My First Turntable

[Bod]

Hi all, I've recently begun my own small vinyl collection and also want to raid my fathers. So, I'm going to be needing a tuntable. My budget is small at £120 max and even that is pushing it for me unfoutunately.

Ones I've seen online are the Ion Profile, Sony PSLX300 or the Audio-Technica AT-LP60, the latter two have the advantage of coming with a built in preamp so I dont have to buy one. I know you get what you pay for but there's not much I can do about that right now. What would be a good turntable to go for?

 

[relocated]

If it were my money then I would go for the AT LP60.

 

[relocated]

No idea why that happened, double post. :doh: :?

 

[Al ears]

I am not sure why you are worried about a preamp. What exactly do you intend to connect the turntable to?

 

[Bod]

Connecting it to a Denon DM39 so (apparently. I checked with the guy in Richer Sounds when I bought it) I will require a phono pre-amp.

After postage the Audio Technica is more expensive than I hoped. Would going for the Sony be a mistake? I dont really know where Sony stands when it comes to items like this.

 

[Al ears]

I presume from your list you want to be able to digitally record your LPs, is that it?, or do you simply want to play them?

If its just play there are better options if you would consider going second-hand.

 

[philipjohnwright]

You should be able to pick up a cheap phono pre-amp second hand;something like the NAD PP1 for around £20 I would have thought.

As per the previous poster I'd also consider going second hand for the turntable. I got back into vinyl a year or so ago and bought a new Project turntable to keep costs down and see if I liked it. The net is that I quickly bought a used Thorens 160, which even though it is old was considerably better than the Project, for not much more. You might get a 160 if you are lucky, but a bit of patience on eBay generally should reap dividends. Main things to consider is the cartridge; you don't want an old one chewing up your records

nb if you are into classical at all then buying job lots on eBay is great. I bought 2000 LP's for about £200 in 2 months. 2/3 were no good, but of the 600 I kept that still works out at 30p each. Mind you the record cleaning machine I bought cost a bit more!

 

[Bod]

USB would be a bonus but by no means essential, I can get most of the stuff in my collection in mp3 format off the net anyway. It's just owning the vinyl that i want. Plus some of the bands I listen too only release in vinyl (pretentious much?)

Another option I have come accross is the Pioneer PL-990.

I'm aware I would get a better quality machine by going second hand but I'm concerned that as I know so little about turntables I wouldnt know a good one from a bad one or even ones that working and sounding exactly how it should.

 

[Bod]

I was also wondering if anyone know anyhting about the SoundLAB Professional USB Belt Drive Turntable or the Technics SL-J110R? Both new and priced at £120 compared to the others mentioned.