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Vinyl Enthusiasts?
- Thread starter Cayden
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Very true! Opposite ends of the spectrum, but both unusually gorgeous in their execution!
Yes. I won't be adding any LED lights to mine. ? What is that running for a cartridge?
Lol. It has a Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony Wood cartridge. The turntable is designed by Marantz, but it is made by ClearAudio.
I still have my original Technics turntable with a Marantz receiver from the 80s along with my collection of vinyl including the Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Pink Floyd, and even a mexican copy of Led Zeppelin II (brother must have picked it up in the 70s while in California in the Navy).
I haven't bought any vinyl since the early 90s though.
I haven't bought any vinyl since the early 90s though.
I considered the newer technics. It was on my radar, but my girlfriend was in love with the Marantz and this is in our living room so I went that route. I also considered a Rega. Who knows what the right choice would have been? I am curious about the direct drive systems. If I use this a lot down the road, I may add a technics or one of the cheaper direct drives to my office setup...time will tell. I do think technics has the most dedicated fans from my research.
My Project Debut III stopped working, so I was in the market. I haven’t bought a record in a few years, but it is so fun to get out my collection from my childhood and play those albums again. I got my parents (Dad likes Johnny Cash/Sinatra and Mom had a large Elvis collection in addition to random stuff here and there) collection, as well.
All of it was stuff I grew up on. i did add a lot of jazz when I first got the Debut, so the collection is pretty well rounded. I have something by every artist you mentioned except for Led Zepplin... which I own all their albums on Digital. Could always use more vinyl, but I stream the vast majority of the time, so I want to listen to what I have before buying a bunch of new music. We had some used vinyl shops in town, but I am not sure if they are still around. They are definitely a lot cheaper if you buy used... though that can be hit and miss.
Vinyl and Hi-Fi enthusiast checking in. I spend this past year putting together my bedroom setup consisting of the following:
Turntable, cartridge: U-Turn Orbit, Grado Black2
Integrated Amp: NAD D 3045, with Bluetooth, DSD and MQA playback compatibility
Speakers, subwoofer: Klipsch RP-600M, Klipsch SPL-100 10" sub
I also have my vintage system, currently in storage, consisting of a NAD 3020 integrated amp from 1978-80, NAD 5020 turntable from the same period, and Klipsch KG1 stand mount speakers.
Oh and I recently picked-up some vinyl. The Chameleons, Joy Division, used copy of Prefab Sprout, Talk Talk. Been on a 80's British rock kind of mood lately.
Turntable, cartridge: U-Turn Orbit, Grado Black2
Integrated Amp: NAD D 3045, with Bluetooth, DSD and MQA playback compatibility
Speakers, subwoofer: Klipsch RP-600M, Klipsch SPL-100 10" sub
I also have my vintage system, currently in storage, consisting of a NAD 3020 integrated amp from 1978-80, NAD 5020 turntable from the same period, and Klipsch KG1 stand mount speakers.
Oh and I recently picked-up some vinyl. The Chameleons, Joy Division, used copy of Prefab Sprout, Talk Talk. Been on a 80's British rock kind of mood lately.
I bet that cartridge sounds really good. I have pretty much just been running Ortofon on my tables. I have an OM 20 on a Thorens TD 190-2 I have down in my basement. This new Thorens came with a 2M Red, but swapped the stylus out for a Blue. The Dual designed ULM arms on these things really prefer the lightweight and high compliance OM carts, however they are starting to ship them with 2Ms and I suppose the main reason is because the OMs have pretty much been phased out except for the lower end OM 5e. It's interesting the different sound you can get by just changing the cartridge out. You can go all over the spectrum from a very warm sound to something that is almost "digital" in it's presentation. One thing a person has to remember is a turntable is really more of a musical instrument than a piece of consumer electronics. Small changes and modifications can make a big difference in sound quality.
Right now for new records I have sort of been on a Corb Lund kick. Of course if you never grew up in ranching country you might not appreciate his songs, but if you long for a good Americana/Indie Country album his stuff is amazing IMHO. Also been spinning a few favorite classic Christmas albums right now. Picked up a pristine copy of the 1964 Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Soundtrack) and the instrumental B side is really a beautiful piece to get into the holiday mood. Some albums you just have to spin instead of push play on the digital device.
i bought a NAS box and got rid of the CD's & the vinyl. But thats me and not what this tread is about.
-for those records that were passed down through my family; by the time i got them the popular ones were really scratched up. Just saying.
-there was a lot of content lost forever when the media technology changed.
-for those records that were passed down through my family; by the time i got them the popular ones were really scratched up. Just saying.
-there was a lot of content lost forever when the media technology changed.
