Rega RP6 with Dynavector 10x5. A few mods, tungsten counterweight, metal subplatter, brass pulley.
Harmony Design V9 phonostage.
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Currently a Dynavector DV-20X2L.
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Nice - great cartridge.
Still got a Pioneer PL-71 I bought new in 1975. I added a Vincent phono preamp to go with my PrimaLuna Prologue. I still have all the albums I’ve ever bought but I stopped buying vinyl about 1980. I resurrected the vinyl system about ten years ago but soon remembered why I stopped playing vinyl. Now I play a record once or twice a year just to make sure everything still works.
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What did you experience (negatively) when you returned briefly to vinyl…surface noise? Inconvenience? Or was the fidelity simply not what you recall?
Both of those. The actual act of playing records I don’t mind. It’s all the cleaning and the surface noise no matter how much you clean. I do love the mechanical aspects of the turntable. It’s just a ridiculous way to listen to music. Even back in the day I used to record any new album to cassette and then listen to that. As a result, most of my albums purchased since 1975 have only been played once or twice.
I’ve gotten to the point in my listening habits that I rarely listen to an entire album (or album side). I currently use a bookmarked subset of my library and shuffle that in Roon so I get a constant variety. Also, the bookmark includes a focus on playcount = 0 so I never listen to the same thing twice (unless I want to). When I go through my whole playlist I can reset the playcounts to 0 and start over. I’ve reset my library about three times in the last five years or so.
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After reading this thread the past few weeks, I’ve realized that I missed the ritual surrounding vinyl.
I’ve been trying to buy a Technics SL-1500C for the limited listening I plan to do.
They are sold out everywhere and won’t be in stock until June.
Why? Seems the Technics factory burned down.
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eBay or other similar websites for an original?
That’s a thought, but I don’t like buying used or on Ebay, for that matter.
I can wait. It gives me time to stock up on some LPs. I have none now. I put in an order to BlueNote.
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Yo can take a look at this one too: TT-15S1 Belt Drive Turntable with Cartridge Turntables | Marantz
I absolutely get this. For me, it’s not just the playing ritual. Since coming back to vinyl, I love it when new stuff arrives in the post and it requires inspection, verifying for cataloguing purposes and a thorough clean (I indulged in a Pro-Ject VC-S2 cleaner - the best $ I have ever spent on any audio kit. Whilst it can’t perform miracles on any physical defects, the removal of hiss and crackles caused by dirt deep down in the groove is really impressive). It’s become part of a morning routine when AusPost knock on the door; fix a cup of tea, get stuck into cataloguing, cleaning and play-grading.
The artwork and various inclusions with vinyl albums also make the experience much more personal. I mentioned the tactile and emotive nature of vinyl previously, but another factor comes into play: curation. Before digital, unless we are talking double albums, we didn’t see 55 mins of music as became the norm for CDs. Artists were bound by the limits of what you could fit on 2 sides of a 12" record. When making an album, it was normal to have too much material and this forced the artists to be harsh about what made the final cut and what didn’t. I can’t help but feel this “survival of the fittest” approach necessitated by the limitations only served to ensure the quality of the material and enhance the album story.
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Yeah, but I chose the Technics for its direct drive. It’s a good base for modification.
Eventually, I’ll probably be compelled to upgrade the cartridge and add a different phono amp.
Yeah, that’s on my list.
Sometimes listening to music is too easy. I think vinyl might make me focus more, not to mention the artwork, etc. Roon tries to address those pieces that are missing with streaming, but it can’t compete with tactile experience.
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Totally. When I was younger, the emphasis was less on individual singles tracks in the chart because it’s more faff to get up, go to the turntable, lift the needle and move it to another track etc, rather than just leave the damn thing to play. With digital, it’s a flick of a remote button, or the removal of unwanted tracks from a album playlist.
We left the album to play through as the artist intended, delivering the story-line or showing the progression of their style for the period in question. This only bolsters the point about curation.
The law of unintended consequences: as my wife has listened to the many titles from the 60s and 70s that we’ve acquired (or re-acquired) over the last couple of years or so, her music knowledge has expanded significantly. She says it has also filled gaps in her understanding that she didn’t know were there. As a joint pursuit, vinyl has bought us closer together, especially during lock-downs.
Tel
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I’ve had a rega Planar 3 for nearly 30 years now and slowly modified it over time. I’ve recently had Rega P10 for the last few weeks on demo with the intention of buying it.
To my surprise, the P10 wasn’t as good as my TT!!! I’m now going to buy an Audiomods Series 6 arm and add that to my TT, then look to a different turntable to add it to down the line
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i like the ikea speaker stands.
Thanks mate. Cheap, match the rest and do the job.
