Hepcat's Turntable Primer!

[Hepcat]

Always preferred Direct Drive to belt drive turntables and always will. My old Kenwood 500 with my SME tonearm has worked flawlessly for over 31 years. There is no motor noise at all, no rumble or wow and flutter.

Total cost of my old turntable when I bought it, about $800.00 in 1978, years of enjoyment with no maintenance at all, 30+ years.

An $800 turntable in 1978 would have been a very good one indeed.

 

[Hepcat]

I might look into a vintage refurbished turntable for Christmas.

Stereo Turntables, Vintage & Used : Refurbished / Restored. Ready to go with a Warranty!!!

I'd suggest you give some consideration to the offerings at Fix My Dual as well:

Fix My Dual

The refurbished turntables he sells must be pretty good because that's all he does and if they were not, he wouldn't still be in business.

***:

 

[Hepcat]

After researching and thinking about the subject for a number of months, I bought a Thorens TD-240 turntable two years ago:

I equipped it with an Ortofon 2m Black moving magnet cartridge with the acclaimed nude Shibata diamond stylus that was originally designed for the demands of quadrophonic recordings:



All I need to say is that the combination really rekindled my enthusiasm for my records and I've bought well over one hundred additional LPs since.



Granted I was a bit annoyed though when Thorens came out with the TD-240-2 equipped with the new, improved TP 19-1 tonearm three months after I bought my TD-240....



I've also ordered a new old warehouse stock Garrard GT-55 turntable sans base or dustcover for a second system I'm building in my bedroom. The GT-55 was a belt-drive model that represented the peak of Garrard turntable technology in the seventies. Once I locate a base and dustcover for it, I plan to equip it with an Ortofon 2m Bronze cartridge.

Here's how it looks now and how it will look within the proper base:

 

[Mr. Shadow]

I'd suggest you give some consideration to the offerings at Fix My Dual as well:

Fix My Dual

The refurbished turntables he sells must be pretty good because that's all he does and if they were not, he wouldn't still be in business.

***:

I don't see a link to items for sale on his site. I'd rather buy direct from him there than off of ebay. (Partial quick reason why: changed out credit cards and my paypal account is locked to a dead card. I tried many times to contact them and modify my account without success. I need the old information first and no longer have it.)

 

[Hepcat]

I don't see a link to items for sale on his site. I'd rather buy direct from him there than off of ebay.

I quote from his site:

We always have in stock:

1019, 1209, 1214, 1215-S, 1216, 1218, 1225, 1226, 1228, 1229, 1249.

We usually have in stock the 601 and 701. Please e-mail us with your specific requests. We do take trade ins.

Pretty impressive to have that many different models in stock at all times!

 

[LG]

I had a Dual turntable myself, it worked fine never had any problems with it.

I did consider spending over $1,000 on Technics professional DD table decades ago, I could put Hepcat on the platter and it would still spin...

Almost every radio station used them for their vinyl back in the day, their reputation for excellence was established beyond reproach. But I delayed long enough for CD's to hit the market, and then I realized that I would rather spend the money converting to digital than adding more analog gear at that time.

 

[Hepcat]

While I personally have some reservations regarding the Rega product line, Rega turntables do have more than their share of devoted enthusiasts. And I must admit that the Rega P3-24 turntables come in a very appealing variety of colours:

 

[Hepcat]

I did consider spending over $1,000 on Technics professional DD table decades ago, I could put Hepcat on the platter and it would still spin...

But I delayed long enough for CD's to hit the market, and then I realized that I would rather spend the money converting to digital than adding more analog gear at that time.

But turntables are still fun though!

***:

 

[LG]

That is why I still have my old beauty Hep, I don't Need to buy another one, plus I inherited another old Technics from my Mom a few years ago. I have tried to get a new stylus for the Nagaoka cartridge but they are beyond hard to find and ridiculously expensive, so I might get a modest Grado to do the job.

 

[Flower]

While I personally have some reservations regarding the Rega product line, Rega turntables do have more than their share of devoted enthusiasts. And I must admit that the Rega P3-24 turntables come in a very appealing variety of colours:

I'm in love .. guess which one .. Maybe, I need a basement system just for polecats ...