1. Home
  2. analog
  3. 1176238860

New Vinyl Setup

For somebody who is new to vinyl, is there any advantage to buying new vs. buying used? Or is the cost savings of buying used the same advantage with a vinyl setup that it is with most other audio components?

I know there are some setups that come ready to plug and play, cartridge and all. Shy of somebody coming to one's house to install and verify setup, it would seem like the new owner needs to be well versed in setup to really get what they're paying for, new or used, out of vinyl.

Given the mechanical nature of a vinyl setup, it seems like there might be advantages for a newbie getting it right with brand new stuff, but would appreciate any input.
kthomas
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Tvad,

I wish I had some good suggestions to add to Dan's, but we followed his "don't buy too cheap" plan several years ago, with a vengeance. ;-)

We went directly from a 25-year-old mid-fi rig that had been collecting dust for years to a Teres 265/OL Silver/Shelter 901 ($5K-ish). No baby steps!

That mad, Kierkegaardian leap of faith was richly inspired by Twl, to whom we will be forever grateful, and of course it worked out well for us. Given the price structure of Teres I could have sold that rig off without losing more than $1K or so if we'd decided the whole vinyl thing wasn't for us.

That didn't happen of course. As you know, we've since gone the other way, from boldness to lunacy and beyond.

Doug

P.S. It is indeed easy to make mistakes when getting into vinyl, but IMO the serious mistakes are more likely to be poor equipment selection or poor equipment matching than poor setup and adjustment. The latter is easily rectified after all. The former can really mess with your head, cause you to chase the wrong "fixes" and cost alot of unnecessary money. IOW, Tvad's question is a very important one and Dan's "don't buy too cheap" is a good start toward success.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Doug, I must give credit to TWL as well. He once gave out this advice about buying higher up the first time. Unfortunately for me it was well into my 'table journey. But looking back I can really appreciate now what he was saying.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Dougdeacon, $5k is not an option for me, nor is losing "only" $1k upon resale.

I suspect it's not an option for a few others reading this thread as well.

I appreciate the lower cost options that have been offered thus far.
shersta
140 posts
 
KThomas,
I'm not sure what your budget is, but a safe option would be a Rega P3 (new or used)with a Rega cartridge. Rega carts feature a 3 hole mounting system which makes alignment foolproof. Other than setting antiskate, there's no other adjustments to make. It's about a close to plug and play as you're going to get, and this setup will give you a pretty good taste of what quality vinyl playback is like. Could you get better sound for less money? Sure. Could you get better sound for less money and no tweaking, adjusting, modifying, futzing? Probably not.
greenp3
3 posts
 
Hey guys It's my first post. I myself just purchased a new table - actually a demo P3. It's certainly a step up from the old Technics & Pioneers I've had in the past. My previous table of any worth was a 1200MkII when I used to dj.

anyways, now that I'm grown up - or at least older ;) I'm enjoying a wider variety of music + I love the involvement that vinyl requires and the rewards that it gives. I've never really messed with the setup of my previous tables, but with the P3, I'm really learning alot. Trying different setups (Rega vs. OL) teaches you how everything works togeather. Plus there are tons of mods for the Rega.

Long story short - I'm glad with the deck I bought, I'm glad I didn't go cheaper and right now couldn't afford to go much higher in $$.
More to discover