Wish to get into DIY Vinyl, however some woes

[SY]

An old AR will hold up well to a lot of super-tables if you re-arm it. I've used them with Grace 707 and Mayware Formula 4 arms and got excellent results. The shock resistance of the Mayware/AR combo was better than the VPI table/Linn arm combo I use now. And the ARs were probably 95% as good with respect to pitch and imaging stability as the posher stuff that replaced them.

[cactuscowboy]

Originally posted by Shike
Trust me, I've tried. None of them that I've found uses a decent AC motor, only your basic dime a dozen DC motors. On top of it the platters aren't worthwhile, allowing for massive vibrations that would damage anything worthwhile. And of course, the tonearms themselves are also pretty much garbage. Let's not even get started on the cartridges they come with

Turntables I've found at yard sales and thrift shops in the past year:

Pioneer PL-512 (needed new belt), $5.00
JVC QL-A7 (needed cartridge), $5.00
Marantz 6100 (needed belt and new stylus), $1.00
Benjamin Miracord ELAC (needed new stylus), $3.95
Pioneer PL-510A (needed new stylus), $2.00
Technics SP-15 (from local radio station, needed minor repairs), FREE!
Yamaha P-20 (works perfectly, like new condition) $5.00

Keep in mind I live in NW Wyoming, not exactly the hot spot for used audio equipment. I respectfully suggest you're not looking hard enough for used equipment.

BTW, I'm NOT a college student on a tight budget! I could stroke a check for any high dollar $$$$$ audiophile turntable if I wanted to. But I won't!

I've got the QL-A7 set up with a Grado ME+ mono cartridge. It's a fantastic turntable for playing mono LPs and 45s. I built a custom MDF plinth for the SP-15 and fitted a new Recocut Transcription Tonearm with Stanton 500VE cartridge. I've got a half dozen stylii for 78 rpm and a 0.7 mil stylus for LP playback. I use this turntable for 78s and 16" discs.

I don't know what the hell you're talking about with "AC and DC motors", but it sure sounds like you've got a bad case of 'champagne taste and beer budget'. Maybe you just need to focus less on trivial details and more on listening to and enjoying records?

[kevinkr]

Originally posted by SY
An old AR will hold up well to a lot of super-tables if you re-arm it. I've used them with Grace 707 and Mayware Formula 4 arms and got excellent results. The shock resistance of the Mayware/AR combo was better than the VPI table/Linn arm combo I use now. And the ARs were probably 95% as good with respect to pitch and imaging stability as the posher stuff that replaced them.

I'll back SY up on this one, I too have had at least three AR - XA tables that I re-armed or came to me that way. One was a Mayware uni-pivot on a AR-XA, another was a minty one I bought for $25 and installed an Audio Crafts arm on, and the third one I installed a low end Helios arm on. Even the stock arm was better than found on most inexpensive Japanese made tables.

The Technics, Pioneer and Mitsubishi tables I previously owned in direct comparison sonically couldn't hold a candle to even the stock AR table. (Quite a shock to me at the time.) The AR had an immediately noticeable increase in detail and a much lower noise floor. (In all cases the same type and brand of cartridge was used and the pre-amp had two mm phono inputs.) Cheap tables with good speed stability mostly have AC motors, although the dc servo implementation in the Technics never gave me a problem.