I saw Schiit released a turntable - well, technically re-released, I guess the first release had some issues, they paused sales, took feedback, corrected and are selling it again, also [very recently] sending out a drive pulley replacement that corrects some possible speed issues. Some slick specs, an 11" tonearm (unipivot), a fully discrete/isolated drive motor - apparently it's a bit of an "advanced setup", though I guess they've added some additional pre-setup upon request. As is not unusual with their products, this is a bit divisive 
$799, but several "must have" mods push it over $1K.
![1606668144301.png]( "1606668144301.png")
$799, but several "must have" mods push it over $1K.
I love Schiit DACs and headphone amps and the Schiit Mani is an excellent phonostage, so I'm very interested in the Sol. Don't like that it doesn't have a dust cover (my place tends to be dusty), but I could get used to it.
What are the "must-have mods" for it?
What are the "must-have mods" for it?
One must have mod is probably a dust cover. ? That certainly looks like an interesting table. I've heard good things about the Mani phonostage. I'm currently using a Thorens MM-002. It doesn't look like much, but performs extremely well. One reason I went for it is the lack of LED lights on it. I know not a very good reason, but the price was right and the specs were solid. MSRP of $250 but found some on eBay awhile back for $169.
Yeah, some kind of dust cover, some leveling solution (the legs are fixed), possible cart upgrade, better mat, and I really should've said "must have mods and additional equipment", i.e., as you would expect at this price point, needs a standalone phono preamp if you don't already have one, or want an upgrade.
Here's a good review from M. Fremer over at Analog Planet:
www.analogplanet.com
Here's a good review from M. Fremer over at Analog Planet:
The Schiit SOL Turntable (Updated 10/26/2020)
(Schiit just announced it is producing a new pulley that will run the turntable at the correct speed and will send them free to all existing customers). Executive decision: no Schiit jokes, ok? Especially since the Sol turntable is so well conceived, designed, executed, made in America and...
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^Looks promising. I have several good cartridges, a cork mat, and a good phono preamp, so minus the dust cover, I think I'm set. I've never purchased a new turntable before, but this may be the one to get when I have the money saved.
Definitely read through some of the owner threads, ugh, I hate to suggest SBAF, those ****ers are hard to deal with, but there's a long thread here:
www.superbestaudiofriends.org
It definitely sounds very "tinkery", if you're into that sort of thing. Here's a terrific post, it's after the thread sort of went off the rails a bit (shocker!), but a nice comparison to several TTs:
***
My previous tables, and how I feel they compare to Sol, in no particular order:
ClearAudio Concept - It's been awhile but this is a pretty good comparison, I think. Both tables are somewhat light on their feet, revealing, and feature prodigious yet tuneful bass free of bloat. Both scale with the cartridge of choice. Sol wins though, fairly easily, due to its flexibility. Concept is minimally adjustable and is what I'd consider "high end starter table, set and forget."
VPI Classic 2 - Hard to make a comparison here as I put this table in a poor position, on a wall shelf in a small room and was getting some feedback through the arm as a result. Took me way too long to figure that out. That said, I never felt like the Classic was all that agile and fast, not a "foot tapper" as it were. Also, tracking wasn't as good with the shorter arm and frankly, I find Sol easier to set up, especially for azimuth. VTA adjustment was better on the VPI but at its price point, that's a solid "duh." Speed was good on the VPI but speed control was very costly to add on.
Pioneer PLX-1000 - Competes on price. More speed stable and accurate. Beyond that, if you listen to Sol and the 1000 back to back, which I did - same cart and everything - it will feel like your music has cut weight and can now run ultramarathons in comparison. The PLX is a very solid table but it is nowhere near "hi fi" in any sense. Loose bearings, short arm, not flexible. Needs upgrades to even remotely compete.
Music Hall 7.1 - Similar to the Concept. And Sol is a far better table for the same reasons, plus the Concept arm and speed control was superior so Sol's arm is just in a different league IMO.
George Merrill PolyTable Super12 - This one was fully upgraded - 12" Jelco arm, Improved mounting collar, PolyWeight, DMD motor controller. Put simply - the more I tweak Sol, the closer and closer I get to what the PolyTable delivered sonically. It is so close that at Sol's price point + tweaks, I'd seriously call this a draw. Both are very nimble, responsive and dynamic. Excellent base with excellent image capability. The PolyTable was more speed stable - I've closed that gap on Sol with a Cruise Control. PolyTable was quieter from a bearing/platter perspective. This is the one area that I'm not sure I can fully close the gap on. But, in terms of microdetail, plankton as it were relative to what vinyl can offer, Sol is just neck and neck with it. Both are just absolutely fun to play with and to play music on. This was a $3k setup without cart when I bought it a few years ago. It is no longer available due to Jelco closing up, so the closest you can now get is $3k without an arm.
I've been chasing down that damn PolyTable sound for a couple of years. I'm close enough now with Sol, the PolyWeight, Cruise Control, and with better isolation and leveling of it, that I no longer "miss" the PolyTable.
