Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up (Read 12237 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Ok so I just recently went ahead and bought some LPs and have been interested in getting a turntable and starting a modest starter system with my current system for a while now, atleast until I'm out of college and can afford a high quality system. Currently I have a Sony mhc ec99i 530 watt shelf system that I scooped up because it was really cheap and has considerably good sound quality for the price. That being said I've done some research and found out that I'll need to get a phono preamp so I can somehow connect a turntable to the speaker system. So If anybody could try and answer the following questions in a way that a complete newbie like me can understand it would seriously... seriously be appreciated.

1. What kind of turntable should I get? I wanted something possibly older but my price range is between $200 and $300, USB turntables don't really interest me and the quality is a bit lower than I'd be willing to settle for unless it's my only option.

2. What kind of preamp should I get? Again looking for something cheaper without sacrificing enough quality to make listening to vinyl basically pointless and

3. How would I got about connecting the preamp to my Sony speaker system and the turntable? Are there certain chords to buy and where would I connect them?

4. Do I need a receiver or is that basically already in my speaker system?

I apologize for the tall order guys and hope that you bear with me because I am completely lost even after trying to look up other info around the web and considering that this is my first post.

Here's the owner's manual if that helps at all:
Owner's Manual


Any help is fully appreciated, Thank you in advance!

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #1
1. What kind of turntable should I get? I wanted something possibly older but my price range is between $200 and $300, USB turntables don't really interest me and the quality is a bit lower than I'd be willing to settle for unless it's my only option.

You are right to avoid USB turntables. As you say, they are typically of fairly poor quality.

The best bet would be to buy a used "traditional" turntable. Decent quality budget brands include Dual, Rega, Music Hall, Pro-Ject, Thorens. Others will no doubt pipe in with other suggested brands.

You could also consider an old Japanese direct-drive from the 1970's/1980's. Brands such as Technics, Denon, JVC, Sansui, Pioneer, Sony. They were typically built like battleships. Beware that there were also some cheap direct drives from that era which should be avoided. If it feels light and flimsy, avoid it.

Any used turntable you buy will possibly come with a cartridge of unknown condition. You should at the very least replace the stylus. Possibly just replace the cartridge - often the stylus costs nearly as much as the cartridge. Good cartridge brands include Shure, Ortofon, Audio-Technica, Sumiko, Grado. As with turntables, I'm sure other posters will suggest other good brands. Preferably get an elliptical or line-contact stylus (rather than spherical or conical).

Don't buy a moving coil cartridge - they are expensive and require special preamps. Stick to moving magnet types (often just called "magnetic cartridges").

Make sure the cartridge is correctly aligned in the pickup arm. You can download alignment protractors from various places online - just Google "cartridge alignment protractor" and you'll get lots of options.

Once aligned, you'll need to adjust the tracking force of the cartridge. Best results are usually obtained at the manufacturer's maximum specified force (rather than in the middle of the defined range). Then set the anti-skating - start with it set to the same as the tracking force, and adjust by ear until you get equal amounts of distortion on both channels.

2. What kind of preamp should I get? Again looking for something cheaper without sacrificing enough quality to make listening to vinyl basically pointless

Expect to pay around $50-$100 for a good quality phono preamp. Something like the NAD PP3 is a good example.

Behringer make a phono preamp called the PP400, and it's quite cheap. I have no experience with it but Behringer tend to make decent products.

3. How would I got about connecting the preamp to my Sony speaker system and the turntable? Are there certain chords to buy and where would I connect them?

According to the user manual you linked to, your Sony system has a mini-jack external input (item #15 on the diagram). (That said, there is a note that it is only present on certain models. If you don't have this input on your system, you won't be able to connect to it). This is where you'd connect the phono preamp output. Assuming the phono preamp you get has a pair of phono sockets for its output, then you'll need a cable with phono plugs at one end and a stereo minijack plug at the other. Pretty much any audio store should have these in stock.

4. Do I need a receiver or is that basically already in my speaker system?

Your Sony mini system already has a built-in receiver.

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #2
Thanks so much cliveb! This has really helped, I was so stuck in the dark 

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #3
Quote
3. How would I got about connecting the preamp to my Sony speaker system and the turntable? Are there certain chords to buy and where would I connect them?
In a "normal" hi-fi setup, the preamp output connects to a line-level input with RCA connectors[/u].    With your set-up, you might need an adapter cable[/u] with RCA plugs on one end and a mini-phone plug on the other.  It can connect to an "Aux", "CD", or "Tape" input.  It's the same type of line-level signal & connection as the audio connections out of a DVD or CD player. 

BTW - The preamp output will also interface with your soundcard's line-input (but the signal is too high for the mic input). 

There will also be an RCA cable between the turntable & preamp.  These cables are often permanently attached to the turntable.

If your system doesn't have the appropriate input, you are going to need a receiver.    All older receivers from the "vinyl days" had a "phono" input (and a built-in preamp).  So, if you buy an older used receiver you might not need a separate preamp.




 

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #4
My system does have an aux input so I guess the RCA to aux cable will be fine for me.

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #5
Chances are the answers to all your questions are in the first page of topics for vinyl.  But why not ask again?

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #6
Say, CliveB, didn't you have a fabulous web page during the 90s with some great audio resources? I can't seem to find it anymore. I remember having a link to your page from mine...

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #7
Ok so I just recently went ahead and bought some LPs and have been interested in getting a turntable and starting a modest starter system with my current system for a while now, atleast until I'm out of college and can afford a high quality system. Currently I have a Sony mhc ec99i 530 watt shelf system that I scooped up because it was really cheap and has considerably good sound quality for the price. That being said I've done some research and found out that I'll need to get a phono preamp so I can somehow connect a turntable to the speaker system. So If anybody could try and answer the following questions in a way that a complete newbie like me can understand it would seriously... seriously be appreciated.

1. What kind of turntable should I get? I wanted something possibly older but my price range is between $200 and $300, USB turntables don't really interest me and the quality is a bit lower than I'd be willing to settle for unless it's my only option.

2. What kind of preamp should I get? Again looking for something cheaper without sacrificing enough quality to make listening to vinyl basically pointless and

3. How would I got about connecting the preamp to my Sony speaker system and the turntable? Are there certain chords to buy and where would I connect them?

4. Do I need a receiver or is that basically already in my speaker system?

I apologize for the tall order guys and hope that you bear with me because I am completely lost even after trying to look up other info around the web and considering that this is my first post.

Here's the owner's manual if that helps at all:
Owner's Manual


Any help is fully appreciated, Thank you in advance!


I am not sure if these are any good but here are two sources:

http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/u-record

http://www.numark.com/tti

And, here is one that turns your tapes to MP3's:

http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/tape-2-pc

I do it the old-fashioned way using components all the way through, but the above is worth investigating.

New to vinyl, need a bit of help with my set up

Reply #8
Say, CliveB, didn't you have a fabulous web page during the 90s with some great audio resources? I can't seem to find it anymore. I remember having a link to your page from mine...

It's still there, but hasn't been updated for quite some time. Here's a link