digitalfreaknyc

Hey all,

I'm not sure which forum I should put this in but I was looking to purchase a reliable turntable that I could use to make backups of some of my vinyl. Anyone have any recommendations??

benedict

Anyone in Other Talk have any recommendations?

DVD Polizei

Grab a Denon or a Technics.

bhk

Try a MusicHall. They are very good and are available online at
amusicdirect.com and needledoctor.com

digitalfreaknyc

Oh....one other thing: Not really looking to spend $500 on one...I'd say max $100. Don't need to use it THAT much.

Thanks Benedict for the move.

whaaat

I've heard good things about these tables.
I was going to recommend a Rega P2 or P3 until I saw your budget. The cartrige I'd recommend to you is more than twice your budget.

malkmuz

just go to your local best buy, mine has a sony and another brand for around 100 bucks. you probably won't find anything much better for that kind of money, i think.

emoxley

Check your local pawn shops. I see turntables in our pawnshops all the time..............

nova

I got the $100 Sony one from Best Buy and it works great but I've been trying to find a replacement needle for it for over a year now.

Wallet Boy

Chalk another one up for the Sony. I bought it for about $80 on eBay a couple of years ago. Its been good to me.

Sdallnct

I have a Rega. GREATEST turntable for the money EVER!!!

Oh, sure a Linn is nice and a VPI is hard to beat. But the pure simplicity and cost of a Rega is unbelievable. Awesome unit.

Sdallnct

Been so long since I looked at the Rega site, thought I'd give it a look. I'm not sure I like the colors on the newer P3's (when I bought mine, black was only available). But doesn't look like the overall design has changed much.

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/p3.htm

renaldow

They are only available through Sony. They cost $56 each. Go here to buy one:
http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/web...rchText=LX250H

How long have you had the turntable? Unless you've been DJ scratching it or pulling it apart with tweasers, the stylus should last a very long time. Assuming it's been kept clean, anyways.

renaldow

The Sony PS-LX250H is going to be your best bet in that price range. If you wanted to bump the price up to $200 you could find a Technics table, but aside from slight build differences there's not going to be much of a difference.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...X250H&Dept=hav

If your receiver doesn't have an actual 'PHONO' (for phonograph) input, you'd need a turntable that has a built in pre-amp (unless you want to spend another $150 on a decent pre-amp. (Yeah, I know you can buy a pre-amp for about $25, notice I said decent )
The aforementioned Sony has a good pre-amp built in, so it will integrate with a modern receiver just like any other component. Also be warned that an inexpensive belt drive turntable may have time issues, meaning that 33 1/3 rpm is actually 31 or 36 rpm. There are speed adjusters on the bottom of it to calibrate it. You probably won't have to though, mine didn't.

I've got a TDK CD recorder deck I use to copy vinyl, and it sounds very good. You can make quality recordings, and actually capture some of the warmth of the vinyl that is lacking on a CD with it.

I'd caution anyone about buying a turntable from a pawn shop unless they know what they are doing. There's a reason the table is there, and it's not always because the owner upgraded or sold his vinyl collection. That perfect steal of a bargain may end up costing twice the price in parts.

Wallet Boy

Actually, the Sony player says in the manual that if it isn't plugged into a PHONO input on the receiver, the sound will be very low. I just got a new Onkyo receiver with no PHONO inputs, plugged the Sony into the Tape input instead, and had to max the volume to listen to it at an acceptable level. So I decided to keep my turntable with my older receiver in another room, which has the phono input and it plays at a good volume.

renaldow

I don't know which of the 2 Sony tables you have, but the one I linked to I personally own and it does have a pre-amp on board. There's an on/off switch for it under the platter. The webpage I linked to shows it as a feature as well. Maybe you have the LX350H which doesn't list a pre-amp as an option.

What you experienced with the low volume is definitely what happens when there's no pre-amp involved. If you've got the LX250H take the platter off, turn the pre-amp on and it will sound properly loud through the Onkyo.

whaaat

Bump because I saw a Music Hall TT for sale on an audiophile website I visit here for $125. (Insert standard I don't know the seller disclaimer here)
Don't know if you've already picked one up, but this is around your price range and will give you more bang for your buck than a Sony from Best Buy or FutureShop.