More Audiophile Musings

Direct drive in the turntable world is like an automatic transmission in the automobile world. Generally speaking, not a good thing.

Then I take it you guys frown on my near mint sl-q2.

Whenever I do get around to buying a new turntable, it will doubtless be belt driven. I did read a review recently of a high-end turntable that bucked the trends and went with a direct drive system, but I cannot remember the model or manufacturer.

The weird part is I don't really consider the yp-211 a high end table and it sells for up to $175 on ebay? Am I missing something here? Does this thing have a cult following or are people on ebay just being dumb as usual?

Maybe they just like simulated wood grain.

It may just be an ebay thing.

There are lots of things in the audio world that don't make sense. However, as a general rule, companies like Yamaha and Pioneer have put out decent kit for a modest price. While the turntable isn't high-end, that doesn't mean it wouldn't work for someone who is looking to cut their teeth on vinyl.

I had an Onkyo that was adequate, save for the direct drive issue.

The 2nd table I got recently was a pioneer pl-a45d. It is a fully automatic table but its incomplete. It is missing the head shell, stylist and belt. Somehow the ground wire got severed in the middle but I got the non attached piece with the table. Provided the table works I will solder it back together and put some black shrink tubing over it and it will be almost as good as new.

This is what it looks like



If the table is in working condition I will most likely fix it up.

Mine needs some wood polish to bring out the shine though. It still has that dusty look. Do you guys know anything thats safe to use on fake wood? Am I safe with pledge?

What started the turntable projects?

Me getting 2 vintage tables for free what else?

Point taken.

I got around to getting the yamaha on a preamp today. It is working great as the tables physical condition would suggest.

Once I was finished testing it I finished cleaning all the surfaces of the table. With the exception of the scratches in the dust cover it looks new.


I also looked at the pioneer today and the headshell is interchangeable with that of the yamaha. Now I can test the pioneer.

Who gave them to you, and why?

My neighbor is moving and he was going to curb them. He told me he had no idea if they worked and that they had not been used in at least 15-20 years. So with that I promptly stuck them in my basement.

Nice neighbor!


You sound like my mother-in-law. Eve and I were talking about how after her mom dies, we are going to have to spend months emptying out her house and shed.

The yamaha has to get listed on ebay asap after I test the pioneer before I become too attached to it.

I can introduce you to The Needle Doctor if you really want to get involved with the hobby!

Spend some time with the Needle Doctor and you can put something like this in your basement:

The link, in case East is curious:

http://www.needledoctor.com/Clearaudio-Statement-Turntable?sc=2&category=45


Just noticed that they have some Rega P5s on sale for $1099. Hmmm. Nope, just got a new laptop!

The old Technics are solid turntables and have a strong following.

Iago: That P5 will last far longer than that new laptop, and costs significantly less too!

Indeed. Mind your, I am enjoying the laptop! But I still have the problem with a turntable of where to put it.

Well, there is that. From a utilitarian standpoint, given that your laptop costs nearly four times as much as a P5 would, would you say that, from a marginal analysis point of view, $4 spent on the laptop is worth $1 spend on a turntable? In other words, did you maximize your marginal utility?

Well, look at it this way; in raw minutes, how much time will I spend using the laptop vs. how much time I spend listening to LPs? Clearly, the laptop will win. I am also migrating everything from my desktop and old laptop to the new laptop, so it will be used for word processing, finance, photo manangement, portable music management, and many other things, as well as games. All that a turntable provides is musical pleasure. Nothing to sneeze at, but the marginal utility in a new computer will definitely rank higher.

If it was me I would have used drivexml on both computers and have been done already.