First Turntable question

[Daniel75]

Hiya,

Is Micro Seiki MB14 Auto Return Turntable + Shure M75ED a good buy for someone who wants to start analogue journey? (It's £65 in used hifi place).

If not - what would be your recommendation? My budget is around £100 pounds.

I did look around but got confused quickly :-)

Thanks!

Dan

[Macca]

Hi Dan

£100 is not much for a TT including a cartridge. However you might be able to do better than that Micro Seiki from someone on the forum. Not familiar with the MIcro Seiki myself but most decks with auto return tend to be budget clunkers. For your budget I would try getting a used budget Rega or Project deck from someone relaible. You can always get a new AT95E cart for about £20 they are prety good and as it is new it is a safe bet it will not be grinding up your records.

Ideally though see if you can stretch to a used Techics SL1200 or 1210 - for between £150 and £200 this will give you the best bang on a budget, in my opinion. Plus you can upgrade it gradually.

[Daniel75]

After further research I concluded that best option is to save more cash and buy something decent:-) So you're absolutely right. I'll keep looking for sales here.
Cheers

D

[DSJR]

Micro Seiki made some good solid decks over the years and one such as described should make an excellent starting and learning point - as long as it's properly sited as most of these decks will stand or fall on this point..... If the auto arm will run an M75-ED at 1.25g without stiction at end of side, it can't be disastrous.

The other option is for something simple like a vintage Rega. I say Rega because the design concept has proved itself for nigh on 40 years, spares are easy to obtain and even the early Rega R200 S shaped tonearm can now be well fettled by Johnnie at Audio Origami. Set one up right, place it on a light but rigid support away from room corners, use the new belt at least and a new mat and I guarantee you'll love it.

As for old Techies and similar, they can certainly still be put to great use with modern mat and support ideas, but no spares can be got from the manufacturer, who wrote them off years ago, but that's the thing with vintage gear in general...

[The Vinyl Adventure]

... most decks with auto return tend to be budget clunkers...

But not all ...
Mine sounds wonderful!
Just sticking my oar in...

[julesd68]

After further research I concluded that best option is to save more cash and buy something decent:-) So you're absolutely right. I'll keep looking for sales here.

Buy that Systemdek in the classifieds if u can get the money together - fantastic deck!

[DSJR]

A few early 70's Jap auto decks were real clunkers, but later upper-caste models were fine - the Techie SL1300, despite having a massy arm, tracks a Shure V15 III at 1g with ease and some grace...

Just if anyone's interested, Dual got the whole auto concept to a fine art in the late 60's and most of their 10** series decks onwards are stunningly good, beautifully engineered and very gentle indeed on the pickups fitted to them. Even the better Garrards, especially by the belt drive era (86SB, 125sb, Zero 100SB) were really good but will need a full rebuild by now to remove solidified grease.

[hifi_dave]

Rega P2 in the 'Classified' section.

[Daniel75]

Cheers guys! Fellow forum member from not very far away from me have a nice deck for sale so it looks like my analogue journey will begin very soon:-) Thanks for help and let me tell you - what a great forum it is:-)

D

[stupinder]

I honestly dont think that for 150 quid you could better the 1210/1200. IMHO and all that gubbins!

[Daniel75]

I am now a very happy owner of Rega Planar 3 (with upgrades). Seems to work very nicely - cant hear any speed issues, motor is totally silent. It came with Goldring 1012gx and when I saw how much replacement stylus costs I had a little hear attack but apart from that - its super sweet:-)

D

[synsei]

That's a nice find Dan, congratulations ;)

[AlfaGTV]

I think you'll like that player! Very good for the money!

I personally have very little experience with Goldring's but the player can handle whatever you may fancy.
I have tried Regas own (disliked), Benz Micro MC/Ace SL/Glider L2 and Ortofon 2M series and they all sound very good. Even Denon's DL-103 works fine on the Rega arm IMO.

