Turntable Hunting

[planet10]

Originally posted by tvi
Kenwood-Kd-3055

The attached arm on these has screwy geometry so you can struggle a bit to get things lined up, but not bad.

I pulled a really nice looking arm off one of those big Technics DD, but you won't find me using one.

dave

[brianco]

Any heavyweight Lenco is cheapish...but put a half decent tonearm (suitable for whatever cartridge you choose) on it, and mount in a very solid plinth. Do a Google...there is a lot of info. incl. detailed instructions on renovations and upgrading.

I run one (maxed out wih a Zeta arm SPU etc) as a second TT and it is very very good.

You will probably continue to listen to your old vinyl albums!!

Good Luck!

[vinylkid58]

Originally posted by Dryseals
Keep it coming guys, I'm eating it up.

Here are some sites to cruise:

Lenco Lovers

Vinyl Asylum

The Analog Dept.

http://www.vinylengine.com/

Jeff

[Nanook]

Any heavyweight Lenco is cheapish...but put a half decent tonearm (suitable for whatever cartridge you choose) on it, and mount in a very solid plinth. Do a Google...there is a lot of info. incl. detailed instructions on renovations and upgrading.

not in North America. I've been looking for a while now.

stew

[Nanook]

got any ins on any Lencos?

[vinylkid58]

Originally posted by Nanook
got any ins on any Lencos?

Haven't seen any lately, but I'll certainly keep my eyes open and snag one if the opportunity presents itself.

Happy New Year BTW.

Jeff

[Nanook]

Lately I've been a little interested in the Lencos. Seems like any I see online are priced like the sky's the limit. The old Garrard Lab80 I have should be interesting but I am not motivated to actually put the thing back together. Something about it seems wrong...

My Oracle makes some great music, as does my re-plinth/$2.19 tone-arm.... But someplace within my mind I've always wanted to try a Lenco---never really that interested with the Garrards... I have a Lab 80, and a SB100 Zero...Guess I could sell those to finance a Lenco Heavyweight.

Happy New Years to you and yours as well.

stew

[dangus]

Lenco? I seem to remember seeing those in a university library or language lab, back around 1980. I can't recall seeing any since.

If you shop the right thrift stores, and check back weekly, you should be able to build a reasonable collection of "mid-fi" turntables for under $40 each. I've managed to pass up Thorens, AR, Connoisseur, and various Japanese things, by telling myself that someone else will enjoy them. Yard or car boot sales (depending on what side of the Atlantic), and Craigslist and other ads should turn up stuff too. Sometimes stores that sell used vinyl also carry interesting selections of refurbished (or at least guaranteed working) turntables.

A deck with auto-stop and arm lift would be the best choice for digitizing, since then you can set the 'puter for a timed recording, cue the record, and go do other stuff without having to worry about the record going sput-whee-sput-whee indefinitely.

My collection:
AR with a DIY arm
Technics SL-D1
Thorens TD-165
Kenwood KD500 with SME
two Technics 1200

[davidlzimmer]

What I'm looking to do is to convert a bunch of my vinyls and a friends to a more modern format.

I've converted MANY LPs to CD with great success using either Audacity and/or Krystal Audi Engine (both free). It's a great way to preserve your albums and, like you say, makes a more portable medium. As long as you just copy them straight out and don't monkey with the compression or equalization, you will retain all the magic of the analog sound with no noticeable degradation. But, as was said by a previous poster, you my find yourself slipping on a record more often than you stick in a CD. There's just something nice and nostalgic about spinning a record.

WARNING: Your friends might start showing up with piles of Albums never mentioned before!



PS Start studying now. The cleaning of a record will become the most important part of the process.

[Dryseals]

Originally posted by davidlzimmer


I've converted MANY LPs to CD with great success using either Audacity and/or Krystal Audi Engine (both free). It's a great way to preserve your albums and, like you say, makes a more portable medium. As long as you just copy them straight out and don't monkey with the compression or equalization, you will retain all the magic of the analog sound with no noticeable degradation. But, as was said by a previous poster, you my find yourself slipping on a record more often than you stick in a CD. There's just something nice and nostalgic about spinning a record.

WARNING: Your friends might start showing up with piles of Albums never mentioned before!



PS Start studying now. The cleaning of a record will become the most important part of the process.

Thanks Dave.

I'm still trying to find a decent turntable to work with but the cleaning proces has crossed my mind. I used to be fanatical about my albums, one could be banned from the stereo for life if caught mishandling an album. All my albums are still stored correctly and ready to go. But a good cleaning is in order.

I was actually on my way to buy a drum sander today and got to playing with an old turntable as part of a cleaning system and remembered this Allen Bradely micro PLC I had stashed in the shop. It has enough I/O to completely automate a cleaning system, which I'll probably be fiddling with for the most part of the day.

I may start another thread once I get this thing going.