Records!! LP's!!

I’m in the process of trying to find a nice entry level audiophile quality turntable for the several hundred albums my wife and i have.  I find the sound that comes from a record in good condition is richer and fuller than any CD or compressed MP3.  I had a Technics turntable but the grounding on it was faulty so I’m looking to upgrade.  One model I’ve been looking at is a Rega Planar 1.

The reviews of the Rega Planar 1 are seem to be great, so it's probably a good choice for an upgrade. I hope you do enjoy it if you get it. Please do update us if that happens.

The ADS I have has been excellent so far and offers excellent sound reproduction. The only issue I have with it is that the cables are too short and I cannot move it away from the amplifier. We have hardwood floors and I'd like to move the turntable to a shelf hung off the wall, but I can't.

I'd consider the ADS but your issue with the cables being too short would be mine as well since I intend to put it on the opposite side of a long cabinet with a fairly large center channel speaker between the amp and the turntable. But your pointing that out will help me because I will need to ask about that when I check it out in the store. Many thanks!

LP for this evening - a classic!

And congratulations in order to Mr and Mrs Daryl Hannah.

LP for this evening - a classic!

And congratulations in order to Mr and Mrs Daryl Hannah.

LP for this evening - a classic!

Oh yes! I saw a headline somewhere about that. Good for them!

Well, I did it. I went to the local seller of Rega turntables and placed the order for a Planar 1. Seeing it in person really gave me a sense of the quality of the turntable. It is a no frills item so that the money invested in it goes towards the most important items like tone arm and belt drive. And it really sounded good in the store, although everything sounds great in the store. I'm very happy with the purchase and hope that will be borne out once I get it home and hooked up. One unexpected item however. My receiver is a Harman Kardon AVR 1610S and does not have a built in phono pre-amp. I knew this but assumed I'd be spending about $50 or so. The guy I worked with said that not only is the Rega Planar 1 their most popular turntable but the Rega pre-amp is also their most popular pre-amp. But it's $175. The price of the turntable was the same as I had seen it being offered on Amazon and he took $25 off the price of the turntable to ease the pain a bit. I suppose I could have gone with a lower priced pre-amp but I also figured that the Rega would be the best match for their own turntable. Anyway, I'm very excited to spin some of my vinyl again. My 15 year old son went with me and can't wait to explore my record collection. Since this is an LP thread, I'll say that the record I chose to test the turntable with was Jeff Beck Wired. Led Boots with Narada Michael Walden (I'm a drummer) sounded awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSv-YE-1lFk

Good for you, congratulations

Well, I did it. I went to the local seller of Rega turntables and placed the order for a Planar 1. Seeing it in person really gave me a sense of the quality of the turntable. It is a no frills item so that the money invested in it goes towards the most important items like tone arm and belt drive. And it really sounded good in the store, although everything sounds great in the store. I'm very happy with the purchase and hope that will be borne out once I get it home and hooked up. One unexpected item however. My receiver is a Harman Kardon AVR 1610S and does not have a built in phono pre-amp. I knew this but assumed I'd be spending about $50 or so. The guy I worked with said that not only is the Rega Planar 1 their most popular turntable but the Rega pre-amp is also their most popular pre-amp. But it's $175. The price of the turntable was the same as I had seen it being offered on Amazon and he took $25 off the price of the turntable to ease the pain a bit. I suppose I could have gone with a lower priced pre-amp but I also figured that the Rega would be the best match for their own turntable. Anyway, I'm very excited to spin some of my vinyl. My 15 year old son went with me and can't wait to explore my record collection. Since this is an LP thread, I'll say that the record I chose to test the turntable with was Jeff Beck Wired. Led Boots with Narada Michael Walden (I'm a drummer) sounded awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSv-YE-1lFk

Well, I did it. I went to the local seller of Rega turntables and placed the order for a Planar 1. Seeing it in person really gave me a sense of the quality of the turntable. It is a no frills item so that the money invested in it goes towards the most important items like tone arm and belt drive. And it really sounded good in the store, although everything sounds great in the store. I'm very happy with the purchase and hope that will be borne out once I get it home and hooked up. One unexpected item however. My receiver is a Harman Kardon AVR 1610S and does not have a built in phono pre-amp. I knew this but assumed I'd be spending about $50 or so. The guy I worked with said that not only is the Rega Planar 1 their most popular turntable but the Rega pre-amp is also their most popular pre-amp. But it's $175. The price of the turntable was the same as I had seen it being offered on Amazon and he took $25 off the price of the turntable to ease the pain a bit. I suppose I could have gone with a lower priced pre-amp but I also figured that the Rega would be the best match for their own turntable. Anyway, I'm very excited to spin some of my vinyl again. My 15 year old son went with me and can't wait to explore my record collection. Since this is an LP thread, I'll say that the record I chose to test the turntable with was Jeff Beck Wired. Led Boots with Narada Michael Walden (I'm a drummer) sounded awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSv-YE-1lFk

Hey, that's great! I'm sure you'll love it. Keep us posted on how it goes.

