Turntable
 

My 70s era Sanyo direct drive seems to be on its last legs. It seems to require a warm up period, moves the arm slowly, sometimes starts the table rotating, and doesn't drop the arm.

Attempt to fix, or replace?

Lurk CL for a killer replacement. Don't be in a hurry, a great deal will come along.

While I'm still on a 70's vintage turntable, I say replace. Many high quality offerings out there with both analog and digital outputs. Unless you're scratching or playing BS on it, avoid anything listed as for DJ's, the arms, cartridges and needles are made different and wear LP's out quicker without providing any sound benefits.

For highest quality, opt for a cartridge with an elliptical needle, far better quality but fragile ( no dropping a needle, place it gently...). There are currently two cartridge types making the rounds, but I can't remember the why of chosing either.

Modern manufacturing has made turntables better than ever. But be sure to properly clean and store the records too. I'm down from around 5,000 LP's to only about 800. CD's have filled in now that I have a current Marantz set up to make them sound right. Probably only got about 600 CD's. My wallet cries out in fear at thrift stores and record collector meets....

Peep this place for ideas:

https://www.tapeheads.net/search/801...&t=post&o=date

My old Recoton keeps going and going. Just replace the belt once in a while.

I did pick up a very cool turntable a few years back - converts to USB output

The ability of your eyes to see the little lines and adjust the speed left the building. I ended up getting an AT at a moderate price and it works great.

Some good advice here. Either new or estate sale score. I have a friend who has been picking up high end systems from the '70's at estate sales for literal peanuts. They do pop up. In a hurry, buy new. If you lurk the ads, you'll score sooner or later. I play LP's too. Still have hundreds of them. I even have 78's and 45's. :seasix:

I had a Marantz belt drive back in the day, but the belts went from $3 to near unobtanium. I found a Sanyo in a garage sale for $5, not a great brand but it was their high end model, direct drive, so I traded up.

I got a Rega 1 turntable back in 2021. https://www.rega.co.uk/products/turntables

I just went down the turntable rabbit hole. If you want to stick with direct drive, get a used Technics 1200 for around $1,200-$2,000. The Planar 1 is what I got, but the Eco version. $600 for a Planar 1 in the states is too much. The Project Evo Carbon’s are supposed to be really good for around $600 new. Or you can look at a U-Turn Orbit Custom. You’ll be able to pick some things like preamp, cartridge, etc.

I picked up a Technics SL-1500C last year. Ortofon 2m blue stylus.

It’s solid. :cheers:

Thanks for that link. One poster suggested that the issue is dried up grease. That was exactly the issue with my 1925 Victrola when I repaired it in the 80s. :seasix:

My Sanyo is automatic. If I can't fix it I'll be replacing it with an automatic as well. :seasix:

I’ve currently got about eight vintage turntables. I shuffle through them depending on my mood.

+1 on the estate sales for the killer deals. You just have to watch and be patient. About four months ago I scored a Sansui G-22000 for a fraction of what I could sell it for. I have more McIntosh stuff than I can count, which is my preference.

I took mine to the dumps in 2006, same time I took my reel-to-reel. :eek:

Oh wow. I didn’t realize turntables were so valuable. J has one and some speakers in the garage. I’m not sure of the brand. I’ll look later.

They went out of favor in the late '80's and came back into favor about 2010, after the hipsters 're-discovered' how cool their parents and grandparents albums really were. Turntables are 'a thing' now.
30 years ago, when I was about 30 years old, I used to go to a monthly 78 RPM swap meet in the Bay area. I was the youngest person there by a bunch. Talk about a bunch of Robert Crumb/ Steve Buscemi eccentrics!!

Yes, look and see what you have. Depending on what it is I may be interested in buying it, assuming y’all don’t want to keep it. I’ve made several trips all the way through AL for vintage audio gear. Send me a pm with models of anything you’d like to sell.

Found this video fascinating. Guy doing the work has some skills.