I'd go shopping for a complete vintage system. There's plenty of them collecting dust in family rooms and dens everywhere. I'd give it a listen and see if I liked what I heard.
I've got these old records, what do I need to play them?
- Thread starter Whisky
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Good idea.
With that said some old stuff may be out of his budget. LOL
My grandmother had an old system similar to this. Back when music players were made like furniture,
There's still one of those console stereos in the house my grandmother lived in.
I still have something like that which I use as a side table, with my more modern stereo on top.
The coffee table I have in the shed has a record player and wireless inside as well.
A lot of great info has been shared so far. I’ll add a few more things.
Many modern, low and midrange turntables have a built-in phono preamp. There is usually a toggle switch under the platter that turns it on or off to match the other gear you have. The mid to high end turntables require a separate phono preamp because the manufacturer assumes the user is more picky about fine tuning the sound. Most modern receivers and amplifiers do not have a built in phono preamp. Vintage ones will mostly certainly have one.
If you get a vintage receiver or amplifier, make sure it has been professionally serviced. At minimum, make sure it has been re-capped and the volume pot has been cleaned. Or, if you’re handy with tools and electricity, this could be a fun DIY project.
Many modern, low and midrange turntables have a built-in phono preamp. There is usually a toggle switch under the platter that turns it on or off to match the other gear you have. The mid to high end turntables require a separate phono preamp because the manufacturer assumes the user is more picky about fine tuning the sound. Most modern receivers and amplifiers do not have a built in phono preamp. Vintage ones will mostly certainly have one.
If you get a vintage receiver or amplifier, make sure it has been professionally serviced. At minimum, make sure it has been re-capped and the volume pot has been cleaned. Or, if you’re handy with tools and electricity, this could be a fun DIY project.
Parasound zPhono amp = $350
Cambridge Audio SX50 Speakers = $240
Pro-Ject turntable = $250
You can easily put together a small desktop/bookshelf system for $1,000. Check out audioadvisor.com in addition to Crutchfield. I too remember my college Crutchfield days of ordering from the catalog, waiting for UPS and many late nights in the freezing cold garage installing my car systems for my commuter.
Cambridge Audio SX50 Speakers = $240
Pro-Ject turntable = $250
You can easily put together a small desktop/bookshelf system for $1,000. Check out audioadvisor.com in addition to Crutchfield. I too remember my college Crutchfield days of ordering from the catalog, waiting for UPS and many late nights in the freezing cold garage installing my car systems for my commuter.
Late last year I pulled several boxes of 60s-80s LPs from storage. I had a good stereo component system in the 1970s, but didn't want to invest in another expensive system as I'm in my late 70s and my hearing is shot. I was mainly interested in hearing my old Dylan LPs and bootlegs and converting them to mp3's. An Electrohome-Bluetooth-Retro-System-Turntable from amazon plays LPs and CDs and allows recording them to a USB flash drive. I then used WavePad (free) to separate the tracks. I also invested in some disc cleaner and new inner sleeves and was happy with the results.
We have an old furniture piece that needs some tubes, which I am looking forward to learning about one of these summers. In the meantime, we use a very inexpensive all in one that actually sounds ok. I checked out audioadvisor and thanks for the connect. Great site and wow, 12k for their best needle cartridge. Maybe our system really doesn’t sound that great lol.
Best of luck finding a killer setup señor, lots of choices for sure!
Best of luck finding a killer setup señor, lots of choices for sure!
If I didn't already have stereo components, I'd look at the Audio-Technica AT120XLP turntable and some powered speakers. It has a built-in preamp so you don't need to buy that, or look for a receiver with a phono preamp. Anything with a line in will work.