Now go play some music! :)
/Mike

[Daniel75]

I love this deck indeed. Its in a very good condition with upgraded motor, very nice acrylic plate and its arm came with Mitchell TecnoWeights thingy. Tried on couple of records and Im stunned:-)

Now I need to find good and cheap record cleaning device and research cheaper cartriges:-)

D

[synsei]

I think an Ortofon 2M Red (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ortofon-2M-Red-Moving-Magnet-MM-Cartridge-/230841473300?pt=Turntable_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35bf395914#ht_3240wt_1139) would do the trick without breaking the bank Dan and they work particularly well with Rega arms. It's an excellent budget cartridge and what's more a replacement stylus can be picked up for about 60 quid ;)

[Daniel75]

I think an Ortofon 2M Red (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ortofon-2M-Red-Moving-Magnet-MM-Cartridge-/230841473300?pt=Turntable_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35bf395914#ht_3240wt_1139) would do the trick without breaking the bank Dan and they work particularly well with Rega arms. It's an excellent budget cartridge and what's more a replacement stylus can be picked up for about 60 quid ;)

Sweet. I will definitely check it. Although maybe I should simply save more cash and spend 100 quid on stylus for Goldring? I cant find any reviews comparing Ortofon 2M Red with Goldring 1012gx.

D

[RobbieGong]

Some Goldring 1012gx reviews here: http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/Goldring-1012-GX-MM-Phono-Cartridge/product_357

And bottom of this link here; http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uKQtniUZzsYJ:http://www.moving-coil-cartridges.com/goldring-1000.htm%2Bgoldring+1012gx+cartridge+review&hl=en-GB&gbv=2&gs_l=heirloom-hp.1.0.0l10.875.4781.0.7078.15.10.0.5.5.0.235.1282 .2j7j1.10.0...0.0...1c.dnBl-1nrZqI&ct=clnk

All point to a very decent cart for the money :)

[Daniel75]

Indeed :-) At the moment Stylus have about 100 hours of use on it. I would assume that it should last for another few hundreds hours if not more?

It does sound very good to me but since I never heard it new - it is impossible for me to judge it properly:-)

D

[StanleyB]

You should get about 500 hours use out of them or even more if you are not tracking with a heavy down force.

[AlfaGTV]

I'll up Stan's bid by adding a good 500 hours further on a decent cart!
Besides if you play cleaned records only, i'm sure you'll squeeze another 500 hours of use out of your precious stylus.

So, i my personal opinion, no cart should last less than 1500 hours if well cared for.

Regards
/Mike

[Daniel75]

Thank you!

It is all much clearer now.

Cartridge Im using have the following specs:

"Playing Weight 1.5-2.0g (1.7g nom.) "

So Im assuming that it is up to me to select any value between 1.5 - 2.0g? As long as Im in between 1.5 -2.0g bracket its all ok?
(Im using tiny electronic scale. Right now it is showing 1.7g)

Apologies for all those questions:-)

D

[AlfaGTV]

Most carts have a certain span when it comes to VTF, Vertical Tracking Force.
The reason for this is that the cantilever, the small wand wih the diamond attached, is suspended in some way. This is of course for it to be able to track the grooves on the records. The suspension in the vertical plane is strained by the force of the VTF and consequently affects where the coils or magnets are located relative to their counterparts.
The nominal value recommended should place the cantilever in its optimal position, but the manufacturer often allows for some variations.
A lesser tracking force applies less wear to your records, but it may cause worse tracking abilities, which in turn is a lot more damaging to your records than a little higher tracking force.
In my personal experience, i always aim for the higher end of the scale when it comes to recommended tracking force.
If your records are flat and clean, by all means, stay with 1.7Gr. Youll know if it mistraxks when playing back some testrecord or a highly dynamic recording..

Regards /Mike

[StanleyB]

I only use the tracking weight as a guide. The final tracking weight is decided by me after listening tests. I also use a different tracking weight on an LP compared to say a 12" single or a worn down record compared to a pristine one. But then again, I might use a different cartridge/headshell combination for different kind of music and vinyl state.
Obviously that might be taking it way pass your own intention. So don't accept it as a hard and fast rule. Just don't try to handle the headshell finger lift whilst plastered :nono:.

[Daniel75]

Awesome cool:-) Ill fiddle with tracking force and see what sounds best.

And yes Stan - I am making sure that my fingers are not even near my new toy when plastered:) I have squeezbox touch based setup for those rare moments of instability :-)

D