There is some bidding going on right now for a Rega Planar 3 with Elys 2 cartridge. Seller says he/she does not accept returns. Of course if the item isn't as described, Ebay overrides that.
What do you think about buying one of these used of Ebay? Bad idea? I never paid so much for an item off ebay. I think the most was like $350 in the past.
I am just worried there might be some flaw with the unit and I am too inexperienced to know if it has problems.
Perhaps since I am so inexperienced, I should pay full price for a new one and eat the deprecation? I usually like buying used things which have already deprecated.
What do you think about buying one of these used of Ebay? Bad idea? I never paid so much for an item off ebay. I think the most was like $350 in the past.
I am just worried there might be some flaw with the unit and I am too inexperienced to know if it has problems.
Perhaps since I am so inexperienced, I should pay full price for a new one and eat the deprecation? I usually like buying used things which have already deprecated.
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What table/arm do you have now? The Planar 3 is not that great.
If you have a decent one now, hold off if the price seems high.
Also, shipping assembled turntables is kind of an iffy proposition.
Will you play LPs a lot, or a little?
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I have a Technics SL-D2 -- only worth a little over $100.
Are there a lot of mods I can do to this to make it sound better? To me it already sounds better than many CDs of the same albums. E.g. Bob Marley Legends, Rush Permanent Waves, etc.. (and this is with a cheap $50 BBE phono pre).
What cartridge is in it, and has it been aligned with a proper gauge, and set up?
I'd work on the phono preamp and likely the cartridge for now, and use that
combo for a while. Also sometimes a different mat will make a worthwhile difference.
There's no rush, there will be many tt choices around for years.
I would only buy a used turntable that you can check out and pick up locally.
Often UPS won't honor their own insurance for damage, unless it's shipped
in the full original factory carton with all packing.
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Keep the Technics and happily spin some records. It's a much better table than one might think. Upgrade cartridge and phonostage as suggested.
The cartridge actually sounds pretty nice. Much better than the brand new Shure cartridge I bought for it. I used a guage to setup the cartridges correctly.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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I was wanting to get the Salas pre kit to build. I need the MM setup right? Both my Technics and Rega Planar 3 (with Elys 2) are Moving Magnet right?
Both the Shure and the Elys are mm types, and the Audio Technica is also.
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eBay is exactly how I bought my REGA RP-3 table. I paid about $400 including international shipping. Purchased from a Music Store (some kind of trade in or staff ownership, wasn't specified) with original REGA box + packing.
So good deals are possible. Although good examples of REGA tables are not particularly common on eBay, they are also not particularly rare. I suggest waiting for the right deal and not jumping on something you are not 100% confident in, which is pretty much the same advice for any audio purchase on auction sites, or classifieds on sites like this one for that matter.
As for not accepting returns, that wouldn't scare me one bit. An agreement to purchase on eBay (or any auction) is a final agreement, there should be no backing down possible. A refund process is available for "item not as described" or "DOA" situations, or outright fraud, which is enough as far as I'm concerned.
The Technics SL-D2 is a decent turntable, with a good tonearm. I wouldn't sell one for less than $150.00, easily the equal (the arm is probably better) of some modern new DC DD turntables from, say, TEAC or Audio-Technica at $300-ish prices. You could easily upgrade the cartridge with the Technics arm beyond what you're using now.
So good deals are possible. Although good examples of REGA tables are not particularly common on eBay, they are also not particularly rare. I suggest waiting for the right deal and not jumping on something you are not 100% confident in, which is pretty much the same advice for any audio purchase on auction sites, or classifieds on sites like this one for that matter.
As for not accepting returns, that wouldn't scare me one bit. An agreement to purchase on eBay (or any auction) is a final agreement, there should be no backing down possible. A refund process is available for "item not as described" or "DOA" situations, or outright fraud, which is enough as far as I'm concerned.
The Technics SL-D2 is a decent turntable, with a good tonearm. I wouldn't sell one for less than $150.00, easily the equal (the arm is probably better) of some modern new DC DD turntables from, say, TEAC or Audio-Technica at $300-ish prices. You could easily upgrade the cartridge with the Technics arm beyond what you're using now.
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I can't remember what it is called. I got rid of the Shure cartridge and using the one that came with it -- in the photo above.
I get some distortion sometimes.. I don't knwo if it is due to the angle of the arm/cartridge or if it is just the used records I bought. I suppose I should try some sealed records some time. I was just hoping to get a really good table and cart before using it on a new record.
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Could be either (or both) the records or the turntable.
Which model Audio Technica cartridge, and what tracking force and anti-skating?
Is the distortion usually more near the end of the LP?
Do you clean the stylus tip every LP or two? Playing LPs is kind of finicky.
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Set the Salas up for MM, and if you want to try MC in the future get a transformer.
The Elys is, in my opinion, a horrible sounding cartridge. I have never had anybody replace one at my suggestion who didn't agree that the cartridge replacing the Elys was much better. (Regardless of what that particular cartridge was... 🙂 ) I.E., don't worry about making accommodations for it.
