A return to TT

[FrantzM]

Hi

I have rebuilt part of my music collection and have about 1800 CD , I am vested in digital .. then … part of my father’s LP collection… fell on my lap about 1000 LPs I would say 80% classical but some interesting other music, some Latin American Cuban (Guajiras, Danzons, etc) some Mexican (Rancheras, etc) some odds things I never remember my father listening to, like Italian folks or Hawaiian …
I have decided these LPs will not be sold … They will be enjoyed and for that I need a good TT. I will likely digitized the crap out of these LPs … Just listen to them and just digitize them . Which means I am back into analog. I will not get a crappy table nor in an all-out assault on analog .. I am not interested enough to do that but I want to preserve whatever the recordings were about and am thus looking for a good table that would not be too difficult to set up, maintain and whose results can approach the best TTs presently on the market ..
I am hereby hereby looking for the equivalent of the Magnepan 3.7 in TT + cartridge+ Arm .. . Same Price , you know the giant killer of TT, I don’t mind previously used …

 

[Steve Williams]

I'm shocked

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I'm shocked

me too...+1, +1, +1.

i will give your needs some thought and respond.

in any case, i'm happy for you, my friend, to be able to go down this road on your terms and get what you want out of it.

cheers,

Mike

 

[FrantzM]

You got to see the collection .. No way I will ever find any of these on CD .. No way .. and the snetimental value is very profound . I am currently in Haiti in the famiial house, around my childhood memories.. I did find a KLHhybrid speaker somewhere and these treasure .. I thought I did take a good portion of the collection but there were more , muchmore .. What to do ... It is alla about the music .. People ... I will also have to invest in a record cleaning machine ... My father was a fan of Maria Callas , Fritz Reiner, Leontyune Price, Adrain Boult, Otto Klemperer e along with several recordings that are close to impossible to find on CD EMI, Lyritas, Supraphon, Odeon, RCA, Mercurys, Westminster, Command, Decca, DG ... These are not going anywhere ...

 

[MylesBAstor]

Hi

I have rebuilt part of my music collection and have about 1800 CD , I am vested in digital .. then … part of my father’s LP collection… fell on my lap about 1000 LPs I would say 80% classical but some interesting other music, some Latin American Cuban (Guajiras, Danzons, etc) some Mexican (Rancheras, etc) some odds things I never remember my father listening to, like Italian folks or Hawaiian …
I have decided these LPs will not be sold … They will be enjoyed and for that I need a good TT. I will likely digitized the crap out of these LPs … Just listen to them and just digitize them . Which means I am back into analog. I will not get a crappy table nor in an all-out assault on analog .. I am not interested enough to do that but I want to preserve whatever the recordings were about and am thus looking for a good table that would not be too difficult to set up, maintain and whose results can approach the best TTs presently on the market ..
I am hereby hereby looking for the equivalent of the Magnepan 3.7 in TT + cartridge+ Arm .. . Same Price , you know the giant killer of TT, I don’t mind previously used …

You can't go wrong with the entry levels tts from VPI, Clearaudio, Music-Hall, Project, Basis, Funk Firm, etc. Or maybe a used table may be an even better route.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Frantz,

my initial thoughts are to find an already refurbed and replinth'd Technics SP-10 mK2 with maybe a solid arm such as a Graham, SME, or Triplaner. there are many people who have invested in this level of gear and are now moving up to better modern tables and better arms. if you are patient you should find something like this without spending super big bucks. yet it will have relatively state of the art performance when properly set up. and it's very easy to sell and get your investment out should you want to.

this is at the ideal spot on the price performance scale. steps above this get really costly for small performance increases. and below this performance falls off as you get into mid-level belt drives and less robust plinths.

i know my recommendation is somewhat about the Mag 3.7 eqivilant; but it is the point at which you are getting most of what you can get from Lp performance.

another way to go is a newer VPI; although i'm not knowledgable enough to know which one to recommend. Myles likely could help with that. i know the VPI's are very very good in the mid-level price points. i'm such a direct drive and idler drive kinda guy that i just don't know about them.

i'm sure there are a few other good choices too that are not on my radar screen.

good luck.

 

[MylesBAstor]

me too...+1, +1, +1.

I will give your needs some thought and respond.

In any case, i'm happy for you, my friend, to be able to go down this road on your terms and get what you want out of it.

Cheers,

mike

lol....

 

[cjfrbw]

Used SME 10 with 4 or 5 arm is hard to beat for ease, reliability and no fuss with high quality. Get one of those inexpensive used vibraplanes from ebay to put under it.

 

[mep]

Used SME 10 with 4 or 5 arm is hard to beat for ease, reliability and no fuss with high quality. Get one of those inexpensive used vibraplanes from ebay to put under it.

Frantz is big on using the vibraplanes under turntables.

 

[FrantzM]

I like the idea of the Technics SP-10 and an arm such as the Graham, The Triplanar which I tried back in the days would never pass the test of easy to use andset-up . I did like its performance but ... not sure I want to go that route. I will be on a hunt to fiind a Technics SP-10 there may be a radio station with one there in P-au-P , Haiti

cjfrbw

Are you talking abou the SME 4 arms? Very decent price on e-Bay...

What about the SP-15? Worth anything?

And what about Cartridges?

Remember ultimately they all go on digital ... Already thinking Korg and should have asked about what people think is a very good Hi-rez PCM pro ADC decently priced Analog to Digital Converter...

Keep the Magnepan mindset .. Superlative performance at sane price... I don't buy the argument in these days and age that one needs to spend 80K to get a TT by the way ...

