Hi there from a forty something rediscovering the joys of vinyl

[Lloyd2084]

Hey everyone,

I'm Lloyd and have just signed up here as it seems to be a fantastic resource for all things SL-1210.

I've recently found vinyl again after many years of preferring digital convenience and listening to music on AV amps. That and having kids meant that audio took a back seat and I've had to keep things quiet for a few years. Actually, I never really heard a high-end system back when I was actively buying music in my teens and liked records more for their physicality and to mix and play around with dance type tracks. To me, digital was always a cleaner and more accurate sounding source for rock and 70s and 80s stuff.

Anyhow, earlier this year an audiophile friend suggested I try a Denon DL-110 cartridge as I was using an old bear up Stanton designed for DJ use. I gave it a go and was blown away by the detail it revealed on old vinyl that I'd listened to dozens of times before. It made music emotional again; I couldn't believe I was listening to the same records! Suddenly I was taken back to an era where music sounded good! Cymbals sounded like cymbals. I suddenly understood what a soundstage was. Depth and imaging appeared from nowhere, it was a truly incredible epiphany.

I've spent the last few months acquiring vinyl from my folk and finding my old stuff. A friend has leant me a stack of his old records that were sitting in his shed and I've been in audio heaven.

But this week disaster struck! I managed to drop my platter onto the deck, taking a chunk out of it, nailing the nearly new DL-110 cantilever and introducing a wobble to the platter with the LEDs pulsing. Not good.

On the plus side, my insurers settled a reasonable amount, so I might get the old one repaired and give it to a friend, so am in the market for a 'new' player.

I've emailed the very helpful Dave Cawley about a couple of decks on his website, so hopefully will be back with a working player soon. In the meantime, my vinyl looks very sorry for itself and unloved...

My setup is a modest old Technics AS-900SE Mk 2 pre-amp and power-amp with Dynaudio M20 speakers. To be honest the old damaged 1210 sounded so nice, any upgrade is going to be phenomenal!

I hope to stick around for a while, so be gentle!

Edit - I should say my other passion is restoring old arcade and pinball machines, so I know a fair bit about the perils, pitfalls and joys of working with decades old hardware!

[TazSob]

Welcome to the forum Lloyd.

Loved playing arcades and pinball machines in the early 90's, spent many hours hiding away at the local cafe to my mum's disappointment ... have a few on my tablet that I often play but pinball is one of my favorites.

Regards,
Taz

[Lloyd2084]

Hi there!

Yeah, there is something tactile about firing a steel ball bearing about in a mini 'world' that is impossible to recreate properly in the digital realm.

I currently have Metallica and No Fear Pinballs, an Asteroids DLX, Robotron, NBA Jam, Neo Geo and a generic cab I can play all the old classics in.

There was a big retro arcade event up in Brum near you a few weeks back at Walsall's stadium, maybe come along next year?

[walpurgis]

Hello Lloyd. Welcome to AOS.

No doubt you've seen our Techiepedia, it's a great resource for Technics turntable fans. Shame you gave yours a battering, you could ask in the Private Exhibitions section for any spare parts you need or even a complete deck. You'd be surprised what can be found.

Anyway, take a look around and join in the chat. Folk here are friendly.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[Lloyd2084]

I'm going to try and get the old 1210 repaired and serviced. Hopefully it will live again.

In the meantime, I've taken the opportunity to upgrade to a mk5 with the Mike New platter, bracket and mat. I'm hoping that will give me a considerable boost in performance. I won't get it until the end of the month though, so it's a bit of pain not having access to a deck in the meantime!

[Lloyd2084]

Techiepedia is fab by the way, what a great resource!