And he did OK. Just what I needed to rip a small pile- and potentially a truckload- of listenable vinyl, at a price I could afford. Thanks, Santa.
Had some fun tonight taking pictures of it as I got started.
It arrived in excellent shape, needing a new stylus as I'd predicted, but with that fixed (also pretty cheaply) and a little tweaking it is ready to tackle this huge task... until it needs a new stylus.
I could probably get- legitimately or otherwise- files of most of the records I want to rip, but it's more
fun this way. We used to call it "listenin' to records", or something like that (it was a long time ago).
It's a vinyl thing; most of the kiddies will not get it.
It's also a money thing: With shipping and a new stylus, the turntable cost me less than $150 US. I have free access to hundreds of already-picked-through vinyl records, most of it very tasty stuff for an eclectic listener (like myself). Actually, including my friend Stevie Z's mountain of records stored here in my house, I'd say
thousands.
More importantly, other than the records being free, dirt cheap, or borrowed... the table is very respectable, I have an old Stanton preamp with the RIAA filter, and I have total control over file properties this way. Also no remasters or other abominations, like edited versions.
Sounds great so far... and it's just really cool to have a nice turntable (if not the best).
It's a Technics SL-10, the first automatic linear-tracking table that also had direct drive. They made them in the early 80s, when Japan was designing and making really good stuff. Very little plastic, especially in the structure. It doesn't have the platter mass of some of the great belt-driven tables, but it's plenty good enough for me, and the direct drive will not wear out like a 30-year-old rubber band.
And the aluminum-frame lid is a
real cover. When you close it (which you must in order for it to play, or even let the needle get anywhere near the platter or any discs), it actually
seals. Like a refrigerator door. Kachunk. I like that. It also holds the disc in place. Knock your beer onto this turntable while it's playing your nice records and there'll be no wailing and gnashing of teeth or trip to the repair shop.
It's also not fussy about level, etc... I think there were brackets for these that allowed you to set it at a 45-degree angle.
Just screams "Eighties", dunnit? Like a DeLorean.
The other thing that cinched it for me was the incredibly small footprint for a turntable of this quality.The specs and features are impressive, and unheard-of before or since in a record player the size of a record
sleeve! Whoever the engineer was who figured out how to do this, I'd like to buy him a beer. Very cleverly done.
The tonearm is pretty similar to a lot of other linear-tracking designs, specifically a "cord-driven" type, which is pretty simple and robust. Not noise-inducing like a lot of earlier linear setups. The SL-10 has a built-in moving coil preamp, but a MC stylus is not in my budget. Sounds damn good with a cheap (but new) AT moving-magnet head on it.
Another clever feature, aside from the (milled aluminum) adapter that pops up out of the platter when needed, is the way it automatically detects disc size... there are three radial rows of "windows" in the platter, spaced at standard intervals. As the platter spins, these rows pass over a single row of LEDs below the platter. "Eyes" in the lid take note of which LEDs the disc is covering, and the SL-10's puny but very reliable 4-bit brain tells the tonearm how far to go when you hit "Start". If you have it set for automatic speed selection, it "assumes" big discs are LPs and little ones are 45s, but you can override that if needed. Works very reliably. You can also cue manually- not quite like a DJ, but it's fine for "archiving" or casual listening.
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