New Wave Outpost Forum

My turntable is on its last legs. I will need to get another one soon and am wondering what the best thing to do is. I am not familiar with contemporary tables and hoped someone could offer some advice.

I see lots of "DJ turntables." Are they appropriate for home use or are they full of performance features that I don't need?

Would I be better off looking for a used, older table of a non-DJ variety?

I am very suspicious of the new USB tables. At the prices they are going for it seems very unlikely that they can be very good. I def. don't want something that will further degrade my collection by using it.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very appreciated.

world of noise

Get a good used manual "DJ turntable" Technics SL-1200. Cost about 250-350 used on craigslist. Basically undestructable when used for home use. Here's some info.
http://music.hyperreal.org/dj/sl1200.html

I have used the low cost Numark USB turntable. You can check out my vinyl rips on http://azlocal.blogspot.com and decide if they would "degrade" your collection. I have 2 Technics 1200's collecting dust.

I'm partial to the wood base Dual turntables from the 80s or 90s.

If you get a kick ass needle/cartridge, you could play your records on a 1982 Goldstar® brand turntable and it would be fine....[;)] no really ---my experience has been that the needle and cartridge make, all the difference....I have a couple of NuMark® direct drives, which run about $150 each, with a couple pretty good cart/needle

Thanks everyone for your input. It helps a lot!

coop41: Yep, your rips sound good!
obs: The table I will be replacing is a Dual 606. I might just buy a cheap one (saw one for $30 on Craigs list) without a cartridge and move my cartridge to it.
8Tees: I am very attracted to that model.
rotator: Good summation! I'll look closer at the Numarks. My wife really wants a USB turntable!

Thanks to all for educating me!

world of noise

[i]> The table I will be replacing is a Dual 606.[/i]

What's wrong with it?

[quote][i]Originally posted by obs[/i]
<br>[i]> The table I will be replacing is a Dual 606.[/i]

What's wrong with it?
[/quote]

Switching between 33 and 45 causes it to have unstable speed at either setting. Turning it off after reseting to 33 rpm will usually cause it to be more stable at 33 over time but I would like it to be fully functioning without playing with it. I love the table but I figured the writing was on the wall. I'd be very happy to have another one or get this one to work well again.

world of noise

I had the same problem with my 20+ year old Technics SL-BD1. 33 would play fine most of the time but at 45 the speed would vary so much it was unplayable. I recently replaced it with a Technics SL-BD2 that I got at a thrift store for $35. The cart and needle were in pretty good shape and I have had no problems with in in the month that I've had it.

I just bought an Ion USB05 at Sam's Club for about $75. I really love it - very easy to use, and I've had no problems. The quality of the rips are great. I haven't played with the software though - just straight mp3 rips.

I'm not really obsessive about sound quality, so it works for me & I haven't heard anything horrible come out of it yet.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Ollie Stench[/i]
<br>I had the same problem with my 20+ year old Technics SL-BD1. 33 would play fine most of the time but at 45 the speed would vary so much it was unplayable. I recently replaced it with a Technics SL-BD2 that I got at a thrift store for $35. The cart and needle were in pretty good shape and I have had no problems with in in the month that I've had it.
[/quote]

I practically haunt local resale stores for records but haven't seen any usable turntables yet. Always looking though.

However, as an aside, I did buy perfect Yamaha NS-344 monitors at Goodwill for $39 for the pair. Score!!!

world of noise

[quote][i]Originally posted by WolverineSyr[/i]
<br>I just bought an Ion USB05 at Sam's Club for about $75. I really love it - very easy to use, and I've had no problems. The quality of the rips are great. I haven't played with the software though - just straight mp3 rips.

I'm not really obsessive about sound quality, so it works for me & I haven't heard anything horrible come out of it yet.
[/quote]

Thanks, WolverineSyr. I'll check it out!

world of noise

[i]> Switching between 33 and 45 causes it to have unstable speed at either setting. Turning it off after reseting to 33 rpm will usually cause it to be more stable at 33 over time but I would like it to be fully functioning without playing with it. I love the table but I figured the writing was on the wall. I'd be very happy to have another one or get this one to work well again.[/i]

Hmm, checking this Dual fansite, seems your turntable is direct drive.

I had a pitch problem with my belt-drive CS450 ... it was always slightly off, so I messed around with the screws on the motor, but screwed it too far in (past the point of no return) *oops* and the speed was totally out of whack. I belt was probably stretched, too, so I ended up winning a low-end model with compatible parts for <$50 with shipping. Used it to replace the belt and motor on mine, and now, all is fine . I probably could buy the two parts separately, but now I have a lot of extras, just in case.

[quote][i]Originally posted by obs[/i]
<br>[i]> Switching between 33 and 45 causes it to have unstable speed at either setting. Turning it off after reseting to 33 rpm will usually cause it to be more stable at 33 over time but I would like it to be fully functioning without playing with it. I love the table but I figured the writing was on the wall. I'd be very happy to have another one or get this one to work well again.[/i]

...so I messed around with the screws on the motor, but screwed it too far in (past the point of no return) *oops* and the speed was totally out of whack.[/quote]

Yeah, I have considered tinkering with it to see if I could fix it but I am worried that we will end up without a way to play our records. That would be a bad thing! We play vinyl 95% of the time here.

I hadn't thought about fan sites. Maybe there are some trouble shooting tips out there. I will check.

world of noise

If you haven't found this page: http://dual-reference.com/
It has a contact list for parts and service, as well as a troubleshooting guide. You turntable sounds like it's pretty decent and worth fixing.