2. analog
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Intriguing world of Analog

I am an aspiring audiophile and have enjoyed the forum postings on Audiogon over the past few months. I am impressed by the number of people with such advanced knowledge on audiophile subjects and who are willing to share their knowledge with others. I have become intriqued with the seemingly complex world of turntables, tone arms, cartridges and many other itemes related to analog music. I've seen pictures of turntables having numerous tone arms associted therewith and I am curious as to why one would need multiple tone arms. Many years have passed from the day I had a record player and we would tape a penny to the tone arm above the cartridge to keep the record from bouncing off the record. I'm sure the analogophiles reading this post are clutching their chests and gasping for air at the thought of it.

Somehow I feel another obsession coming on.

If I wanted to make an initial foray into the analog world of music what would be a good starting point? Is there a turn-key solution where you purcahse a table, tone arm and cartridge in one fell swoop? I would be willing to spend from $1500-$2,000.

My current sysem is as follows: Classe CA 200 amp, Classe CDP 35 preamp, B&W Matrix 802 series III speakers, and a Yamaha RX Z11 AV receiver. My preamp has a phono location on the source knob.

Will I need a separate phono amp or can I use my Yamaha reciever?

Your help and recommendations would be greatly appreicated.
papajoe

Showing 3 responses by pedrillo

pedrillo
560 posts
 
I also recommend vpi! They are easy to upgrade and sound good from the get go. If you need some inspiration see what I did to my table. It started out as a 40 or so lb. tt to a 430 lb. monster.
Since it is my baby I am probably biased, so take this with a grain of salt, but to me it sounds as good as anything I have heard analog, keeping in mind digital can't touch analog.
pedrillo
560 posts
 
The tt platform and the drive system sit on two surfaces that are not attached to each other, other than the belt that turns the platter.
The drive system rests on a shelf, the tt is suspended by steel cables and some bungie chords are used above that.
IMHO this is the way to go, the tt does not see any resonance from any surface of the room. When the music is playing at a reasonable level everything in the room resonates. By suspending the tt with cables the tt is decoupled and does not see this. Also there is a ton of weight, like about 200 pounds or more I forget the exact amount and that is just the tt part. The drive system has some considerable weight as well. The whole thing weighs 430 pounds!
I get better dynamics than digital by a long shot, in fact most that hear it for the first time think it's digital because its so clean sounding and dynamic.
pedrillo
560 posts
 
Good advice from almandog.
Just want to point out that if you do your research well- you may end up keeping everything you bought. I only sold off one item of all the things I purchased here on gon. I consider myself lucky but it was also due to the good planning.
Fortunately you can buy used, so then when if you decide to sell it back you won't take a big loss.
I still would recommend the vpi, but that's what worked for me so take it with a grain of salt. The beauty of this hobby is that there are so many good brands to choose from. The other thing I would recommend is to get a good phono stage. But that's for another thread.
After you get set up, regardless of what tt you choose you can still go with decoupling the tt from the room, I add this because it can make a big difference, just a thought.
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