Also - the PT had the benefit of feeding a $3500 Herron phono stage and an Art9 LOMC cart. Sol is competing with it using an MP-500 and 30 year-old, used Mod Squad Phono Drive.
Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.
Didn't I say that this is not a turntable for beginners? Well after opening the box and finally getting the thing to work, and work rather well, I...
www.superbestaudiofriends.org
It definitely sounds very "tinkery", if you're into that sort of thing. Here's a terrific post, it's after the thread sort of went off the rails a bit (shocker!), but a nice comparison to several TTs:
***
My previous tables, and how I feel they compare to Sol, in no particular order:
ClearAudio Concept - It's been awhile but this is a pretty good comparison, I think. Both tables are somewhat light on their feet, revealing, and feature prodigious yet tuneful bass free of bloat. Both scale with the cartridge of choice. Sol wins though, fairly easily, due to its flexibility. Concept is minimally adjustable and is what I'd consider "high end starter table, set and forget."
VPI Classic 2 - Hard to make a comparison here as I put this table in a poor position, on a wall shelf in a small room and was getting some feedback through the arm as a result. Took me way too long to figure that out. That said, I never felt like the Classic was all that agile and fast, not a "foot tapper" as it were. Also, tracking wasn't as good with the shorter arm and frankly, I find Sol easier to set up, especially for azimuth. VTA adjustment was better on the VPI but at its price point, that's a solid "duh." Speed was good on the VPI but speed control was very costly to add on.
Pioneer PLX-1000 - Competes on price. More speed stable and accurate. Beyond that, if you listen to Sol and the 1000 back to back, which I did - same cart and everything - it will feel like your music has cut weight and can now run ultramarathons in comparison. The PLX is a very solid table but it is nowhere near "hi fi" in any sense. Loose bearings, short arm, not flexible. Needs upgrades to even remotely compete.
Music Hall 7.1 - Similar to the Concept. And Sol is a far better table for the same reasons, plus the Concept arm and speed control was superior so Sol's arm is just in a different league IMO.
George Merrill PolyTable Super12 - This one was fully upgraded - 12" Jelco arm, Improved mounting collar, PolyWeight, DMD motor controller. Put simply - the more I tweak Sol, the closer and closer I get to what the PolyTable delivered sonically. It is so close that at Sol's price point + tweaks, I'd seriously call this a draw. Both are very nimble, responsive and dynamic. Excellent base with excellent image capability. The PolyTable was more speed stable - I've closed that gap on Sol with a Cruise Control. PolyTable was quieter from a bearing/platter perspective. This is the one area that I'm not sure I can fully close the gap on. But, in terms of microdetail, plankton as it were relative to what vinyl can offer, Sol is just neck and neck with it. Both are just absolutely fun to play with and to play music on. This was a $3k setup without cart when I bought it a few years ago. It is no longer available due to Jelco closing up, so the closest you can now get is $3k without an arm.
I've been chasing down that damn PolyTable sound for a couple of years. I'm close enough now with Sol, the PolyWeight, Cruise Control, and with better isolation and leveling of it, that I no longer "miss" the PolyTable.
Also - the PT had the benefit of feeding a $3500 Herron phono stage and an Art9 LOMC cart. Sol is competing with it using an MP-500 and 30 year-old, used Mod Squad Phono Drive.
I should mention that the Marantz didn’t have a dust cover, either. I bought one to go with it, though. Dust covers may be the most overpriced thing I have run across, so I would add it to the price of the turntable and decide whether I could get something similar at that price that already has a dust over.Yeah, some kind of dust cover, some leveling solution (the legs are fixed), possible cart upgrade, better mat, and I really should've said "must have mods and additional equipment", i.e., as you would expect at this price point, needs a standalone phono preamp if you don't already have one, or want an upgrade.
Here's a good review from M. Fremer over at Analog Planet:
The Schiit SOL Turntable (Updated 10/26/2020)
(Schiit just announced it is producing a new pulley that will run the turntable at the correct speed and will send them free to all existing customers). Executive decision: no Schiit jokes, ok? Especially since the Sol turntable is so well conceived, designed, executed, made in America and...
I now have a lower end turntable on the way for review purposes. The brand is Angel’s Horn... if you can believe it. Not expecting a lot from of it, but it has an AT 3600l cartridge and if I don’t like it, I may switch out the lower end Ortofon from the Debut. It has the option for a line out or it can be switched to their internal preamp. I will probably use it with my old Bellari VP129 tube phono pre. This will go in my office that doesn’t already have a TT.
