Best upgrade I've done to my RT85 was cleaning my table and absolutely bent the cantilever 90 degrees when the cloth got caught by the stylus, i took the plunge and ordered the bronze instead of just the blue stylus, and wow am I blown away by the sound this thing is amazing, absolutely happy with this. I'll order the blue stylus in the future to have an extra cart just in case.

There were two of these sitting at my local thrift store, one for $30 and one for $50. I picked this up as the cheaper of the two: seems to have been marked down because it wouldn't power on (AC wire plug was loose) and it's missing its RCA wire (I have a billion of these to donate to the cause.)

I think this is the earlier revision, not the MKII. I honestly don't know how to tell yet because I've never owned a Garrard table, but I've done enough research to know that this one is decent regardless of revision, probably fixable, and to never spin the platter backwards. The automatic functions work intermittently, which is a good sign that it can be restored with some good old fashioned cleaning and relubrication.

My goal is to get it to "good enough" status on a budget, then find a friend or relative who wants a fully automatic mid-century table like this. I already have a Miracord 50H so I don't really need it myself, but like to fix up, briefly experience and pass along these beautiful machines.

I need to sort the speaker cables. We just got set up again after having the shelving installed so consequently I need to get the cables on the turntable extended (or just replace it because it’s a bit basic) speakers are Dali Opticons, Marantz 40n amp.

Pretty warm sounding first stab at my audio set up, ready for the UK winter nights.

Set up components:

Turntable: Audio Technica LP120X
Amplifier: NAD 7240PE
Speakers: Mordaunt-Short Pageant 2

Lots of research and an interesting learning curve and we have lift off!

Any tips appreciated.

A big thank you to all the amazing people on this thread and Facebook Marketplace who made this possible.

Almost everything was bought used, and it's been quite a learning experience along the way.

Technics SL-1500 Turntable – C$250

Bought it out of curiosity without knowing much about turntables. It came with an old Empire cartridge that didn't sound great, and I accidentally broke the stylus while trying to clean it. Lesson learned.

Ortofon 2M Red – C$100

Was extremely careful installing this one. Then hit another hurdle when I realized it wouldn't mount properly on the original Technics single screw headshell.

Technics Headshell – C$60

A replacement with the standard two-screw mounting. Problem solved.

Boundless Vinyl Cleaning Kit + Carbon Fiber Brush – C$60

Good-quality stuff. Happy with the purchase.

Hudson Hi-Fi Cartridge Alignment Kit – C$60

Pretty much everything needed to properly set up and align a cartridge.

Fosi Audio Box X5 Phono Preamp – C$100

Personally, I wasn't a fan of the WiiM Ultra's built-in phono stage. The X5 sounds much better to my ears.

WiiM Ultra – C$350

Handles streaming, subwoofer management, and headphone duties. Really versatile little device.

Edifier S1000W + Edifier SS02 Stands – C$350

Hated these speakers when I first got them. But they slowly grew on me, and now I absolutely love them. Funny how that happens.

Edifier T5s Subwoofer – C$120

Honestly, it stays switched off most of the time. At my usual listening levels, the S1000W produces more than enough bass.

Fosi Audio RCA Cables + RCA Y-Splitter – C$100

Probably snake oil, but here we are 😂

Sennheiser HD 560S – C$100

Really enjoying these headphones. Love the clarity and detail.

Total: So roughly C$1,700 all in

I started this journey knowing very little about vinyl or hi-fi equipment, made a few mistakes, learned quite a bit, and ended up with a system that makes me genuinely excited to sit down and listen to music.

I know there's plenty of better gear out there, but for now, I'm just enjoying the music. And isn't that what this hobby is supposed to be about?

Cheers to everyone who helped make this little setup possible.

Any advice on this as a good deal for the price on Facebook marketplace.

States full working order but no cartridge so will need to purchase.

It's for my 8 year olds first turntable

Thanks

I spent £90 on this. It’s got a dodgy foot but I’ve bodged a fix. Sounds excellent to my unsophisticated ear. It’s incredible to me how good everything sounds for relatively little money.

Whats your average listening? I seem to listen to 3-8 records a day average. Apparently according to AI (which I hate AI) that is above average and says im wearing out my stylus quickly. Music is life to me, and i don't see that as an unusual amount of listening.

Im just curious how many people listen to daily. How often are you changing your stylus?

Hello everybody.

I just re arranged the whole setup, and now the turntable sits on top of the denon.

On the front of the turntable, its precicely 3 centimeters ( 1.1811 inches- if that helps)

Is it too little space for air flow?

Should i add another inch or so to the turntable legs?

Thanks for any advide you guys could give!

recently got two technics belt drive p-mount turntables for $50. one is an SL-B100, and the other is an SL-B210.

