Inexpensive equipment for ripping vinyl
Reply #43 – 2010-01-26 15:14:17
I'm in a similar situation as Canar - looking to setup a basic vinyl ripping (love that phrase) rig - and have a couple questions WRT buying a turntable, new or used (I've read Knowzy's excellent articles/posts on USB turntables and definitely want to go a couple steps above those): 1) P-mount vs standard half-inch mount: Is P-mount inherently inferior due to its emphasis on convenience (pretty much all parameters are fixed), or can a good/decent cart (if I go that route, I was thinking of something like AT's ATC3003 for ~$50) go toe-to-toe with a similarly-priced half-inch mount? I do notice that all P-mounts seem to have a very low tracking force (1.25g being the average), which would seem to be a good thing...? 2) Used direct-drive vs. new belt drive: While I could (just) afford to pick up the Denon DP-300F (belt drive w/phono preamp) new for $330 if it was worth it, there's quite a few older Technics direct-drives available on eBay et al. for $50-$70 (w/shipping) in (apparently) good condition. Budgeting another $50 for a new cart and another $50 for a preamp (the AT-PEQ3) puts me at/just under half the price of the Denon, and I'm wondering if direct-drive really is so much better that it would more than offset the age of a mid-80's turntable. The cheapest new direct-drive that I've seen is the good ol' Technics SL-1200, and they're currently sitting at $600+, which I just can't swing.