Was your first cartridge relatively expensive?

In response to Amandarae,
#1) Sure there are record stores and online stores, do they have the music you like? If you are a serious classical listener, searching for the right recording you want is different from just buying a pop music from the store.
#2) Is your stand solid? Is your floor solid? Is your floor leveled? do you have kids? How far is your TT setup away from your speakers? Is your AC power stable? Do you have dust problem?... list can go on. Sure it is common sense, but do you think about it when you setup your first turntable?

#3) Spend your dolloar wisely. It's not able which parts to get, rather, which combo to get that will satisfy you when compared to digital play back.

As for newbies, all these are suggestions for you to enjoy the best TT up possible.

Nothing is the end of the world and you don't need to care and just play the music.

Have a happy new year!

Dear Howie: +++++ " It's a bit disheartening to know that a cartridge needs to be replaced about 1500 hours or so. " +++++

Who told you that. Like Rushton post: 4K hours is an average if you take care about. Now, 4K hours playing 2 hours every single day give you around 5.4 years before you have to retip that cartridge, but I'm sure that before that time( a lot before ) you already change that cartridge for a better one. So, you don't have to worried about.

Howie, you are worried how you will finish your analog adventure before you even start it.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Erratum: most analog music comes from record GROOVES, comparatively little from groves.

Here is my opinion based on my experiences over the last several years.

I remember a few years back that a similar question was asked. "should a vinyl newbie start with a simpler/cheaper table or not?" I also remember a response from TWL that really changed my thinking on this. His reply was that this particular newbie should buy the best table/arm/cartridge combo that he could because this would give the greatest reward for the work in setting things up. The reasoning was that the basics of turntable/arm/cartridge setup are the same no matter what you start with. If you buy a rig that is really going to give you great performance you will be less likely to go round and round with upgrades latter. I didn't follow his advice but I have different goals than just listening to my LP's. I would also say that some of the lower-end analog components can hinder the process of learning how to set things up because they don't offer the ability to adjust certain parameters. I personally can't understand owning an analog rig without knowing how to set up every part of it, physical limitations aside here.

So that is my advice to Howie. Get the best table you can afford. Then get the best phono stage you can afford. Then get the best arm you can afford. Then, if you have any change left, get the best cartridge you can afford. It is easy to upgrade arms and cartridges latter.

Tables for the most part are straight forward to setup, just depends on if you want suspended or non-suspended. This is the foundation for analog playback. A modest arm and cartridge will sound much better on a well implemented and sited table than on a lesser table.

The phono stage can be the bottle neck that keeps the sound from getting to your speakers. A good one will let you hear the changes in adjustments and also let you hear where you need to focus on changes. Make sure you can play both MM and MC cartridges.

You could start with a fairly inexpensive arm. There are many out there but you'll have to wade through mounting compatability and ease of adjustments. For example, a Rega based arm won't have VTA adjustment but there are some good products that can provide that capability. If you go with a lesser arm I would recommend checking out it's resale value.

While I do like the Denon 103R, I'm not sure if it is a good cartridge to start with depending on your goals. If you just want to set things up and listen then this is a good choice. The issue I have with this cartridge is that it is pretty forgiving as far as setup goes so it can actually block you from learning what small changes in VTA and azimuth make.

Don't forget that good, effective cleaning equipment and techniques is also essential to get the most from your LP's.

Well said, Dan_ed! I like your summary.
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