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Hello. I am thinking of getting a turntable. My current music habits involve listening to free version Spotify on my work laptop (which is a newer Macbook Pro so actually has pretty ok speakers) or a Bose bluetooth speaker. I like the idea of getting back into having something physical when it comes to music. There are two options I'm debating. The first is something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sony-PS-LX310BT-Belt-Drive-Turntable/dp/B07PBLD4QN. I would basically be using it with the bluetooth speaker we have, or I have Bose headphones I sometimes use. I'm obviously not a huge audiophile, so while better sound would be nice, but I don't think I need something more than like $200-250. The other option is that my parents have their old turntable collecting dust in the basement. I don't know what it is at the moment, but, assuming it works, I can all but guarantee it's a nice one because they generally spring for higher quality stuff when it comes to that kind of thing. The problem is that I'd have to buy the works, with a receiver and probably speakers if there's not a receiver that can convert/send out a bluetooth signal. And, in that case, I'd lose some convenience since I couldn't, for example, bring a speaker upstairs with me. I guess I'm leaning toward buying the Sony or similar for my specific use case, but it'd be nice to give an old one new life if I can. And again, I'm pretty sure it's a good turntable. So I guess I'm asking of the Sony one, or something comparable, is a decent buy or if there's a way I can (affordably) combine things with like a decent bluetooth receiver. Edit: Like, would this do what I want? https://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDH190-Stereo-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B078WFDR8D?tag=musicoomph-20 z0331 fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Aug 20, 2020 |
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Aug 20, 2020 21:56
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CPL593H posted:I know this is going to sound like a jokey or sarcastic answer but my advice to every single person who asks me about record collecting is this: Don't. Especially if you don't want to spend much money. It's very expensive and there's all kinds of minutiae involved in getting a proper setup and any kind of benefit in terms of the audio. If you don't care about that and just want to collect records for fun then that's even worse because everything is so outrageously over priced now that's it's not even worth it for that reason. I do appreciate the warning, but given my general music-listening habits, I'd be pretty surprised if I fell down too deep a rabbit hole with this. Case in point, I'm trying to make sure that if I do pull the trigger, it's on something that isn't going to set me back so much I really regret it if I stop using the stuff. Anyway, I've been leaning toward the Sony for convenience and less stuff involved, but my in-laws might have some speakers lying around, so I might wait and see how much of a set-up we can get for free and decide from there. And good call on the Craigslist/Facebook. Not sure why I didn't think to look there.
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Aug 21, 2020 16:00
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Evil Bob posted:
I'm starting to think that's probably a good way to go. And you're exactly right as to the question of whether I'd really use it. That's kind of why I don't think I'd get in too much trouble in terms of collecting, because I think the number of records I'd actually want to buy and listen to all the way through often enough to justify everything is fairly small. Now that I've opened the floodgates of browsing audio equipment, I'm also kind of debating something like an Audio Pro multiroom system. It seems like it could be a decent way to do everything, with a turntable connected but also the ability to stream stuff.
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Aug 21, 2020 17:42
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CPL593H posted:Used stereo receivers are pretty cheap and you can even find them in thrift stores for like 20 bucks. Though I don't know about going in a thrift store now or if they're even open in your area. But just look for something with a phono input. Even if it kinda sucks you can always upgrade later. The AT-LP120X can be plugged into all kinds of poo poo though because it has a preamp, but it has a USB port so it can be used with various modern devices. I would strongly recommend that over the Sony turntable. There's a reason the Audio Technica AT-LP120 has become ubiquitous. Now that said, take a look at what your parents have and google that poo poo because you might be unknowingly sitting on gold. If it's a Technics 1200 or pretty much anything that's a Thorens* you've got something really good. Apparently it is a Thorens. My mom's not sure but thinks it's a TD-145. It's buried somewhere so she has to find it, but if that's true and it works, I'm looking at the general asking prices online and uhh, I think I'm going to try to use that instead of buying a new one.
