astrochimp

My receiver is a very old Pioneer, so it has the phono input.

Update: Returned the Sony. I will get myself something better. This time I might isolate the turntable and not put it in the stand. Part of the reason I had it there with the Sony was because it came with an attached two foot long RCA cable.

MBoyd

Go look at Music Directs clearance section

http://www.musicdirect.com/s-17-clea...yFilterID=529&

325 gets you a project debut III

astrochimp

Thanks, although I am in Canada and I usually stay away from having stuff shipped. There is a store here that carries Project Audio and Regas. I am going to go take a look/listen to them tomorrow.

van der graaf

I think solid, older players are much better deals and offer equal sound quality...but, maybe that's just me

astrochimp

I am not against that idea. To be honest, the Sony sounded fine to me. It had a couple issues so I'd like to maybe jump up a step from that, without jumping too far

riotinmyskull

Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut (1995) - 180 Gram White Vinyl for $9.99 (Free shipping with Prime)

Rocketdog2000

Thank you! Ordered!

Moopher

So, I just went to play a record on my orbit and it would slow down at random intervals for about one second. I gave it a chance to rest and now it sounds slow and horrible, anyone know the cause for this?

CRM114

I don't consider myself an audiophile by any means but I recently replaced a Technics SL-220 with a Pro-ject Debut Carbon and it's night and day. Could be the superior cartridge though.

astrochimp

I am certainly not the one to answer this. Belt maybe? I would contact U-Turn.


After exchanging my cheap Sony skipper, I decided on the Rega RP1. Loving it so far. No skips on even my worst album and it sounds great

CRM114

Thats quite a jump.

Paff

Cartridge makes a huge difference. I got a Technics SL-1500 off of E-bay, fixed it up, but was still pretty unimpressed with the sound despite it having a pretty "high-end" cartridge. Not sure of the brand, might have been Ortofon. Of course, considering the rest of the table was trashed, that cartridge or at least the stylus could have been shot too. I never looked at it under a microscope.

Bought a AT-95E, and was suddenly amazed by the sound. And that's certainly not a high-end cart. So now that I've amassed a pretty sizeable vinyl collection (or more accurately, heavily augmented the collection I had from college), I should probably invest in a truly good cart and see what it does for me.

Supermallet

I have a Technics SL-1800 and also replaced the cartridge, but I can't remember to what brand or model. I love the sound on it, though.

There are good and bad older players, and good and bad new players. I did a lot of research before going after the 1800, and managed to steer clear of a lot of lesser tables as a result.

astrochimp

I guess I did jump a bit further than I had predicted. I got them to knock 50 bucks off, so it cost me $450. I'm sure that's less than what I paid for my Pioneer multi-disc CD player did back in the 80's

Moopher

I shot them an email right away and they replied this morning, just need to travel through this god damn traffic and I should be able to do some trouble shooting to get this solved. Super-bummed as I just got Secret Diary by College and Teddy Boy by Kavinsky today.

astrochimp

Good luck!


Today I picked up these for 38 bucks(The Specials was $15):



I'm going to trade in(at the other used place I go to ) the Phil and Rio. Both albums are just too crackly to really enjoy.

I'd love to keep that Ridgeway album. It sounds great but has a bad skip on the second song.

Talking Heads and The Specials both play great

The Jethro Tull one I got because this guy told me if I see it to get it. I wasn't at all familiar with this record. It's fantastic! I hope he doesn't want it

Giles

totally random statement:

I was over at Urban Outfitters earlier today and I was rather shocked how tightly they cram the LP's - I wouldn't want to purchase a vinyl over twenty bucks and think (or turns) out to be warped or something.

Rocketdog2000

I've got a Technics SL-D202 with the same exact cart on it, the AT-95E, which I picked up because of the great reviews on it. When my friend recently needed to replace the cart on his Sony deck, I recommended it to him, and he was completely pleased with the sound performance. If anyone else want's a nice sounding cart at a price that won't break the bank, I highly reccomemd it.

http://http://www.needledoctor.com/Audio-Technica-95E-Cartridge?sc=2&category=363

JackBurton

Contact them via email. Something similar happened to me and they sent me a new spindle & belt within days.

A little disappointed that this seems to be a somewhat common issue, but very impressed with their customer service.

Moopher

I was just coming to post that same result actually. Mis swapping out the spindle fairly easy?

I'm a little bummed for the same reason, but with this being a new company, I suppose this kind of stuff just happens. They were very fast with response times though, that's always a good sign.

CRM114

My Technics had an AT95E and I can hear the difference with this Ortofon 2M Red that comes stock on the Pro-ject.

Paff

Is it that good? I'm looking to upgrade my setup a little, and I got some extra work I'll be doing this weekend....wanna find something to spoil myself.

CRM114

I'm probably not the best person to ask. I don't want to purport to be any sort of audiophile.

But the AT95E is a $40 cartridge and the Ortofon is a $100 cartridge; not that that means anything by itself but I'd assume it means something. I couldn't tell you if my improved sound is a) imagined, b) because of the cartridge on my new turntable, or c) because of the new turntable entirely.

I do hear more separation and a wider sound stage.

Paff

True of course, but we also both know that more expensive does not always mean better quality. The AT95E is praised as having better sound than many pricier cartridges. I know it's better than the one that came with the turntable when I bought it, even though I looked it up and found it was significantly more expensive than the AT. I'm pretty sure my first fix was to put a new stylus in, and that still wasn't as good as the eventual move to the AT.

And yet, it's also true that the AT95E is certainly not the best cart available, just exceptional for its low price. There is definitely room for improvement. I've noticed a lack of fidelity on the inner grooves of a record, compared to the first few tracks, and I think an upgrade in cart might help that. I was considering the Shure M97XE, but if this Ortofon is better, I might go that route. Especially since I've learned in my research (since last night) that the Red can be upgraded to Blue by a mere stylus change (if you consider a $150+ stylus to be "mere")

Paff

I decided to go to with the Shure M97XE after all.

I'll come clean and say the primary reason was that Amazon carries the Shure and not the Ortofon, so, you know, free Prime shipping and all.

But a few other things affected my decision. One was a YouTube video where a guy was gonna do his cart upgrade, and he decided on the Ortofon. He praised the hell out of it, but at the very end of the video he says "I'll probably stick with the Shure though". Next was a lot of comments about the Orto being a little too bright. Not quite sure where I stand on that, as I do like to hear my high-hats, yet I don't like the sound mix to be thin either. Finally, a lot of reviewers on Amazon said it blows away the AT-95E that they were using. That meant a lot to me, as it indicates they weren't upgrading from stock cartridges, but rather already upgraded ones (and I totally drank the AT-95E Kool-Aid...I do like that cart a lot), so I trust their opinions.

Not sure how much testing I'll get to do with it this weekend since I'm working a film festival Friday-Sunday.