One for the vinyl fans possibly...

srichards said:
I'd probably start with Richersounds: http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/separates/turntables

Do you have an amp with a phono input? If not you'll need something like the Behringer PP400 phono to line level doodad.
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I have nothing, not even a record to put on it yet :) I dont mind second hand. I just want something simple, i dont and wont be mulling over the ratio of chemicals required to make the perfect record cleaner, they will get a rub of a hanky if theyre lucky. So, simple is the way to go :)

I just remember back in my teenybopper days i bought a whole unit with a couple of speakers and a 3 pin plug and away it went. That ebay guy doesnt seem to have any at the moment but i'll keep an eye on him.
 
Local charity shops/booties might have something. The old technics midi systems weren't too bad.
 
Might be worth sticking a wanted ad in the classifieds, there was some hi-fi gear up for sale a couple of weeks back.
 
Have a look at the Rega Planar series with the a rega rb250/motharm tone arm, might be a good start, or even a second hand pink triangle turntable, now that funkfirm in the scene.
 
Might be budget issues there though Andrew. He would need amp with phono stage and speakers.
 
Secondhand is probably the way to go, although as Suz said there are some reasonable Technics systems out there.
 
Maybe the classic 1980's combo, Dual CS505-2 deck, NAD 3020 amp and a pair of Heybrook HB1 speakers, it started me and many others on the hi-fi journey.

Available from various sellers on a well known auction site, admittedly with Mission 700's not Heybrooks, for about £180
 
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thanks all :) lots to read up on. That audiogold shop looks great, shame its miles away. Might be able to make it on a weekend though.
 
Pro-ject?
 
simon ess said:
Have you seen the prices they're fetching? :jawdrop:
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Didn't think some like the 90s 60 series would fetch much....my mission 753s which were £700 floorstanders only seem to fetch £150 so I assumed tannoys from same era would be well under £100!

Tannoy westminsters might be overkill I grant you :D
 
Way off topic, 'cause it's not what Ash wants....

I used e-bay to do speaker shootouts. Buy 2 pairs, sell the loser, get another pair and so on.

I learned a lot, ended up with audio heaven and, overall, made a few quid.

(y)
 
well its not my thread :) i hijacked it! Anyway, just picked up a NAD 3020B amp off the bay, reviews do seem to back it up as being a good one. I'll get things in bits over the next few paydays i think.
 
essexash said:
well its not my thread :) i hijacked it!
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Oh yes, so you did. I lost track.


essexash said:
Anyway, just picked up a NAD 3020B amp off the bay, reviews do seem to back it up as being a good one. I'll get things in bits over the next few paydays i think.
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Nice one. For turntables - Project are good, and good prices, but I do think, if you can stretch to it, Rega are in a different league. I've owned both.

The best bang for buck speakers I've owned were Castle Severns. Dinky little floor standers.
 
I'd be very wary buying a second hand turntable from ebay, unless perhaps from a recognisable dealer and with a no quibbles returns policy. Lots of potential problems that are hard to prove/dispute....bearings problems (turntable and tonearm), warped platter, PSU issues and plenty more besides, not to mention all the service items which you might need to do on top (new belt, bearing oil, cartridge setup) which can be a bit of a specialist job. A lot of care need to be taken sending them through the post too.

Obviously, as with cameras, if the price is right it might be worth a punt, but you always need to do that with your eyes wide open.
 
If you after a decent budget table then the Regas and Pro-Jects are often well praised. I recently got a Rega RP1 and a Cambridge Audio BP551 to hook into my current setup and I was really impressed with the output. Vinyl rules :)
 
Another vote for a new Rega as the TT. I had a Planar 3 for nearly 20 years and it was great. New vinyl is expensive and you don't want to be ruining it with a badly adjusted and worn out turntable. Also, e-bay prices are all over the place, with what was entry level stuff in the 70s selling for more than they cost new. Then the plastic stuff arrived. Anything decent from that era will also be pretty heavy so expensive to post.
 
I don't think I've cleaned any of mine.

I should go through my crates and clean them, my styli however are both clean as are the decks.

:)
 
I sold my Rega P3 and bought a Meridian 506 :)
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about 15 years ago .............................
 
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Coincidentally, over the weekend I came across the manual for the Linn Basik turntable I bought in the 90s. There's a section at the back about record cleaning:

RECORD CLEANING
Most record cleaning devices do more harm than good. The best method of cleaning records is to let the stylus
remove any dirt in the groove, then clean the stylus.

STYLUS CLEANING
It is important that the stylus is kept scrupulously clean. We have found that dry vibrating pad cleaners work
well. Alternatively, Linn dealers can supply cleaning paper which is easy to use and gives excellent results.

IMO if Linn say don't clean records, then that's good enough for me (and suits my lazy approach to these things :D).

EDIT: Just found the manual for the LP12 online and it says the same thing.

EDIT no. 2: and yet I've just found this, which talks about wet cleaning!! :confused: (though only in cases of stubborn dirt or mould):

http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-vinylcare.aspx#vinyl
 
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Good news :thumbs: I've just found one of the two record brushes I have so I think I'll be using those instead of the microfibre cloth. I don't think I've ever cleaned the stylus beyond blowing on it...
 
I have cleaned a lot of records on a VPI record cleaner which I used to have. The liquid I used was almost (for the pedantic amongst us) 80% purified water, 20% ipa, a few drops of record cleaning detergent from VPI and a few drops of wetting agent. This worked brilliantly.
 
TheGreatSoprendo said:
RECORD CLEANING
Most record cleaning devices do more harm than good. The best method of cleaning records is to let the stylus
remove any dirt in the groove, then clean the stylus.

STYLUS CLEANING
It is important that the stylus is kept scrupulously clean. We have found that dry vibrating pad cleaners work
well. Alternatively, Linn dealers can supply cleaning paper which is easy to use and gives excellent results.
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Bearing in mind how much it costs to retip a cartridge I think I would prefer to remove the dirt first! I am also not convinced that it removes the dirt but more pushes it down into the groove where it sticks against the momentarily liquified vinyl wall of the groove. To stay forever clicking and popping through my favourite tracks......

Completely agree with dry cleaning a cartridge though as the innards are cast iron and wet cleaners can get up the cantilever and make it rust. I had to have a Koetsu rebuilt once for this reason so it was an expensive lesson for me.

When the Koetsu was returned they also sent a blob of green putty on the end of a cocktail stick with instructions to lower the cartridge onto it to remove dirt.

Mark
 
If anyone's interested I did some homework this afternoon and found out that the green stuff Linn recommends is something called 30 micron lapping film, made by 3M. RS sells it but you have to buy a bucketload in one go. But my meanderings around the internet found a supplier that sells it for £2.70 a sheet and they have a free postage offer on this week:

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/3M-Lapping-Film-30-Micron--Green--AO--PSA.html#SID=167

What you do is cut it into small strips (say 5cm x 2cm), then draw the strip carefully from back to front of the stylus tip a few times. Given that I still have the original piece that the dealer gave me for nothing in the 90s, I reckon the sheet I just bought will last me for the rest of my days.

I know it sounds like a scary thing to do to your expensive stylus, but Linn has been recommending this for about 30 years at least, so I think they must know something about it. Apparently Dynavector recommend it too, and they probably know a thing or two also.

By the way, that workshop heaven shop has some great looking tools etc too, if that's your thing.
 
So basically the best way to clean the stylus is to use very expensive bluetak? The factory is in Stafford... think I might go buy a wheelbarrow full ;)
 
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