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Aug 24, 2020 20:53
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About a month ago I posted that I was planning to pick up my parents old turntable as a first unit. Well I finally did and it’s a Thorens TD-160. We took it to a used place in town and the guy looked at it and somehow the thing is totally fine. Didn’t even need a new belt. He gave the model nothing but praise and even hinted at wanting to buy it off me for his own personal use.  They also gave us their old receiver and a couple speakers. They have a bunch of old records. My sister had previously claimed most of the cool ones but a few still caught my interest.  Overall pretty psyched about it. Sounds great so far except a slight vibration in one speaker on bass notes. Not sure if it’s blown or just something loose.
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Oct 25, 2020 14:11
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BigFactory posted:That’s a great setup. The rumble you’re hearing could be vibration from having your speakers on the same surface as your turntable. Does it only happen at high volume? Or it could just be a bad woofer. After some playing around I’m still not sure if the speakers are bad or they’re just very vibrate-y. But, my in-laws are musicians and gave us a pair that’s an upgrade anyway.  Someday we’ll put them on their own stands but for now it’ll just look silly. But they sound amazing and have no rattle at all as long as I don’t turn the bass all the way up or the volume to stupid levels.
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Oct 25, 2020 17:14
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BigFactory posted:I think you’ll appreciate getting those on stands when you can do it. Even without them it’s still the best sounding music setup I’ve ever owned. 
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Oct 25, 2020 17:52
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Is deep cleaning records actually a thing? I've been using the Big Fudge cleaning kit, which at least seems to get all the surface crap off. I have some records that continue to have a decent amount of background noise after cleaning and I'm not sure if they're still potentially dirty or if they're just worn out or something else. I've looked at buying a Spin Clean or something similar, but can't shake the suspicion that it wouldn't really make any difference. Would just buying a record brush, as opposed to a microfiber or similar one, do any better? I guess basically I'm asking the age-old question: What's the best way to clean records? Also, Discogs is ridiculous. My most valuable record is suddenly the brand new copy of Random Access Memories I got last Christmas. Cheapest copy available in the US on Discogs is now $150.
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Feb 23, 2021 22:59
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Since my parents gave me their player a few months ago, I’ve been having fun going through their old records and putting together a collection of my own. A few recent highlights: Was stoked to spot Tracy Chapman at the store because I had just remembered the album a couple days before since Black Pumas did a (kind of mediocre) cover. Only big issue with it is a scratch that ruins the first few seconds of side two. Otherwise it’s a beautiful recording that sounds fantastic and is one of my favorites already. Iron Butterfly also skips at the very end of side two but at least it plays through almost all of the track. Donny Hathaway was my parents’. I’d never heard of him but that album is fantastic. I’d never really been into music from the sixties/seventies, so it’s been fun discovering stuff that I like. I actually really prefer listening to that kind of thing on vinyl. I used to be a fairly big metal head but just have no interest in buying those records.
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Feb 24, 2021 15:21
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The other day I remembered that I really like Soul Coughing and went to look up their records. Now I'm obsessed with the fact that I will likely never find a vinyl copy of any of them without spending hundreds. I swore going into this I wouldn't be a collector...
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Mar 1, 2021 16:34
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Barry posted:The only way to really stay sane with this hobby is to realize that there's certain things that you can't have (well, unless you want to spend lots) and accept it. Try and keep your ear to the ground about reissues but otherwise you'll save yourself a lot of headaches and handwringing by not having to have everything. Definitely not a good hobby for completionists without deep pockets. I think I've generally been good about not getting things just to get them. I've mostly aimed for stuff that a) I like, and b) I want to play on vinyl/think would sound good on vinyl. This just happens to land in the middle of that Venn diagram. 
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Mar 1, 2021 19:54
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I pretty much never buy weird stuff based on the cover but had to make an exception. 
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May 1, 2021 20:24
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drat where do you all live? The store we go to had maybe 10-12 people in line and the guy actually came out before opening and let us tell him what we wanted and he’d pull them. Otherwise everyone would be crammed around two milk crates. Picked up the Elton John and Prince’s The Truth. Then my wife found a great condition copy of Jolene for like $15. Guy said he didn’t price it high because there’s some weird post it notes stuck to the jacket with writing from a previous owner.
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Jun 12, 2021 20:16
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Someone tell me about Dark Side of the Moon pressings. Is it worth spending money on an Original Master Recording one? I've wanted the album for a while but after hearing about how there are a million and a half reissues of varying quality, have always been unsure if I should just pick up the first cheap-ish copy I see (i.e., just buy it on Amazon for $30) or actually shell out for a supposedly good version.