To answer your question, yes, it's MM.
Buying a P3 isn't all that bad an idea, as it will give you the basic universal baseline of average TT performance. It does nothing badly, but does little in a manner that's above average or excellent. Not an altogether bad thing to have experienced, the baseline. I loved mine when I had one, and listened to it happily for 10yr+. Good Direct Drive totally ruined me on belters for the rest of my life.
/quiet ranty opinion
The Elys is, in my opinion, a horrible sounding cartridge. I have never had anybody replace one at my suggestion who didn't agree that the cartridge replacing the Elys was much better. (Regardless of what that particular cartridge was... 🙂 ) I.E., don't worry about making accommodations for it.
To answer your question, yes, it's MM.
Buying a P3 isn't all that bad an idea, as it will give you the basic universal baseline of average TT performance. It does nothing badly, but does little in a manner that's above average or excellent. Not an altogether bad thing to have experienced, the baseline. I loved mine when I had one, and listened to it happily for 10yr+. Good Direct Drive totally ruined me on belters for the rest of my life.
/quiet ranty opinion
It's been a few years, so I don't recall exactly which one it was. I knew at one point. I'd have to take it off to find out and I don't want to do that because if I recall correctly I had to make a jig/ guage to get it set up right and I forget how to do all of that lol. I don't recall the tracking force or anti skating.. but I remember my BF helping me set that up a few years ago. Maybe I should give up the idea of record players? Too complicated? 🙂
Too complicated? This is a DIY site! Lol - you are talking about building a dual-chassis, shunt-regulated, folded-cascode, phono preamp/equalizer, and you're worried about turntable setup...? 😀 😀 😀
You got this! It's something mechanical in a digital world, so it requires slightly different though processes, but nothing difficult, and it's certainly worth any effort required.
You got this! It's something mechanical in a digital world, so it requires slightly different though processes, but nothing difficult, and it's certainly worth any effort required.
I know how to solder and use a multimeter. But anti-skate and traction force and all that? I'm clueless haha.
Oh no, you're almost there. Learn how to clean the stylus tip.
How to clean your turntable's stylus – U-Turn Audio
Also read up on adjusting your tone arm, it could be way off.
Technics SL-D2 - Manual - 2-Speed Semi-Automatic Turntable - Vinyl Engine
If you can build a phono preamp, you can set up the turntable well enough.
Most people are clueless about antiskating. There's actually no simple way
to set it correctly, so there's just a dial near the tone arm that sets "some" value
for the antiskating force. Often half the marked value is better, or at least good enough.
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Anti-skate isn't all that important. That's the opinion of more than one tonearm manufacturer, not mine. Just set the dial to your tracking weight, it will be close enough.
Tracking force is also easy, the cartridge will have a suggested weight, in grams, in the manual, but if you cant find it you'll find that most carts track best within a couple tenths of 1.7g.
So what's the quick and dirty way of setting it? Simple -
Set the anti-skate to zero
Now take the arm out of the rest and twist the big counterweight on the back so the tonearm floats level above the platter. Not slightly down, not slightly up, but the arm as level as you can get it. Yes, it should be a bit twitchy. 🙂
Once level, you'll notice that the counterweight has a bunch of numbers on it, and that peice of plastic moves independently of the big part that's actually heavy.
Takejust the numbers part and set the numbers to "0.0"
Then take the big part of the counterweight and turn it in (so the cartridge goes down) until that scale reads 1/2 way between 1.5 and 2.0 That will be close enough to 1.7 to start.
Re-set the anti-skate dial to about 1.7
Experiment with slightly heavier tracking and slightly lighter tracking and see what you like best. (Probably a bit heavier)
Tracking force is also easy, the cartridge will have a suggested weight, in grams, in the manual, but if you cant find it you'll find that most carts track best within a couple tenths of 1.7g.
So what's the quick and dirty way of setting it? Simple -
Set the anti-skate to zero
Now take the arm out of the rest and twist the big counterweight on the back so the tonearm floats level above the platter. Not slightly down, not slightly up, but the arm as level as you can get it. Yes, it should be a bit twitchy. 🙂
Once level, you'll notice that the counterweight has a bunch of numbers on it, and that peice of plastic moves independently of the big part that's actually heavy.
Takejust the numbers part and set the numbers to "0.0"
Then take the big part of the counterweight and turn it in (so the cartridge goes down) until that scale reads 1/2 way between 1.5 and 2.0 That will be close enough to 1.7 to start.
Re-set the anti-skate dial to about 1.7
Experiment with slightly heavier tracking and slightly lighter tracking and see what you like best. (Probably a bit heavier)
I will definitely read the manuals and the above posts again. I'll work through this all 🙂 Maybe later I can get into modding the SL-D2 more 🙂. Like a cork mat or something? Whatever I can do to this unit ot make it sound better. I hear there are all sorts of good mods for the more expensive 1200 series. Wonder if they would apply to this unit.
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