What might a "sensible" vinyl playback setup look like?

[rank]

AT LP 120, relatively cheap and sturdy.

 

[Robin L]

Gotta admit that I was hoping that someone would go lower-end, even much lower!

Me: Had Linn LP12/Valhalla/Ittok for many years, received setup training from USA distributer, too. Eventually replaced with Technics SL1200 Mk II, ended up selling the Technics to a buddy when I was convinced that I was never touching vinyl again. But the urge struck again, and I got a A-T LP120USB, which I still own.

Wish I had I had made identical test recordings from each, and would love to measure the Linn suspension's effectiveness at minimizing pickup of subsonic energy.

Sometimes I've thought to change things up again to something smaller, or at least lighter in weight, maybe even Bluetooth-connected. Typical turntable is kind of a space hog, tethered to the rest of the system via a short cable, and that annoys me some. I thought I might prefer something less fussy, and when not in use, I might like to stash it away on a high shelf.

Any turntable worth its salt is fussy, there's no way around it. Best you use your A-T LP120, maybe replace the stylus and figure out where to sit the 'table. No matter what happens, that 'table will need to be set up properly. That includes where it's set up. You might find some inexpensive aftermarket Bluetooth so the turntable doesn't have to sit next to the rest of the electronics, but it will have to sit isolated from footfalls and speakers. Some recommend wall mounting. That would get your 'table on a higher shelf. But if that's too much trouble, best not to bother.

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

Am only concerned with what's actually pressed into the vinyl. Some stuff will never be digitized / remastered because there's simply no market, or it may be repackaged at a higher price than I care to pay.

If you go shopping for vinyl playback gear you should stress this priority to anyone you deal with and make sure they understand the differences between accuracy and preference. It’s a market laced with a lot of misunderstandings and mythology

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

Any turntable worth its salt is fussy, there's no way around it.

I would point you to the SME tables and arms as one of many examples that serve as a rebuttal to that assertion.
stylus alignment is vital. But one can send their cartridge to JR Bousclair for analysis and tools for easy optimum alignment.

It ain’t cheap. But it ain’t all that fussy

 

[Robin L]

I would point you to the SME tables and arms as one of many examples that serve as a rebuttal to that assertion.
stylus alignment is vital. But one can send their cartridge to JR Bousclair for analysis and tools for easy optimum alignment.

It ain’t cheap. But it ain’t all that fussy

There are still the issues of positioning the turntable relative to other equipment, leveling the turntable, potential electrical interference and so on. SME gear might be less fussy, but digital playback gear isn't fussy at all.

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

There are still the issues of positioning the turntable relative to other equipment, leveling the turntable, potential electrical interference and so on. SME gear might be less fussy, but digital playback gear isn't fussy at all.

It can be a different kind of fussy. For me turntables are easy. OTOH my RME Fireface UCX II is a ****ing nightmare to set up.

I happen to own a “fussy” turntable. So that’s my perspective.

 

[antcollinet]

I'm submitting this as a thought-experiment more than anything else, because measuring/ABX-ing countless combinations of turntable, tonearm and cartridge seems like an impossible task. But I'm curious:

How inexpensive can a vinyl-playback system be, while still delivering a faithful reproduction of the recording? As a challenge, let's consider only products which can be purchased new today, or DIY'd. And because we're believers in science, let's allow DSP and other signal processing.

And should we relax our definition of "faithful reproduction" a little bit, to imply what's audible, and not necessarily the very best measurable performance?

Some of the specific products that I've pondered include:

Numark PT01 USB portable turntable, with stock sapphire stylus replaced with diamond as per VWestlife videos.
Audio Technica LP60: the variants with BT or headphone output seem like they'd be especially handy
U-Turn Orbit Plus: manual, no suspension
Rekkord Audio P400: automatic, with suspension

Whatever you do, include a parks audio waxwing in the mix. Awesome bit of kit.

 

[DSJR]

I love me Garrards and Duals.

Main rig - Dual 701 with (usually) V15 III or for more 'musical' rendition, an ADC ZLM (many others too but these are the main ones)

Second rig has a variety - Lasdt one on rotation

 

[Joe Smith]

Repeating myself...the AT 120 xUSB table for around $230 is a nice, basic quartz-lock table that mirrors the functionality and looks of the Technics SL-1200 for much less. It has a phono preamp built in, I don't use that, having other options. I have a lot of vintage tables too but the AT is currently getting the most daily use. With a library of about 1,000 LPs that I keep in good condition, I'm fussy, but vinyl is what it is...to me, going further down the rabbit hole is not necessary...

I personally think the AT tables below the 120 are missing the sweet spot...

