Turntable advice?

[Sine]

Hey guys, I'm 19 years old and a freshman at Purdue University, and just getting into the audiophile field. I've known that I want to work in the sound industry since about sixth grade, so I'm relatively experienced as far as pro audio goes, but that's entirely different than personal audio. So I would like your guys' help on a few things:

I'm looking for a new turntable, and I'm really not very knowledgeable in this field. I've been using my parents' old JVC and decided it's time for an upgrade. And of course, I'm on a college student budget, so "upgrade" is a bit of an embellishment. Can anyone suggest a good turntable / cartridge combo for somewhere in the 300-500-ish dollar range (and please, no weird "digital conversion / usb out / DJ table" stuff, I just want simple, with decent sound). I really doubt that cartridge and tonearm would make much of a difference on such a cheap table, but you guys would know better than I.

Also, perhaps a decent phono preamp in the 100-200 dollar range, in case the receiver I end up with doesn't have one built in.

As far as speakers go, I'll probably snatch my parents' old KEFs; they're pretty old (mid-late 80s, half-towers) but still sound pretty amazing.

I was also wondering what you guys think about the importance of the quality of ICs to an audio system.

Lastly, like I've said, I've spent a lot of time in pro audio, but know very little of personal audio, so I really need to know where to look. Can you guys suggest some good companies in seperate price ranges (consumer, mid, reference, etc.) that generally carry good products? Or perhaps are known for a certain product? I know Grado makes some damn nice headphones and Thorens had pretty good turntables, but I suddenly feel sorta out of touch with everything. I have a pair of Grado 225s and absolutely love them, and decided I need to branch out more... I don't want to keep shopping for Yamaha, Sony, and Onkyo products.

Thanks for anything you're willing to provide!

 

[MUDSHARK]

This thread at Stereophile should help you get started
http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=26116&an=0&page=0&gonew=1#UNREAD

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey guys, I'm 19 years old and a freshman at Purdue University, and just getting into the audiophile field. I've known that I want to work in the sound industry since about sixth grade, so I'm relatively experienced as far as pro audio goes, but that's entirely different than personal audio. So I would like your guys' help on a few things:

I'm looking for a new turntable, and I'm really not very knowledgeable in this field. I've been using my parents' old JVC and decided it's time for an upgrade. And of course, I'm on a college student budget, so "upgrade" is a bit of an embellishment. Can anyone suggest a good turntable / cartridge combo for somewhere in the 300-500-ish dollar range (and please, no weird "digital conversion / usb out / DJ table" stuff, I just want simple, with decent sound). I really doubt that cartridge and tonearm would make much of a difference on such a cheap table, but you guys would know better than I.

Also, perhaps a decent phono preamp in the 100-200 dollar range, in case the receiver I end up with doesn't have one built in.

As far as speakers go, I'll probably snatch my parents' old KEFs; they're pretty old (mid-late 80s, half-towers) but still sound pretty amazing.

I was also wondering what you guys think about the importance of the quality of ICs to an audio system.

Lastly, like I've said, I've spent a lot of time in pro audio, but know very little of personal audio, so I really need to know where to look. Can you guys suggest some good companies in seperate price ranges (consumer, mid, reference, etc.) that generally carry good products? Or perhaps are known for a certain product? I know Grado makes some damn nice headphones and Thorens had pretty good turntables, but I suddenly feel sorta out of touch with everything. I have a pair of Grado 225s and absolutely love them, and decided I need to branch out more... I don't want to keep shopping for Yamaha, Sony, and Onkyo products.

Thanks for anything you're willing to provide!

You may not get an upgrade in that price range. What is the model? I will try and suggest a cartridge up grade, which is probably your best bet for now.

As I have pointed out before, Turntables are mechanical, and you get much greater increases in performance as you go up the price food chain. Even good vintage gear, which is a good bet chosen carefully, will be out of your price range.

 

[Sine]

I believe the table is a JVC L-F41, with an old Grado cartridge fitted (I'm not sure what model, but assuming by the color, one of the Green models, but like I said, it's from the mid 80s).

I checked out the thread Mudshark posted, and I think I'll probably go with a Rega P1, and over the next year or so upgrade the cartridge, platter and mat (Are mat fittings are universal? - what materials would be best? I'm somewhat attracted to cork). And then probably a decent pre-amp. I think this would probably tide me over til I start earning a steady income...

Any suggestions? And are there any necessities I'm missing from that list?

