Update on my Turntable Purchase

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JustinJ

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Feb 7, 2010
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I would just like to thank everyone for their help on purchasing a turntable. I was looking at the Music Hall MMF 2.2 turntable.

I took Dave's (Twitch) advice on a direct drive Technics Turntable. I purchased a used SL 1600 Technics for 80.00 dollars. The turntable is built like a tank. It is all metal, which gives it some heft. I have the turntable on the floor right now and my son was jumping up and down and the record was not skipping.

The sound was okay when I first purchased the turntable, but I knew that it could be better. The cartridge was either the original or a cheap cartridge. The model was a Audio Techinca 3500s which is not available anymore.

I replaced the cartridge with a Denon DL-160. The sound is just awesome now. I have been listening to records for the last 4 hours. I am not running a preamp but using the preamp that is built into the HK 3490. In the future or soon, I may look at some economical or used phono preamps to tweak the system a little more. The Denon DL160 cartridge runs fine on an MM connection into the amp. One nice thing about having this cartridge is that if I get a better turntable one day, I can use it in the better turntable.

Listening to Records:

I forgot how much I enjoy listening to records. I listen to DVD-A, CDs, Digital Lossless formats such as Flac, Aiff, and other formats. The music on the record really has a nice warmth and open sound. I grew up listening to records as a kid and now I am really enjoying revisiting some old records. My only regret is not getting a turntable sooner.

My thoughts on buying a turntable for 600.00 and under:

When spending under 600.00 dollars for a turntable, my opinion is that the best thing is a good used turntable and an upgraded cartridge. I have not listened to the Music Hall but I am extremely happy and have spent 200.00 dollars for a cartridge and a turntable. It was money well spent, which in this hobby is hard to do when having a limited income. I have a family so I am not able to spend the money on the more expensive components and really try to stretch my money. My goal is to buy good quality equipment for the money.

I would encourage others who do not have a turntable to consider purchasing a used one and putting a decent cartridge in it. For not much of an investment, you can get a nice sounding turntable. There are lots of records in the goodwill stores and other second hand places. Most of the time, the LPs are a quarter or fifty cents.
 
Congrats on the new Denon Justin, very nice piece for the $$ !
 

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