2. analog
  3. 131926-3105

SOTA Turn Table set up for 5K - more or less?

Hello all!

If you plese, I actually have two questions. Primarily what is the expense for being squarely in the mix with a more than competent TT array for one, and secondly will the vinyl cut of the exact same digital track ALWAYS be received as noticeably better, if all else in the system is ‘virtually’ the same?

IMO, if the second Q is NO. I’d not wish to spend one thin dime on a TT phono setup. Ever. There would be no need.

Only one demand must be addressed in my situation of the TT itself. It should have a tone arm ‘lifter upper’ ‘setter downer’ lever, if possible. These were fairly common uh, decades ago. I’m thinking it will keep me from destroying stylus with regularity. Maybe.

Neither am I into the MM or MC camp so that aspect probably should be touched upon here too if one is more favorable than the other to employ.

I’m aghast at some prices I’m seeing in the turntable market. Enormously expensive cartridges, arms, and of course, the table.

A friend just told me of an audition wherein a TT worth over 100K was in use. Whoa!

I am looking at what it takes these days to handily put digital in the rear view mirror. Albeit, I’d not throw digital out with the bath water, ever. It occurs to me so many state vinyl is the ‘ticket’, some phono setups I’ve heard IMHO simply have not been what I’d call ‘thrilling’ night and day, experiences. Are clicks and pops a thing one eventually gets used to and begins to ignore? Or is that a thing the LP may be introducing to the presentation, and not the phono outfit itself?

Throw on a Phono pre if required or desired, and the necessary or suggested accessories for keeping up and cleaning LPs and merely operating a TT somewhere in the middle ranges of high end audio becomes a whole lot of wow! And some serious frog skins. Between just the ph pre and cleaning box it isn’t hard to have $10K lifted from your account.

With the idea of having a extremely low maintenance TT setup which will undeniably, unquestionably and irrefutably, surpass the presentation of digital, where does one need to land budget wise?

To clarify, in 2017 using not necessarily but possibly, brand new pieces, what must a person spend to be well into the vinyl groove?

I should think, for this accounting, include a phono preamp, table, cartridge, arm, bare minimum tools, and good to very good maintainence equipment for cleaning and preserving the records.

Platforms and cables, would be arbitrary items chosen from user preffs and or seen as optional, eg., bases, and need not be included.

Is $5K more than enough, far too little, or is it an ‘are you kidding?” fact for amassing a very very nice, exceptionally adept phono system?

Or, is $5K plenty or more than enough for a functioning TT, but the rabbit hole doesn’t end there! If one is truly serious? Media not with standing.

Thanks for the insights.

blindjim

Showing 2 responses by blindjim

blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 
Lewm > very good stuff available for under $5000

Blindjim > very thoughtful and interesting input. many thanks.


Folkfreak > unless you are already committed to analog and given your budget constraints I’m not sure I’d start if I was you
> music I want to listen too is only available in one format


Blindjim > I appreciate the candor.and obvious drawbacks you poited out.

I do have several hundred LPs mainly from the ‘70s. some have only seen one side played. Condition there is another worry.

That last note I pasted from your thoughts is one reason I’m interested in this area.

I do get it there’s more to it all. The idea of just how much is key.

Setting up the TT itself I would think would be done as a paid for service or one provided if the thing was purchased from that venue or vendor locally.

Knowing no more, I’ve the idea once a solid performing TT setup is on board all else can be advanced or elevated incrementally, so the overall impact is not as severe. JMO.

However I do get your inferences. Much gratitude for them.


Atmosphere > I find that bass is more palpable with the LP than digital playback, and there is more detail combined with a smoother presentation.

Blindjim > Atmosphere, Thank you very much for the illuminations. super. Especially the input on that Tecnics model.

I stumbled upon some Mide Fremer youtube videos aimed directly at analog and haven’t been the same since.

Naturally I’ve some physical limitations which do give me some worries with respect to this arena. Merely picking out or better put, inspecting the LPs for example, poses an obvious stumbling block. I believe too there is a work around for that.

Certainly something pretty formidable has to be on the side of analog for folks to sprint down that road as fervently as so many TT people seem to do.

I’m curious enough to examine things sufficiently so once a financial sector can be determined I can then hopefully figure out how to overcome any other possible physical twists or pitfalls.

One possible unknown regards the fact everything is rotating and rotation along with friction means wear. Enough wear means something at some point will need adjusting or replacing.

What then would be the more common items a TT would needs be adjusted, and how will you know prior to a disasterous situation? Ie., arm tracking, tracking force, or ??

is MM the prefered path or is it MC?
blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 

Islandmandan > … tonearm with palsy
> It's a very personal thing, how deeply you are prepared to involve yourself. Once you're there, it's rewarding, and something you can be proud of, depending on how much you actually do yourself to get there.
> DIY hound anyway Dan

Blindjim > I’m still laughing on the skittish tonearm note. lol

…and there’s the rub.

My intricate D.I.Y.-ing days are behind me. Way behind me. I can slug stuff around, carry this or that in significant poundage, make necessary cable connections, apply footers, etc. after that? Nope. Not gonna happen. I’d simply not trust myself swapping in or out a cart, and just can not do any tonearm adjusting, aligning, etc. that would have to be done by someone with exp and the right tools. I suspect this is a major concern.

Or, at least, mo’ ‘spensive.

Which is why I alluded to a setup which needs next to no adjusting after its installed properly.
Your input was outstanding. Many thanks Dan.


Effischer > many top-flight preamps come with very-good-to-reference level integral phono capability.
> Much good input above, with the key takeaway being that the ultimate answer is the one being the best solution is the one you like the most.

Blindjim > sensible words. Golden in fact. Many tanks.
Sadly, not the preamps I’ve so far considered. Although some of the INTs I’ve run across do have something by way of phono resources. MM or MC dunno.

I’m fast coming to a conclusion the analog playing field is a far more intimate affair. Way more tactile than merely the sum of its parts. That there is a pre-requisite need for physical contact between the user – owner, and the hardware as well as the media. A relationship that develops not just from tangible interaction or interest but comes from a deeper place in one’s humanity.

It sure seems far greater intimacy is a primary facet of the analog experience as one at the very least, must attend to the media episodically, rather than if at all. only brief respits from one interaction to the next delay that interval.

Hmmm.

So, exactly how much are ‘jukeboxes’ going for these days anyhow? lol

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