 

[TLS Guy]

I believe the table is a JVC L-F41, with an old Grado cartridge fitted (I'm not sure what model, but assuming by the color, one of the Green models, but like I said, it's from the mid 80s).

I checked out the thread Mudshark posted, and I think I'll probably go with a Rega P1, and over the next year or so upgrade the cartridge, platter and mat (Are mat fittings are universal? - what materials would be best? I'm somewhat attracted to cork). And then probably a decent pre-amp. I think this would probably tide me over til I start earning a steady income...

Any suggestions? And are there any necessities I'm missing from that list?

What is your turntable connected to now? I hope it is an RIAA phono input Can you send a picture of it. I still think your best bang for the buck will be a cartridge up grade at this stage, unless this is a turntable known to be dreadful, which I doubt. By now the compliance of your cartridge suspension will be way off. I would do that first, and make sure you have good and accurate RIAA correction.

I would get a new cartridge. You can always put it on a new turntable as funds permit. That way you will get a better rig in the end. I don't obsess over funny mats. Just keep them clean. Unfortunately the loony high end have really confused the turntable scene. For best advice research the best advice from the experts in the days when vinyl was king. The loony crowd have added a lot of bilge and superstition to turntables as well. They did not stop with cables and other ridiculous nonsense.

 

[MUDSHARK]

I believe the table is a JVC L-F41, with an old Grado cartridge fitted (I'm not sure what model, but assuming by the color, one of the Green models, but like I said, it's from the mid 80s).

I checked out the thread Mudshark posted, and I think I'll probably go with a Rega P1, and over the next year or so upgrade the cartridge, platter and mat (Are mat fittings are universal? - what materials would be best? I'm somewhat attracted to cork). And then probably a decent pre-amp. I think this would probably tide me over til I start earning a steady income...

Any suggestions? And are there any necessities I'm missing from that list?

Rega or Music Hall will be good choices in the moderate range. Thorens makes some great tables as well but not at the lower end. Their tone arms are quite poor in fact.

Your mat questions could be answered quite well at Stereophile's forums where the people are quite passionate (to say the least) about vinyl. Here at AH, being a hone theatre enclave the analog purists are sometimes mocked. I enjoy both camps and visit both as time permits.

When your budget permits a pre-amp consider a used NAD integrated or pre-amp. The phono-preamps included by NAD were really quite good for such inexpensive units.

 

[Sine]

I understand a cart upgrade could possibly be the best option, but I'd like my own table to bring to college and keep thereafter, until I can afford more high-end stuff, so I'm thinking a Rega P1-P3 (whichever I can find the best deal on over the summer), the NAD PP2 preamp, and probably upgrade from the included cart after a while.

The JVC turntable I use now is in rather poor condition, and is connected to an equally "vintage" (read: old and cheap) Denon receiver, I can't get a picture/model since I'm not at home atm, and I'm not sure if it has the proper RIAA eq inverters and all, so I'm just starting more or less from the ground up.

And yeah, I've been looking through stereophile, those guys seem to know their stuff. To say the least, I'm a bit intimidated heh... but I'm skimming and learning what I can. Again, thanks for your input guys.

 

[TLS Guy]

I understand a cart upgrade could possibly be the best option, but I'd like my own table to bring to college and keep thereafter, until I can afford more high-end stuff, so I'm thinking a Rega P1-P3 (whichever I can find the best deal on over the summer), the NAD PP2 preamp, and probably upgrade from the included cart after a while.

The JVC turntable I use now is in rather poor condition, and is connected to an equally "vintage" (read: old and cheap) Denon receiver, I can't get a picture/model since I'm not at home atm, and I'm not sure if it has the proper RIAA eq inverters and all, so I'm just starting more or less from the ground up.

And yeah, I've been looking through stereophile, those guys seem to know their stuff. To say the least, I'm a bit intimidated heh... but I'm skimming and learning what I can. Again, thanks for your input guys.

If the turntable is in poor condition, the Rega or Music Hall are good bets. Don't be afraid to look at good vintage gear, you might get lucky. Having proper RIAA equalization is not an option, it is mandatory. Keep your BS alarms turned up on high listening to the Stereophile crowd. I canceled my subscription years ago, as they were spreading so much information, I knew and could be certain, was pure bunk.

Here are my turntables.

http://mdcarter.smugmug.com/gallery/2424008_RKGvb#127077056

http://mdcarter.smugmug.com/gallery/2424105_Kh5ff#127081086

Good luck!