2. analog
  3. 1093106168

Start with Project 1.2?

As a die-hard digital fan (ducks the chucked fruit) who wants to play the occasional record, does it make sense to start with something like the Project 1.2? I really like clean sound (read that: no pops, clicks, wow, flutter, hiss, etc) but am interested in seeing if I can hear the oft-mentioned warmth and quality of analog through my current gear. My early years of playing records were through gear that did justice to nothing but harmonic distortion. Given that most of what I was listening to at the time was not really much different than distortion it didn't make much difference. Once I started to transition to classical, jazz, folk, etc I really wanted to find better sound. I'm obviously looking to make the minimal investment that will still be worth listening to. If it truly takes, like, $2000+ to get a reasonable setup it ain't going to happen for me. FYI, my (tube) preamp already has the appropriate inputs for a turntable.
This is not a troll, but a serious question from someone who had really bad experiences with analog, albeit on crap gear.
tds234
tds234 OP
6 posts
 
I didn't want to wait so I pulled the old direct drive from the basement along with some pretty pristine records from our combined collection. All I can say is WOW ! Even with a run of the mill Pioneer table and an audio technica cartridge ( that I'm sure I paid about $25 for) these albums sound great ! I can begin to see what the hubbub is about. I'm not sure where I'll go from here, probably something like one of decent upgrades pointed out above. (I keep drooling over at needledoctor) Right now I am enjoying the 'alive' sound that these albums have ( even with click, pops, and so on).
I did't get many responses, but the ones I did get forced me to reevaluate my assumptions and I'm grateful that I did.
I won't get rid of the Rotel cd player any time soon, but we'll be spinnin' albums around here a lot,...
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
I STRONGLY advise to go the quartz-locked direct drive route. You can start with $500 or so and then buy mods. The mods will slingshot the deck into multithousand dollar performance.

This is what someone e-mailed me a few weeks ago:

"Thanks again for taking the time to help out...it's great not to have
to go it alone with a new table/arm...hopefully it will my last for
awhile...BTW--great recommendation on the SL. I've had a Linn, Denon,
Rega, two Thorens, a Music Hall, Luxman and a Dual and the SL-1200 is
the best by far. On one hand, I wish I bought it years ago...on the
other hand, I'd never have been fully able to appreciate it had I not
wasted so much money on junk...it's really amazing more people don't
appreciate this 'table..."


Take this from someone who's got a Dan Wright modded *belt drive* CD transport...

***
larkyparka
23 posts
 
Instead of getting a whole new deck, keep using table you got, but for sure get a new cartridge. Jack's Music Factory is a great source (just google it). You can get setup gear at turntablebasics.com

And if you want clean records, spend the $80 for Disc Doctor brushes and fluid. Excellent stuff, provided you follow the instructions. Seems like a lot of work, but if you set it up assembly-line style, it's similar to doing the dishes.
tds234 OP
6 posts
 
In case anybody cares, I'm back to spinning vinyl and loving it. I upgraded my cartridge to a Grado Blue. I still have some tweaking and much album cleaning to do, but for now the vinyl bug is firmly entrenched. I'll continue to play vinyl and will probably start buying certain recordings on this medium. I am certainly going to go through the album collections of all friends and family to rescue anything not being played and will probably scope the area garage sales. Thanks to the folks who took the time to reply.
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