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Jun 16, 2021 15:40
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BigFactory posted:If you like the album enough to pay for the MoFi version, I’m sure it will sound good. That’s all I got. That's fair. I get that the answer is pretty much just a big "It depends." I guess I'm just wondering if/how much people overstate the difference in quality for different versions of DSotM. Because there's a big different between paying $30 and $125 or more for the same album.
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Jun 16, 2021 16:14
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Thanks all. Ended up ordering the reissue off Discogs. (For what it's worth I wouldn't have used Amazon. It appears sold out at my local Target and B&N.) I think I more or less just needed to hear that that version is fine. Local record store has the mofi for $125, which is well over what I want to pay for a record but it's also cheaper than I've seen it go for elsewhere so a part of me kept thinking about it. Another place I've been to had it for $300. Apparently still sealed but that just seems absurd.
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Jun 16, 2021 19:14
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my turn in the barrel posted:Here is a YT video comparing 6 versions with samples. Thanks, that was interesting. The 2016 one actually sounded the most flat to me, but still basically fine.
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Jun 17, 2021 15:05
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Why did you buy a record of Roger Stone teaching how to speak?
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Jun 17, 2021 21:52
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Boinks posted:When you get it you should post your thoughts here. That thing blew me away after only hearing the CD for years. Arrived today and it sounds good. Honestly I haven’t listened to DSotM in a while and probably mostly did in my friends car in high school off a burned CD. There are definitely parts that sound, for lack of a more expressive term, a little flat or muddy. Like sometimes I want certain sounds or instruments to stand out a bit more. I have two records that blow me away each time with how they sound: Random Access Memories and Tracy Chapman. I don’t think this pressing is up there but it’s a perfectly good record.
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Jun 19, 2021 22:01
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Last time we ordered inner sleeves, MoFi was out so we got some from Big Fudge. They look identical aside from the logo, but they must be like a millimeter wider or something because most of them refuse to easily slide in and pretty much always end up crinkled or with air bubbles. They work fine but it's oddly frustrating.
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Jun 21, 2021 14:59
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I fully admit to learning about Jim Carroll from The Suicide Squad but drat if this isn’t a great album. Went out today to see if I could get lucky and found it at the first place I went to. 
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Aug 14, 2021 21:58
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BigFactory posted:You have a nice record player I know.  It was my parents’. Sat in closets/basements for years until I asked them for it about a year ago.
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Aug 14, 2021 23:20
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CPL593H posted:"I'm sure it's gonna sound fine. And if it doesn't I'm going to lie to myself and say it sounds as a good as anything I've ever heard." I'm torn between kind of admiring his casual/self-deprecating attitude toward it (Why do it? It's fun!) and  .
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Aug 23, 2021 16:41
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Bought some random things.  The Tool I kind of overpaid for by a few dollars but it popped up in the bin and I just grabbed it. I had heard the name Pavlov’s Dog and bought it mostly because I liked the cover but ended up really digging the album. Surkamp’s voice is like Geddy Lee crossed with a sheep but it has its charm and somehow works.
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Oct 4, 2021 15:56
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Spent too much at the record store the other day. Although, even knowing discogs isn’t necessarily a good indicator of actual cost, seems like we got a couple good deals. The Ella Christmas album goes for $100+ and the guy was selling it for $20. Wish You Were Here was $5 because of “condition issues” but plays perfectly.  Christmas Charlie Brown was a gift from a friend and it’s a really good jazz album.
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Dec 24, 2021 00:04
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Read After Burning posted:That "mental orgasm" feeling of coming across the original song that's sampled in something you frequently listen to? Amazing. Unmatched. Just a full-body wave of "Ahhhh!" and then relief. Aside from being a fantastic album in general, my mind was blown when I was listening to Ella in Berlin and realized that a sample from that version of How High the Moon was used in a Shpongle track.
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Jan 20, 2022 16:13
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petit choux posted:Never known much about Billie, I just heard she's legend. I figured this would be a decent intro to her: We already had a few Billie Holiday albums and then I found and bought that set randomly for my wife with the intent of, this is probably more than enough Billie Holiday for a while. The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live is kind of an interesting record because it was a concert in support of her autobiography and between songs, someone reads passages from it. It was a bit jarring hearing a pretty blunt and tragic life story being read to what I've always imagined was a largely white, upper class audience.