 

[microstrip]

If you want the analog equivalent of a Maggie my advice would be to get an used VPI HW19 with an Eminent Technology ET2. Considering you want to digitize the LPs you will want something with minimal distortion and will not be valuating the ultimate analog nuance. Once properly setup (and it is not difficult to do) the ET2 has a sound consistency from the first to the last groove that will be valuable for recording.

My Forsell also has a tangential air bearing tonearm. Once we get used to this absence of increase of inner groove distortion we find difficult to go back to pivot tonearms.

Just edited the post to add this is an equivalent of a Maggie 3.3 , not of a 3.7 ...

 

[jazdoc]

Frantz -

What an amazing legacy to treasure!

I'm sure you'll receive many excellent suggestions to ponder, so I'll throw one out there that's a little off the beaten path...

With the caveat that I've only heard this at RMAF (one of my top audio moments of all time -- hearing an original pressing of "Satanic Majesties Request") this looks intriguing:

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/454426.

I think a used Tri-Planar is an excellent value and the latest version is very intuitive. Lots of good tips here:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117142645&read&keyw&zztriplanar=tips

Best,
Mark

 

[FrantzM]

Micro

I was an analog fan back a few years and did try the ET arm... The sound was too dependent of many things among them the air pressure. I remember having to use a high pressure pump with some kind of air-drier for best bass and track-ability .. But that was the earlier models .. Things might have changed ... I also would like an arm that would allow me to tailor it to the cartridge I will ultimately go toward ..

I did like he Morch arms ... for that reason with their interchangeable wand ... UP-15?

You analog fan are having a ball on my behalf mhhh...??

 

[FrantzM]

Frantz -

What an amazing legacy to treasure!

I'm sure you'll receive many excellent suggestions to ponder, so I'll throw one out there that's a little off the beaten path...

With the caveat that I've only heard this at RMAF (one of my top audio moments of all time -- hearing an original pressing of "Satanic Majesties Request") this looks intriguing:

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/454426.

I think a used Tri-Planar is an excellent value and the latest version is very intuitive. Lots of good tips here:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117142645&read&keyw&zztriplanar=tips

Best,
Mark

Jazdoc

You really are a bad person .. That thing is beautiful ... OK good.. time to think .. Technics + SME versus that TT and arm?.. What do you think people?

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Frantz, it'sgonna be ok, man. Take a deep breath. Step away from the vinyl. We'll talk you through this, bro. I'm here for you, frantz. WE'RE VOT GONNA LOSE YOU MAN!!!!!!!

Tim

 

[jazdoc]

I'm not bad...just misunderstood!

 

[FrantzM]

Frantz, it'sgonna be ok, man. Take a deep breath. Step away from the vinyl. We'll talk you through this, bro. I'm here for you, frantz. WE'RE VOT GONNA LOSE YOU MAN!!!!!!!

Tim

You're not losing me. I am gaining a lot of superb music, that will quickly converted to digital. The dril will be what I usually do for my new CDs.. I rip them while listening .. end of the story ... then they will be enjoyed through a digital gig ... I could have done it with some friends TT but it would have been a bother ... I might as well have a TT. And I don't want to sel these album call them legacy or heirloom

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Jazdoc

You really are a bad person .. That thing is beautiful ... OK good.. time to think .. Technics + SME versus that TT and arm?.. What do you think people?

i don't personally know Ralph's tables, but i do know and respect Ralph's work and Jazdoc's ears.....and i owned and liked that same Triplaner. it's a good deal and it's in great shape. you can't really go wrong if that is in your price range. i'd prefer an SP-10 mK2 in a good plinth, but they are likely more just different than better or worse. and you'd not find an SP-10 Mk2 with that arm in that price range.

you could do much worse.

 

[cjfrbw]

If you are interested primarily in digital transcription rather than direct listening, the SP 15 or SP 10 would probably be great for the precision of direct drive. I tend to prefer belt drive or idler for direct listening.

I have some CD's comparing a Pass Xono with Audio Technica AT-OC9 cartridge on a SOTA turntable compared with a Sirius Rockport and a Lyra cartridge. Comparing the two from the digital copy, I really could not determine that the Rockport/Lyra was superior from the digital trnsfer to CD compared to the much less expensive rig when playing the same cuts.

My vote for transcription would be the direct drive turntable with Pass Xono (solid state used) and an Audio Technica AT-OC9II cartridge ($250??). You will probably be recording without the sound on, so you would be less concerned with acoustic feedback.

If you plan to do a lot of direct listening, you might want to listen to the variants of belt and idler arm as well, with perhaps a higher end cartridge and or a tube or two in the phono or line stage. It sounds like you are most interested in archiving.

 

[audioguy]

You got to see the collection .. No way I will ever find any of these on CD .. No way .. and the snetimental value is very profound . I am currently in Haiti in the famiial house, around my childhood memories.. I did find a KLHhybrid speaker somewhere and these treasure .. I thought I did take a good portion of the collection but there were more , muchmore .. What to do ... It is alla about the music .. People ... I will also have to invest in a record cleaning machine ... My father was a fan of Maria Callas , Fritz Reiner, Leontyune Price, Adrain Boult, Otto Klemperer e along with several recordings that are close to impossible to find on CD EMI, Lyritas, Supraphon, Odeon, RCA, Mercurys, Westminster, Command, Decca, DG ... These are not going anywhere ...

Frantz: I am selling my VPI 17H record cleaning machine. If interested, send me a PM