 

[DarkKoala]

Just bought original from back then:

Also bought this vinyl records ( all from back then)
Alan Parsons Project: I Robot
Joe Croce: Songbook
Led Zeppelin: CODA
Led Zeppelin: 3 without the wheel spinning cover

And this CD
King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King - An Observation By King Crimson (so e special 40 year release)

Payed 10€ per thing
Did I get screwed? I‘m I enjoying?
I noticed when I buy a record I usually listen to the thing and chill. Same with CD. When I use my streamer I‘m either working or doing something else. When use physical media, I listen to music.

 

[JeffS7444]

I personally think the AT tables below the 120 are missing the sweet spot...

But have you tested this, or are you assuming?

Think we've hit a blind spot here, where either folks ditched their vinyl and never looked back, or dared not venture into the more toy-like segments of the market because, I don't know why.

Re: Post #13, I think VWestlife gave some pretty compelling evidence that higher tracking forces, even inexpensive piezo cartridges, have minimal effect on record wear, provided that the records are kept clean. So I think we can dispense with the argument that Crosley et al as a class are record-killers. And while the short tone arms will introduce some tracing error, how much audible effect this ultimately has ..?

 

[Brian Hall]

Playing vinyl records when we have superior options like CDs and streaming is not sensible.

That said, I get pretty good sound from a Fluance RT81 with an ortofon blue cartridge and a Fosi phono preamp every couple of weeks when I forget how much trouble playing records is and decide to play one.

By trouble, I'm referring to cleaning the record and then having to flip the record over after only ~20 minutes of music. Also, no pause button or skip to the next track option. Very primitive.

 

[antcollinet]

By trouble, I'm referring to cleaning the record and then having to flip the record over after only ~20 minutes of music. Also, no pause button or skip to the next track option. Very primitive.

All of which is part of the fun.


To answer the OP's question:

Mine of course. (Rega P3 with AT VM95 ML paired with a Waxwing phono preamp feeding a DAC via toslink.

 

[DarkKoala]

Its weird to put 150€ record on 120€ TT… i know … i hate preis comparisons … but yeah

 

[Brian Hall]

Its weird to put 150€ record on 120€ TT… i know … i hate preis comparisons … but yeah

That never happens here. I would never waste that much on a crappy vinyl record. Just because something might be rare doesn't mean it has any actual value.

Like baseball cards. I never understood someone attaching any value at all to a thin piece of cardboard with ink on it.

 

[Platypus20]

I play records on the average of 2-3 days a week, I have tons of music on vinyl is not on cd or on the streaming venues, the only way they will end upon cd, is if I do it. I started out in the 60s with vinyl, just never gave up on it, I have a streamer and lots of CDs, but at times what I want to listen to is only on vinyl. Cleaning and changing sides is just part of the process.

I have one of the AT-LP120s, an excellent turntable for the money,

 

[Doodski]

That never happens here. I would never waste that much on a crappy vinyl record. Just because something might be rare doesn't mean it has any actual value.

Like baseball cards. I never understood someone attaching any value at all to a thin piece of cardboard with ink on it.

LoL... Too real man! But... Even though I never sold stuff like that in any capacity or likeness I sold hardware and was good and through that I realized that people are making good dollars and cents from this sort of stuff that you describe. I see no value either and scoff it off sometimes but then I realize that this stuff is a huge industry and creates economy and good will. So I enjoy and pass it off for other pursuits like whiskey, clothes and salmon...LoL. I love salmon...LoL.

 

[DarkKoala]

That never happens here. I would never waste that much on a crappy vinyl record. Just because something might be rare doesn't mean it has any actual value.

Like baseball cards. I never understood someone attaching any value at all to a thin piece of cardboard with ink on it.

I completely understand, I feel the same way. It was just an example. I have just couple of LPs I spend about 50€ on, all else is bellow. When I see some weird single 7“ and someone tries to explain to me how it is worth 5000€ yeah five thousand … I think they are insane

Maybe will get 2 records that will be close to 100€ … but thats it. I also just have 100 records …. so still not that deep in.

 

[JeffS7444]

Its weird to put 150€ record on 120€ TT… i know … i hate preis comparisons … but yeah

At 170 USD, Wayne Shorter's "Emanon" has been the priciest LP temptation that I've encountered to date (beautifully packaged), but I see that it's now available as a 3-CD set @ ~65 USD, so if I buy, I'm buying the CD for sure.

 

[JeffS7444]

An annoyance with the AT-LP120 is that it could have been made much thinner and lighter, and in fact, much is simply dead weight: I tossed about 3 kg of it into the recycle bin.