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- #30
So I’ve decided to go vintage with the equipment I’m going to purchase. A quick search in my area turned this business up as well as a few others. If anyone who has more knowledge than me and some time wants to look through their inventory and prices I’d appreciate it. Any info you can offer on the components and prices would be greatly appreciated.
www.getchellamps.com
Home | Getchell Amps
I'd avoid tubes for now. I have plenty of tube gear and it's really a pain to maintain and find proper replacement tubes. If I was getting a vintage receiver, it'd a Sansui in general. No questions or doubts in my mind. I was really hoping that when I clicked on the link that it would have a Sansui, and it does. The one they list has a fair price assuming it's been professionally serviced, including recapping.So I’ve decided to go vintage with the equipment I’m going to purchase. A quick search in my area turned this business up as well as a few others. If anyone who has more knowledge than me and some time wants to look through their inventory and prices I’d appreciate it. Any info you can offer on the components and prices would be greatly appreciated.
Home | Getchell Amps
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- #32
Thanks, this place has a really good rep for the refurbishing/repair they do and they have an outstanding warranty. I have an electrical background so once I figure out how everything works I should be able to do most of the servicing myself (I think). He has a lot of stuff up on Facebook as well.
This!
I'm completely unfamiliar with the servicing of audio equipment. I have a bunch of Denon audio equipment that's been sitting around unused for many years. As far as I know, it all works, at least it did the last time I used it a few decades ago. I wonder what needs to be done to put it back in service, if anything? If it ain't broke, don't fix it..or should it be serviced regardless?
Receivers and Amps collect dust and usually need some Deoxit or similar on the boads and components. I am no expert and leave the cleaning to local pros. Which reminds me, I have an old tank receiver, Sony STR-V5 and a Sansui TT (SR-222) to get serviced.
Turnbables I would check the wires, headshell, replace the stylus, belt drive (replace belt), direct-drive, oil a few places.
When in doubt or if they have setinmental value or dollar value, leave it to someone who can service them propertly. Audio-Karma is a great vintage forum resource to check values or get insight.
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What @brucered said and also you'll probably want the capacitors to be replaced in amplifiers. If you turn them on 1-2x per year, they'll last decades. If you've gone years between power cycles, the caps are no longer good. Sure, it may turn on (or maybe it won't), but it won't be operating fully within spec. It may sound terrible and it will eventually fail to work at all.
Unless you see yourself becoming an audiophile and collecting more, this is a very good answer.
You can keep the records from your mom as collectibles, and listen to the music digitally whenever and wherever you like.
I'm a tube guy all the way. Love the sound and getting tubes is not a big deal. 
There are many ways to enjoy music of the past. Heck, you could even throw the keepsake ones in LP frames and use them as artrwork, I have many in my basement this way. That said, my turnable setups are hooked up to modern receivers, but using phono 2 channel cables, using phono preamps, to keep the music as true the original as it was recorded.
I'm no audiphile, not by any means. What I do enjoy about LP's is, they force me to slow down and enjoy the process. From removing it from the outter sleeve, to running my dust cleaning brush over it, dropping the needle and enjoying the oversized artwork and/or following along with included lyric sheets, flipping halfway and/or throwing on the second LP to continue the album. I rarely, if ever, stop an LP before the entire side is done and my preferred method is the ENTIRE album. Many hidden gem songs are never heard by mainstream listeners as they only download/stream the "hits" or whatever the radio station tells them to listen to. Artists used to put together and list the songs in the order they wanted them played, to tell an overall story in many cases or just for tempo.
And yes, even getting up the odd time to help the needle over a piece of debris/dust/skip or waking up an hour after it's over, to find the needle in the dead wax zone, spinning and spinning.
This is my recroom.
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Do it on the cheap.
If someone wants to sell you marked-up vintage collector's items ... keep walking. Get used stuff instead. See the difference? You won't hear the difference. The one thing you need to do, though, is get a decent turntable. Make sure it has a good needle ... that's the one thing that really affects the quality of sound info you get from the LP ... and the one piece of equipment that can either glide over the LP or drag along and scratch it all up after multiple playings.
IMHO, direct drive is better than belt drive on turntables.
Everything else is icing on the cake. If and when you turn into an audiophile you can go deep down the rabbit hole and spend thousands. But IMHO you just want to spin mum's LPs, play 'em loud, and remember the good old days.
$200 turntable, $50 amp, and $50 speakers will do you for now. Maybe forever. (Am I accurate with those prices? Absolutely no idea.)
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