travisgreyfox wrote:Thanks for the info Peter, I was hopeing for a non "suitcase" type model though like the one drh brought up. My dad actually has a nice set of speakers he said I can have, I just need a good player for them. If I cant find any before Christmas I will buy that suitcase one though.
Thanks guys
-Travis
If all he has is a set of speakers, unless they are self-powered you'll also need an amplifier and preamplifier (or integrated amp or receiver, either of which combines these components). Make sure the electronics incorporate a phono preamp section. You can't hook a turntable directly to passive speakers.
Before you build a system around them, make sure the speakers are fully functional. The most likely source of trouble, if they have age on them, is the woofer surrounds, the flexible material supporting the woofer cones. If it's a foam material, it may have torn or disintegrated, a common failing in older speakers. That's not necessarily fatal, but it does mean service will be obligatory, either a do-it-yourself resurround job (kits are available for the purpose for many speakers) or else a service call. Either way, extra expense, more or less. To check the surrounds, gently flex them with a finger--if they crack or break, they're done.
Assuming you need extra electronics, the preamp should incorporate a mono setting and tone controls. Neither is a given these days. Playing 78s (or mono LPs) in stereo greatly, sometimes unbearably, increases the surface noise.
I don't want to sound like the "audiophile snob" or appear to be dismissing Peter F, who has a good point about the pitfalls of "vintage" electronics, but you say you want to play LPs on this machine, and honestly I wouldn't inflict a cheapie nostalgia type turntable on any LP I cared about. Leaving aside that more than one review of the one under discussion called it out for unstable speed performance, the primitive arms and cartridges on those things are very likely to cause needless record wear, which will become all too evident when you finally do get a "good" turntable. If all you intend to play is shellac 78s, that's a different matter; they are robust enough to survive steel needles fitted to heavy steel reproducers, for crying out loud, and no modern turntable, no matter how modest an example of the breed, will be able to cause them harm. The cheapie arm may not track them well when they are not entirely flat or centered, but it won't hurt them.
If you do intend to go with a nostalgia player, make sure it has a magnetic cartridge, not ceramic. A ceramic cartridge in a bottom-end, un-counterbalanced arm constitutes what a college buddy used to call a "chisler," unsafe for your LP records. (I was about to say "unsafe at any speed," but actually it isn't at 78, as noted above.) Double check, too, to be sure a "78" stylus is available for the cartridge. It won't be included, so don't forget to budget for it as part of your purchase.
[/snob mode]
Good luck! Let us know what you end up getting.
Anyway, I would like a decent turntable that plays 33s, 45s, and (most importantly) 78s. Added bonus if I can play my big 16 inch records on it! I know its a tall order to get anything decent for that price, but figured I would try here anyway.