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Jan 21, 2022 17:49
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I always considered myself pretty lucky to have the place I usually go to. They’re not the cheapest but “expensive” is usually like $15-20 unless it’s something pretty rare and/or signed. Plus most of what they have is in good condition. They still have the usual $1 bins and some $3-5 sections that have the rare good find. Speaking of, went today and spent a bit more than I normally would but had some fun finds. 
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Apr 2, 2022 22:44
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Neat pickup over the weekend. Andy Warhol-designed cover.  The store owner said they were selling it “cheap” because the record is beat and the sleeve is ripped along the bottom seam. The rip does kind of suck but the record plays just fine.
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May 4, 2022 00:39
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I made a very foolish purchase today but it popped up for a decent price. I’m in love.  Old one was fine but it’s a very noticeable upgrade and it looks amazing.  All I need is to finish the cabinet I’m trying to build to replace the ikea thing we got for free.
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May 30, 2022 00:54
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CPL593H posted:That's the least foolish purchase in the thread. The more I use it the more I agree. 
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May 31, 2022 03:01
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CornHolio posted:Holy poo poo that is beautiful. I've been following several vintage hifi groups on Facebook so I know what to look out for. May I ask how much you paid for it? $1400 It's in almost perfect condition, though, with only two blown lamps. And it came with the wood case and even the original box, manual, and FM antenna. So overall yeah it was a lot but honestly I could probably sell it for more if I wanted to. Not that I'd want to. We were using a Harmon Kardon from the early 2000s that was fine, but this thing absolutely kicks and I can't imaging buying a new receiver ever again.
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May 31, 2022 18:42
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Nightmare Cinema posted:
Sup Station 1 buddy.  I also picked up a few fun things there the other day.  I gotta stop impulsively picking up every Miles Davis album I see them post on their Instagram. The Al Gafa album is cool because I also have Gillespie’s Bahiana which has a couple of the same songs but with trumpet leading except guitar.
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Aug 23, 2022 01:05
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When I took my parents turntable it came with most of their records. I focused at first on the rock and r&b stuff they had. My dad had a lot of country western/bluegrass but before I got to it I started buying my own stuff and kind of forgot about it. Finally decided to start going through it and discovering lots of good stuff and very strong mustaches. 
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Sep 21, 2022 15:59
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Today I promised myself I would stop running out and buying any interesting record the place I go to posts on their IG. Then they posted this. I regret nothing. 
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Nov 6, 2022 01:28
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Hell yeah, picked this up today. 
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Jan 29, 2023 01:30
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I did not intend to go to the record store two weeks in a row but here we are.  Only regret is the Waylon Jennings. They had a couple for like $15-20 and I had a complete brain fart and grabbed the only album of his I have already. I don’t know how I screwed that up other than I haven’t listened to it in a minute. at least it’s a good record to have two of. Also I finally grabbed Rumours after finding a copy for $7. I refused to pay the $20-25 I kept seeing it for. There were like four copies of it that day and only one was less than $20.
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Jul 31, 2023 19:05
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wa27 posted:People always talk like this album is a perennial dollar bin item, but I've been digging through thrift store records for like 15 years and somehow have never found it. I think I've seen it cheap a couple times but agreed that somehow it's both ubiquitous and expensive. Read After Burning posted:You don't have I've Always Been Crazy? I rarely see his stuff. I almost grabbed Lonesome, On'ry and Mean.
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Jul 31, 2023 20:13
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Shame!
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Schremp Howard posted:CDs rule and I’m mad that it’s impossible to get a car with a player built in now. Weirdly our car, which is a 2020, has one. Later year models probably got rid of it. We recently have been buying a CD here and there and I’ve joked-but-not that we need a visor CD holder. Related enough, we decided to find a vcr and bought some random movies.  I’ve seen that version of The Odyssey probably like four times because I took Latin in junior high and high school and anytime the teacher was out that was what the sub played. z0331 fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Aug 7, 2023 |
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Aug 7, 2023 00:44
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