turntables I think give the best overall results. SME are the best pickup arms in the world and have been for half a century.

This will be a lot less than $2500 and will give superb results and years of pleasure.

 

[Geno]

Check out Needle Doctor and Acoustic Sounds websites. There's a mindblowing array of turntables & cartridges out there, priced from $150 to $40,000 and up. I don't believe you need to spend the kind of money that Scoutmasters cost to get satisfying sound quality, but there obviously must be many fanatics out there who support the large number of manufacturers that make this high-end stuff.

 

[Pyrrho]

Check out Needle Doctor and Acoustic Sounds websites. There's a mindblowing array of turntables & cartridges out there, priced from $150 to $40,000 and up. I don't believe you need to spend the kind of money that Scoutmasters cost to get satisfying sound quality, but there obviously must be many fanatics out there who support the large number of manufacturers that make this high-end stuff.

I don't think there have to be that many fanatics to support such things. One person handcrafting turntables would only need to sell 2 or 3 a year at $40,000 each to make a living at it.

 

[new guy]

duestion

hi I am new doo you now what is the difference between av receiver and av procesour ?
thanks

 

[new guy]

I own a $700 turntable and it picks up the trapped dirt and scratches as well. Most of my albums are in good condition and I can hear very little surface noise between tracks. ts one of the trade-offs that comes with going vinyl. Does it bother me? No, I grew up with turntables and expect to hear some static once in while. Would I still buy vinyl? In a heartbeat!!

hi what is the difference between av reciever and av procesour ?

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Why not just stick to CDs, which don't have any of the issues you are concerned about, and which sound better overall anyhow? For much, much less than that tonearm, you can buy a truly stunning CD player.

 

[3db]

hi what is the difference between av reciever and av procesour ?

In general terms, an av processor sits inside a receiver. Its responsible for decoding various audio formats and processing video data by upscaling it to a higher resolution format. The receiver contains a pre amp, amplifier section and a tuner section (radio) as well as the av processor.

 

[gus6464]

I am a Rega fan so I would say go for the Rega P3-24. As fas as cartridge you have a ton of options out there.

 

[TLS Guy]

I am a Rega fan so I would say go for the Rega P3-24. As fas as cartridge you have a ton of options out there.

The Rega is one of the better breed of current turntables. To have a turntable without arm to be able to use an SME is a big step up.

Yes, there are lot of cartridges out there, but the situation is analogous to speakers, more bad one than good ones. When it comes to cartridges I rate compliance and trackability high up the list. Its no good if the cartridge can not do a good job with most records, not a select few.

 

[skizzerflake]

Why not just stick to CDs, which don't have any of the issues you are concerned about, and which sound better overall anyhow? For much, much less than that tonearm, you can buy a truly stunning CD player.

I can't explain it in rational terms, much less measurements, but I do consistently find that a well recorded record, played through a good, entirely analog system has some sort of "life" that I really like. I'm not an analog zealot nor a cd-phobe but I do think that CDs were too early in the evolution of digital sound to exploit the full possibilities of digital (SACDs really DO perform). Whenever I hear the same thing on a CD vs vinyl, I find myself kind of startling and saying,,the vinyl really sounds good. It's immeasurably fussier to set up and maintain and records are fragile, but I guess that's part of the mystique.

 

[3db]

I can't explain it in rational terms, much less measurements, but I do consistently find that a well recorded record, played through a good, entirely analog system has some sort of "life" that I really like. I'm not an analog zealot nor a cd-phobe but I do think that CDs were too early in the evolution of digital sound to exploit the full possibilities of digital (SACDs really DO perform). Whenever I hear the same thing on a CD vs vinyl, I find myself kind of startling and saying,,the vinyl really sounds good. It's immeasurably fussier to set up and maintain and records are fragile, but I guess that's part of the mystique.

Don't forget to add that cleaning the record prior to each play, being able to read the lyrics without a magnifying glass and seeing the album cover in full size just adds to the experience of listening to vinyl. It becomes emotional involving experience.