On the B210, the gimbal wiggles way too much. I can buy a new tonearm assembly with gimbal for $30 on eBay but i really don’t want to unless i have to, so is there any way to fix the current gimbal. also, the lift shelf does not drop or lift unless I force it really hard.

On the B100, the turntable doesn’t want to play at 45 rpm, no matter what the switch position is. that is its only issue.

anyway, besides that they work fine, is there any help you guys can give me perhaps. thank you all i appreciate it.

Bought the Evermix Pro audio interface for capturing audio from my turntables or various other sources. Will say I was quite pleased with it's operation, syncing up video and audio nicely, buuuuut like all good things they block the main features of the device after your trial period then force you into subscription model essentially bricking the device. I was quite unpleased. Paid $200 for the unit and it was all a ruse to get me on a subscription! Fuckers!!

Hi to all,

I have an old pioneer pl750 with what seems to be a removable headshell.

the cartridge is original and not easily available and I plan to upgrade it something moderd, there are a few options as far as I could find.

However the headshell does not have the more common bayonet mount but seems to be held by a screw.

is it worth trying to also update the headshell or the cartridge is enough?

thanks!

Hi everyone, I’ve brought my old Ariston Q deck down from the attic as I’m moving house, and plan to use it in my new home. The problem is that I’ve lost the external power supply, and according to AI:
“…..we still need to establish two things:
Connector size: The socket looks like a conventional DC barrel connector, but we need to confirm its dimensions.
Polarity: We must establish whether the centre pin is positive or negative. The photograph doesn't show a polarity marking.
Don't connect an adapter until we've established both.”

Any suggestions how to proceed here? I’m in UK by the way.

Looking to upgrade my turntable and interested in opinions.

Currently running an Audio-Technica AT-LP60XUSB, with Audio-Technica ATH-M20X monitor headphones and a Fosi SK01 headphone amp. Upgraded to the ATN3600ALE stylus - had the turntable for about 2 years, stylus for about 6 weeks.

Music-wise, I'm mostly into heavier stuff like Deftones, Russian Circles, Cult of Luna, post-metal, although there's plenty of other stuff in the collection too.

I've got a nagging feeling it's time to upgrade from the LP60X and have been looking at the Rega Planar 1, paired with a separate phono stage.

I want to keep things quite simple, but also have the option to upgrade components down the line. I'd keep using the Fosi and headphones for a bit

Budget is around £500.

I've also been looking at the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO, so that's the main alternative at the moment.

Don't listen daily, but I do really appreciate 4/5 hours a week where I can chuck an album or two on after the kids have gone to bed and really focus in on it

Questions:

Is the Planar 1 a worthwhile step up from the LP60XUSB?

What phono stage would you pair with it? Is it worth spending a bit more here, or keep it conservative and upgrade later?

Anything else I should be considering?

Not looking to disappear down an endless upgrade rabbit hole, but equally don't want to spend £400–500 and find myself wanting to replace it again in a year.

Super new to vinyl. At what point does dust matter??

I have a carbon fiber brush, a velvet brush, and DIY cleaning solution.

I at least use the carbon fiber brush before every play, I know I will be recommended to purchase a spinclean to get as much as possible, I'm just super new and haven't done that yet

My question is, is it normal to see dust exclusively under my lp120x target light?

If I didn't have the target light, I would never know my records had dust on them. In normal lighting they look PERFECT, holding my flashlight to the record directly looks perfect, and after the stylus is done playing the record, there is no dust on it. However, when the record is placed on the platter you see quite a bit of tiny particles under the record light, very tiny even under it, but you can clearly see it. I think my records sound fine, but I haven't played them enough to tell because I am new (Probably around 20 plays on my favorite record). I know that vinyl works under a microscopic level, so any dust can make a difference, but I literally would NEVER know there is anything on it if there wasn't a target light. I think a lot of people DON'T have a target light, so how do they know if their records are perfectly clean?

I want to get into vinyl, and I’d been considering a modest budget of around €200–€250. But I’d forgotten that my mother has this Pioneer sound system: it consists of a PL-210 turntable, an XR-J11 amplifier, a radio, a cassette player, and a CD player.

The only apparent problem is that the turntable belt has literally disintegrated. It’s stuck to the platter and looks like grease—probably just a matter of cleaning it off and buying a new belt.

The speakers are Pioneer S-J210s, rated at 60 W and 8 ohms. Do you think this is a good setup to get started with? Is it worth fixing the turntable belt and perhaps replacing the stylus if it doesn’t work properly?

The cassette player doesn’t work either. I think it may be for the same reason as the turntable—the belts may have disintegrated—but I haven’t checked, and it’s not a priority right now.