That’s one thing that’s nice about the dynamically balanced Dual arm (my Thorens uses it). As long as you‘re somewhat level it’s fine because a coil spring maintains the tracking force. The counterweight is there for balance and fine tune adjustment. In the 60s and 70s they would play the things on their side and even upside down in demos. It’s actually a pretty ingenious design. Once I have my tone arm set-up to be precise at the indicated grams on the dial I can simply turn it up or down to change the tracking force.
I got the Angel's Horn and it plays records better than I thought it would, to be honest. It has a preamp (you can bypass), which will probably turn off people if they don't have an outboard phono preamp. I plugged it directly into the Denon's phono amp and it came alive. I have the Bellari, but I was getting some annoying hum, so went back to the Denon until I can figure it out.
The one thing I really dislike is the Bluetooth. It will auto connect to my Divoom Bluetooth speaker and when I disconnect it (by turning off the Divoom), it automatically attaches to my Alexa device. There is no way to control it from what I can tell (I have to tell Alexa to disconnect). Also, the sound sucks when using it with a bluetooth speaker. In the case of the Divoom and Alexa, it cuts in and out. I put a Bluetooth speaker closer to it and it didn't cut out, but not pleasant at all. I wonder if all of the Bluetooth record players do it this way?
The player also has USB out for recording to a computer. The cable is too short, so I have an extension cord on the way. I probably won't use this feature unless an album isn't available for streaming, but I will test it. It has to sound better than Bluetooth. (Edit: I have tested this. It didn't work with my Mac ( note- I got it to work with Mac, too), though it is possible that I just missed something. However, I have a PC in the same space and I recorded with Audicity. It worked fine and sounded good. I was much happier with this tech than the Bluetooth tech, but I wouldn't use a record player with Bluetooth anyway).
All in all, I am pretty happy with it for my office setup connected to my Denon X4200 and NHT SB2 speakers.
That being said, I do much prefer the Marantz, which should be expected. We have been listening to records every night and I have played records I haven't played in decades. Lots of fun!
The one thing I really dislike is the Bluetooth. It will auto connect to my Divoom Bluetooth speaker and when I disconnect it (by turning off the Divoom), it automatically attaches to my Alexa device. There is no way to control it from what I can tell (I have to tell Alexa to disconnect). Also, the sound sucks when using it with a bluetooth speaker. In the case of the Divoom and Alexa, it cuts in and out. I put a Bluetooth speaker closer to it and it didn't cut out, but not pleasant at all. I wonder if all of the Bluetooth record players do it this way?
The player also has USB out for recording to a computer. The cable is too short, so I have an extension cord on the way. I probably won't use this feature unless an album isn't available for streaming, but I will test it. It has to sound better than Bluetooth. (Edit: I have tested this. It didn't work with my Mac ( note- I got it to work with Mac, too), though it is possible that I just missed something. However, I have a PC in the same space and I recorded with Audicity. It worked fine and sounded good. I was much happier with this tech than the Bluetooth tech, but I wouldn't use a record player with Bluetooth anyway).
All in all, I am pretty happy with it for my office setup connected to my Denon X4200 and NHT SB2 speakers.
That being said, I do much prefer the Marantz, which should be expected. We have been listening to records every night and I have played records I haven't played in decades. Lots of fun!
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The pops and the clicks are part of the vinyl experience. You don,t to spend a vast amount to get a decent Deck
Project decks are of good value. I have this one Goldring Elektra
With this deck Project RPM 5 with a speed box, Yeah, I liked it while I had it. I had a couple of the speed boxes and both of them failed after a few years. The Debut lasted for long time but finally died. I thought it was the power cable, but they sent me a new one for free, but it still wouldn’t start. I considered one of their higher end TT, but wanted something different so we went with the Marantz. There are a lot of good options at every price point imaginable.Project decks are of good value. I have this one Goldring ElektraThis guy has so much enthusiasm
If you buy either new or used good condition records, keep them clean and handle them correctly you should have very few pops and clicks.The pops and the clicks are part of the vinyl experience. You don,t to spend a vast amount to get a decent Deck
Yeah, I don't mind the pops and clicks when listening to a record, though today's records usually have almost no surface noise due to being made out of the thicker 180g vinyl.The pops and the clicks are part of the vinyl experience. You don,t to spend a vast amount to get a decent Deck
If I am digitizing a record then I may try to remove the hiss, pops and clicks using Audacity on my Mac, with the Noise Removal and Click Removal effects, and it generally gets the job done.
I don’t mind an occasional pop or click either. In fact it’s something you just forget about unless it’s a very poor condition record and is noisy.
The one thing I do dislike about new records is some of them are just not mastered right. When an artist wants to cut an LP to release the source material really needs to be remastered by someone who knows what they are doing. I have some that sound dynamically amazing and others that seem like all the engineers did was lower the volume level so the cutting head could take it. If you want a great sounding record you have to master the source with the limitations of vinyl in mind. It’s sort of a lost art and the older veterans need to teach the younger ones how to do it.