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New to vinyl again

Hi everyone, I am going to give vinyl a try again for the first time since probably the early 90's. I have recently purchased a Thorens TD124 that is going to take a little bit of time to get it rebuilt a bit and ready (make a new plinth, new armboard, clean, lube, and replace the usual rubber goodies), and I will also need a tonearm. I am wondering what anyone would suggest in terms of an arm and cartridge. I have been considering picking up a SME 3009 series II arm, and will probably go with a MM cartridge. I am thinking maybe about $600 for both, but could be persuaded to go a bit higher. My music tastes have changed since long ago and moved to jazz, folk, vocals, and smaller ensembles. I will probably be primarily buying favorite LPs in 180 gm format if available. The associated equipment consists of: Maggie 3.6R, Conrad Johnson LS17 preamp, and Bryston 4BSST amp. I am also looking for suggestions for a phono preamp. Thanks for looking.
mnmark
headsnappin's avatar
headsnappin
295 posts
 
How about this question... has anyone who bought an RCM after hand washing regretted their decision? All I hear is guys who didn't voting against something they've never tried. I would think not trying something instead of trying something is a self fulfilling prophecy.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
02-13-08: Headsnappin said:
"How about this question... has anyone who bought an RCM after hand washing regretted their decision? All I hear is guys who didn't voting against something they've never tried. I would think not trying something instead of trying something is a self fulfilling prophecy."

You're jumping to conclusions. Thankfully I've never owned a RCM; however, I have paid a shop a per-reocrd fee to clean some records with a VPI. My Disc Doctor manual system did a better job.

The beauty of manual labor is that you can focus your efforts where they're needed the most. For a general cleaning I suppose that a RCM could do as well; however, when there a fingerprints or a concentrated dirty spot, you can really focus on that with a manual system. I easily vary the strength of the cleaning solution by having two bottles ready. Rinse with copious amounts of distilled water, while using a rinsing-only brush and you end up with a great result.

The keys, IMHO, are using properly designed brushes and a cleaning solution designed specifically to work with record vinyl.

I see nothing wrong with properly operated RCMs, but I don't think that it's an essential component as some seem to imply. Anyone that wants one or enjoys having one should use it wisely.

Let your ears tell you the answers.

Dave
headsnappin's avatar
headsnappin
295 posts
 
Hey Dave, fair enough, I stand corrected.
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