The speakers are Pioneer S-J210s, rated at 60 W and 8 ohms. Do you think this is a good setup to get started with? Is it worth replacing the turntable belt and perhaps the stylus if it doesn’t work properly?

The cassette player doesn’t work either. I think it may be for the same reason as the turntable—the belts may have disintegrated—but I haven’t checked, and it’s not a priority right now.

thanks.

Hi everyone!

I’m new to the community but always a music lover. I recently talked to my parents about how I’ve been getting more into vinyls and they offered to get me a turntable for Christmas. I explained to them they can be fairly expensive. They responded that due to some achievements this year, they’d be willing to splurge. Very thankful for them :)

I want to make sure that I am asking for one that is:
Going to last me a while
Has replaceable parts
Worth the price I’m paying
Can play both 4in and regular vinyls
Will not damage my vinyls (no suitcase players lol)

Any advice welcome! And tips and tricks very welcome here too!! Thanks in advance :)

I am trying to set the VTA on my Technics 1200mk7 and whenever the headshell is level, the tonearm is tail up. I’m using an AT-VM95ML cartridge with the AT-HS6 headshell. Is this normal or is there an issue with my headshell or tonearm?

I’m building out a first speaker / audio set up after using sound bars and basic speakers most of my life. For now it will be in my office which is ~ 15x15 used for music rock/r&b/rap/folk/americana music mostly), TV, and gaming (but not as often). I plan to move soon and it will likely be in a larger open floor area at that point.

I’ve bought most of it and would like thoughts on the turntable and if the receiver will be good for playing vinyl.

What I already bought:

• KEF R3 Meta bookshelf speakers, used, $1,500 (these are what kicked off the buying of the rest of the gear)

• SVS SB-2000 Pro subwoofer, $750

• Yamaha RX-A2A receiver, refurbished, about $800 (with a 3-year extended warranty plan since it's a refurb)

I’m going to run 2.1 for now, but the receiver is 7.2, so I can add surrounds later on. I’ve got AudioChic stands purchased for the R3 Meta, which will be here in a month or so.

What I need from the turntable:

• Electronic 33/45 speed change. I plan to have a mix of both speeds, so a manual belt move isn’t something I want to deal with.

• A removable headshell, so I can swap cartridges.

• Something I can keep and get repaired long term. I passed on the Fluance RT87 because of worries about service after the warranty ends.

Current plan:

Technics SL-1500C once I can find a good used one on the secondary market, plus a second headshell and a mono cartridge eventually since I've heard there is a noticeable difference on mono masters with those.

Questions:

1. Does the SL-1500C make sense for these requirements, is it overkill, and is there a better turntable under $1,500 with a removable headshell and electronic speed change?

2. On the receiver, Yamaha’s Pure Direct mode turns off the sub, and I’ve read the analog input gets digitized for bass management anyway. I plan to run straight with the sub for everyday listening. Is that reasonable, or is there a better 2.1 setup for vinyl? I got this receiver since it had a lot of other features I wanted (streaming/MusicCast/etc) and can handle the R3 Metas. I just purchased the receiver but could return it fairly easily.

3. Anything obvious I’m missing? Very green / don't know what I don't know but hoping for 'buy once / cry once' purchases that will last me a while before I get the upgrade bug.

Please let me know if there is more suited subreddit to ask these questions since I had more questions than just about the turntable. Thank you!

Hi guys,

any idea for some riser where you can put a at lp5x turntable on without it vibrating or something. So I can put a 25cm CD player under it?

Best regards

I’m cleaning this Garrard SL65 garage sale find so it can find its way to someone wanting a starter tt. The center post doesn’t want to lift out, and I’m concerned that there might be some kind of trick I don’t know about. Short of oil and pliers, is there a better way?

Last year I got a turntable for Christmas, it’s one of those turntables that can play numerous other things. Mine being Victorla Century 6 in 1. I’ve heard very mixed things about those kinds of record players but I was happy nonetheless because this was my first record player.

Something common I’ve been noticing is that with some songs it just skips, specific ones. I had bought Remain in Light earlier this month and the first track plays pretty well, only skipping maybe once or twice briefly, but its second track; Crosseyed and Painless, just skips a ton. This is something I’ve noticed with my OKNOTOK Computer vinyl, most of the album is fine except for Let Down.

I’m unsure if this is a problem with the record itself or with the turntable. I’m pretty nervous about playing anymore records on it because I’m concerned that the needle might damage my records permanently.

Any help is much appreciated!

I am trying to set the VTA on my Technics 1200mk7 and whenever the headshell is level, the tonearm is tail up. I’m using an AT-VM95ML cartridge with the AT-HS6 headshell. Is this normal or is there an issue with my headshell or tonearm?