Greetings all.
Last year my trusty old Denon Direct Drive turntable died a horrible death. I used it to play records of unknown provenance picked up from garage sales and other sources of the weird, wonderful and unusual. It is a part of my HiFi hobby that I love.
I was too late to get a Technics SL1200 or similar good quality replacement. Now I have a heap of records I wouldn't dare put anywhere near my Rega / Ortofon MC.
So, the search was on for a replacement.
I am liking the Audio Technica LP1240-USB.
Audio-Technica - Microphones, headphones, wireless microphone systems, noise-cancelling headphones & more : AT-LP1240-USB : Professional DJ Direct-Drive Turntable (USB & Analog)
Big, rugged, 3 speed and a tonearm with changeable headshells. This would allow me to play 78s as well, with a dedicated 78 cartridge as well as the more rugged cartridges I use for the grubbier examples.
Does anybody have any experience with this turntable? It looks a cut above the standard DJ fare and seems to offer the prospect of halfway decent sound quality.
.
All comments greatly appreciated.
Rgds,
blakkvinyl
p.s. Sells for about AU$600 in Australia.
Last year my trusty old Denon Direct Drive turntable died a horrible death. I used it to play records of unknown provenance picked up from garage sales and other sources of the weird, wonderful and unusual. It is a part of my HiFi hobby that I love.
I was too late to get a Technics SL1200 or similar good quality replacement. Now I have a heap of records I wouldn't dare put anywhere near my Rega / Ortofon MC.
So, the search was on for a replacement.
I am liking the Audio Technica LP1240-USB.
Audio-Technica - Microphones, headphones, wireless microphone systems, noise-cancelling headphones & more : AT-LP1240-USB : Professional DJ Direct-Drive Turntable (USB & Analog)
Big, rugged, 3 speed and a tonearm with changeable headshells. This would allow me to play 78s as well, with a dedicated 78 cartridge as well as the more rugged cartridges I use for the grubbier examples.
Does anybody have any experience with this turntable? It looks a cut above the standard DJ fare and seems to offer the prospect of halfway decent sound quality.
.
All comments greatly appreciated.
Rgds,
blakkvinyl
p.s. Sells for about AU$600 in Australia.
Had a look at an LP1240 in the flesh today. Man, that sucker is Heavy !
Seems an order of magnitude better made than the rest of the DJ crap on display in the store and a mile ahead of the LP120.
Despite the universal web fact/opinion/insider info, it had obviously superior build quality to the Stanton STR8 150 next to it on the shelf, and a completely different (and better looking) tone arm. So, I don't know what to make of the "They are identical" argument.... Maybe different batches ? If so, Lord help us for consistency of performance. According to the 'dude' in the shop, torque is the only thing that matters anyway.
I can buy the AT cheaper then the Stanton anyway ATM.
The arm features the ability to adjust VTA (raise/lower the arm height) quite easily, which may help with using a variety of cartridges.
Having said that, the arm looks more like a 1985 Radio Shack $79 special than the SME on my dead Denon - not impressive at all. Given that the best cartridge I plan to use on it is a Shure M97xE maybe I ask too much.
Anyway, unless someone can suggest something better (new only, please) it looks like this is the go.
Last plea for opinions....
rgds,
blakkwardmasking
Seems an order of magnitude better made than the rest of the DJ crap on display in the store and a mile ahead of the LP120.
Despite the universal web fact/opinion/insider info, it had obviously superior build quality to the Stanton STR8 150 next to it on the shelf, and a completely different (and better looking) tone arm. So, I don't know what to make of the "They are identical" argument.... Maybe different batches ? If so, Lord help us for consistency of performance. According to the 'dude' in the shop, torque is the only thing that matters anyway.
I can buy the AT cheaper then the Stanton anyway ATM.
The arm features the ability to adjust VTA (raise/lower the arm height) quite easily, which may help with using a variety of cartridges.
Having said that, the arm looks more like a 1985 Radio Shack $79 special than the SME on my dead Denon - not impressive at all. Given that the best cartridge I plan to use on it is a Shure M97xE maybe I ask too much.
Anyway, unless someone can suggest something better (new only, please) it looks like this is the go.
Last plea for opinions....
rgds,
blakkwardmasking
i seriously doubt that AT would put out junk and i'll bet that the internals are re-worked Technics leftovers that AT have acquired from Technics when they stopped making the SL1200's.
if the arm base is the same as the Technics then you can get adaptor plates to put your SME arm from your Denon onto the AT deck.
if the arm base is the same as the Technics then you can get adaptor plates to put your SME arm from your Denon onto the AT deck.
AFAIK both AT LP1240 and the Stanton are derivates of the Hanpin DJ-5500. Don't have own experience though.
Yeah, the prevailing opinion and all the evidence supports that position.
The Stanton I saw was very similar looking, but with a different tonearm and felt about half the weight. Perhaps both AT and Stanton have their own OEM variations on the DJ-5500 platform ? Or perhaps the one I saw was an oddity / mutant. The arm is the thing that worries me most about this "DJ turntable" caper. I read that "straight arms are better, man, because they don't skip when you slam 'em backwards". Shudder.
Well, I'll buy one and report back.
Thanks all for the input.
Rgds,
backinblakk
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