I do hate it when there are unforeseen costs, but the Rega pre-amp is very good.

LP for this evening - a classic!

Yohann, I think I still have my original copy of the LP somewhere.  I also have it on CD.  I just don't bother with LPs anymore as my hearing isn't sophistacted enough to pick up the nuisances coming from an LP or CD.  Even with an Amazon Echo, where I can sometimes tell the difference between it and the same music coming out of a CD through my full size speakers, if it's more convenient to use the Echo, I shall.  Bonnie Tyler belting out Total Eclipse of the Heart is too strong a song to make much difference how I listen to it.  However, listening to Leontyne Price singing Un Bel Di Vedremo from Madama Butterfly on the CD coming out of my Cerwin Vega speakers is going to top the Echo.  At least that is what I seem to notice.

LP for this evening - a classic!

Yohann, I think I still have my original copy of the LP somewhere.  I also have it on CD.  I just don't bother with LPs anymore as my hearing isn't sophistacted enough to pick up the nuisances coming from an LP or CD.  Even with an Amazon Echo, where I can sometimes tell the difference between it and the same music coming out of a CD through my full size speakers, if it's more convenient to use the Echo, I shall.  Bonnie Tyler belting out Total Eclipse of the Heart is too strong a song to make much difference how I listen to it.  However, listening to Leontyne Price singing Un Bel Di Vedremo from Madama Butterfly on the CD coming out of my Cerwin Vega speakers is going to top the Echo.  At least that is what I seem to notice.

Freddy - Honestly, while I really like using the LP's I have, I still find CD's to be as good or better. I have an excellent CD player and the DAC on it allows excellent reproduction, and if I was to be challenged to tell the difference between a CD playing on it and a good LP, I probably couldn't. Also, if I'm working in the kitchen, then playing something over my Anker bluetooth speaker works well. If I'm listening to music, then there's no way compressed audio would work for me.

As I mentioned earlier, it's nice to be able to find excellent classical LP's for a buck. That's certainly an attraction for me.

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As to the 'Harvest' album; my copy is pretty bad (it's warped) and I wouldn't have it except that I really like the music on it so I play it anyway. If you find yours and want to sell it, I'd love to purchase it from you (seriously).

LP for this evening - a classic!

Yohann, I think I still have my original copy of the LP somewhere.  I also have it on CD.  I just don't bother with LPs anymore as my hearing isn't sophistacted enough to pick up the nuisances coming from an LP or CD.  Even with an Amazon Echo, where I can sometimes tell the difference between it and the same music coming out of a CD through my full size speakers, if it's more convenient to use the Echo, I shall.  Bonnie Tyler belting out Total Eclipse of the Heart is too strong a song to make much difference how I listen to it.  However, listening to Leontyne Price singing Un Bel Di Vedremo from Madama Butterfly on the CD coming out of my Cerwin Vega speakers is going to top the Echo.  At least that is what I seem to notice.

Freddy - Honestly, while I really like using the LP's I have, I still find CD's to be as good or better. I have an excellent CD player and the DAC on it allows excellent reproduction, and if I was to be challenged to tell the difference between a CD playing on it and a good LP, I probably couldn't. Also, if I'm working in the kitchen, then playing something over my Anker bluetooth speaker works well. If I'm listening to music, then there's no way compressed audio would work for me.

As I mentioned earlier, it's nice to be able to find excellent classical LP's for a buck. That's certainly an attraction for me.

________


As to the 'Harvest' album; my copy is pretty bad (it's warped) and I wouldn't have it except that I really like the music on it so I play it anyway. If you find yours and want to sell it, I'd love to purchase it from you (seriously).

Yohann, you inspired me to look and I did, indeed, find it.  Though I don't want to sell it, or any of my other LPs, I thought I would play it but it has been years since I have used the turntable and when I put it on, the turntable did not spin so perhaps the belt has rotted.  I have no idea.  The album looks to be in fairly good condition, with even the insert that has the words to the songs still intact, though the cover is showing it's age.

What amazed me, when I looked for Harvest, is how many albums I had that I had forgotten about, probably because I replaced many with CDs.