Alright so I don't own a record player. I know I am worthless, but I am really considering buying one and want some advice as to what to look for. I only know a little bit about record players so if you could, keep the terminology simple. If possible maybe give me a good low, middle and high end ($) model. Thanks for the help.

I recently started getting into records. Got quite a few collection items. Buying a record player is definitely a hard task to be had. One of my friend has one of those Crosley record players (look at the bottom for the link). He said its pretty decent, and the sound is a bit frail. For the money... its right I guess because you can get them pretty cheap.

I, on the other hand, went for the DJ Turntable style of record player. I scored myself an American Audio TT-Record. The quality is actually pretty good. Its not plasticky or anything at all. The Tone arm is decent, and the cartridge and needle sound pretty good. I also like how it has a built-in preamp on the turntable so you don't need a preamp. You can just plug it in on a stereo using RCA cable (the red and white cable). You can also use this to convert records into mp3's at 192kbps-256kbps. Plug in a flash drive into the record player, and hit record... convert as easy as that. No software or usb or any of that stuff. Price aint bad either.

I dont really have a tips on buying records. It just depends on what your gonna use it for. Listening to or converting records or like me whos both. If I were you, don't buy those crosley types of records if your gonna listen to something like Boris or Sunn or something that requires decent sound. I guess Crosley's would be good if you only listen to anything pre 90's records. Also, if you care that much about sound like an audiophile junky, then something like mine (American Audio TT Record) probably wouldn't cut it for you. I was skeptical with it at first, but the sound is pretty incredible, and the vinyl rips are of good quality (I can give you a vinyl rip if you want).

here are the links:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=801677

http://coolrecordplayers.com/desktop_players.html

Well I don't really have the greatest ear to notice the difference in the audio size, so I probably won't be ripping anything. I mainly just want the record player so I can start buying vinyl and listening to it every now and then. I pretty much am looking at not spending much more than 5 hundo. I will look at the American Audio TT-Record you spoke of though. Thanks for the information.

I was thinking about getting a USB turntable but they are only any good if you just want to make the LPs into audio files for the computer but you can hook them up to speakers or a HI-FI and play off that.

I've got one of these, and it's rather good I must say.

http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/sho ... RPM1-GENIE

The American Audio is actually pretty good if you just want to listen to records like I do every now and then.

Alright, but what do all the different RPM sppeds mean for record players? Is this just another way of describing the size or what? The American TT is definetly in the price range that my wife will let me spend. I know I'm whipped, so what. What's a good brand though to look into. I almost feel as if I should ask my grand-parents or great-grand-parents what all the terms mean. Damn technology, always advancing far too quick for me to keep up.

For the money, I think the Audio Technica AT-PL120 is a good deal. It's got some weight to it, has a built-in preamp so you can hook it up to any AUX (or other) input on newer receivers - which typically don't come equipped with a dedicated phono jack and grounding terminal anymore. The preamp also allows the turntable to be plugged directly into a computer sound card or stand-alone CD burner's input if you want to make digital recordings of your vinyl LPs.

I think it sounds good (no complaints at all with the sound quality) and it is direct drive; so no belt to stretch and break and the rotation speed will remain consistent.

It has three speeds too; 33 1/3, 45, and 78. You asked about the RPMs ... that's what these speeds are. Typically 33 1/3 is for your 12" LPs, 45 is for 7" singles, and 78 you probably won't need at all unless you are into buying used records from earlier than 1960 or your grandparents have a collection of 78s to give you or something like that.

This turntable is also made to play records in reverse so you can easily find satanic backwards messages to record and post on youtube.

This looks like an informative review you can check out if you think you're interested:
Click

One last thing to note is that this turntable, and most "nicer" turntables I've seen do not have an automatic tonearm return. You will need to get up and lift the arm at the end of the record. When I was comparison shopping several years ago, I could only find cheapo/low-end ($99) turntables with an auto return. None of the better ones had the feature.

I appreciate all the info, I'm trying to "sell" all of this to the wife so we'll see how it goes. Thanks again.

That Audio Technica looks really really nice. If I can't find a replacement belt for mine when it breaks, I might just give that one a buy.

I spent $100 on a kenwood turntable about 8 years ago, still sounds good, no complaints and it sounds fine.

Why the fuck would you want a god damn record player?

To play records, quite obviously.

I have a decent, but old, and what i assume to be a low end technics record player. I notice quite a difference when compared to my father's high end record player (the brand escapes me, but i know it was 300+USD and only plays 33 and is fully manual). I want to upgrade, but i don't have much money. Would it be worth it to make a minimal upgrade to something like a decent $100 record player? or should i just wait till i can afford a good solid one?

I will ask you again, are you 10?


There are plenty of people who prefer the sound of a record player over cd. Also there are plenty of records that have not been issued on cd.

Ion makes a nice USB turntable that easily converts vinyl to mp3's. But my favorite part is that if you buy a stereo plug you can hook up your tape player too.