quick turntable question

[Cohasset / Hippisley]

On Oct 19, 2009, at 5:14 PM, A. Joseph Ross wrote:

> I've seen old-style phonograps around in catalogs and online from
> time to time.  There's also one that shows up in department stores
> and at Radio Shack now and then, a combination 3- or 4- speed record
> player, cassette player, and CD player.  Trouble is, I'm not sure the
> sound quality of these things.


A related product is the combination turntable / CD-Audio recorder.   
They're in a higher price range but, as a class of products, my  
impression is that these all-in-one boxes are pretty poor.  Marketed  
as an easy way to convert your vinyl collection to digital, they've  
not gotten very good reviews.  A well-meaning relative of mine gave me  
one (a Teac) as a holiday gift a couple of years ago.  The audio from  
the turntable source is awful, and quite tinny.  My suspicion is that  
Teac engineers "forgot" to put in the RIAA playback equalization  
circuitry!

>
> I have a 4-speed turntable, which I bought from a person I knew and
> trusted some years ago at a yard sale.


I still have (and regularly use) my Miracord 50H 4-speed changer from  
the 60s.  I had it completely reconditioned by a speciality audio  
repair shop a half-dozen years ago.  The guy did a great job, but the  
design is inherently less than state-of-the-art with respect to rumble  
content and sensitivity to floor vibration.

I've picked up two used turntables in the past decade, a Technics SL- 
DD2 and a Panasonic RD-2900, both direct drive.  Neither one is  
particularly fast starting, but I can "slip cue" for home segues  
pretty well on either one of them with a circular piece of felt from  
my wife's sewing supplies.  They're only 2-speed, so I still use the  
Miracord for my dad's 78s.  The RD-2900 is a jewel, with very low  
rumble and superior immunity to floor bounce.

For true DJ cueing applications, I've been assuming the Technics  
SL-1200 series was the way to go.  Maybe someday....

Bud Hippisley