I Need A New Record Player

Since you're on a budget, I would recommend a Rega Planar 2. Pretty solid build, nice open and detailed sound, and pretty affordable. A used one could probably be found for about $300US.

Also, if you buy used, the owner will probably have a tone-arm and a cartridge set-up, so you won't have to buy any additional gear.

I have a (heavily modified) Systemdek IIx900 sitting idle (RB250 arm, Goldring 1012GX cart) which I'd rate higher than the Rega, and which you could have for not very much money... but I expect the shipping would be a pain in the behind. Oh, and one of the cartridge tags needs soldering.

My reasoning is that any decent belt-drive will need you to manually switch the gearing ratio to change speeds, and if you're going between 7" and LP all the time this gets very tedious very, very quickly. PLUS buy another 1210 and a cheap mixer and you can DJ! 1210s are also getting cheaper second hand at the moment (you can find them for less that £150 if you look around) and will last you a lifetime if not thrown out of a 12 storey window on a regular basis.

Unarguably, direct drives give less wow too.

However, the best direct drive, and one of the best turntables ever, is the Technics sp-10 which is kind of a super-1210 that radio stations used to use before CDs, it is just the drive unit, and needs to be fitted with a separate tonearm, and onto a separate base, and they are pretty rare second hand these days, not to mention expensive. I wish I could afford one because they can sound incredible.

If you look around second hand you can also sometimes find something called a parallel tracker which was a type of record player popular just before CDs took off. The best ones will give you the ability to program a side of a record! Very cool, but also very rare. I got one once for 30 quid, but it broke after a couple of years.

Anyway, boring hi-

Everyone knows this was finished by 1992.

I've got a Technics direct-drive that's not a DJ style--a SL-DD33--and I'm very happy with it.

Hmmm, might be the case with the real cheapies I guess (belt slippage), but at that end of the market I'd have thought motor noise from similarly-priced direct-drives would be even more of a nuisance. The Crown and Ariston turntables I had years ago were D-D and they were just calibrated wrongly, playing 1-2% too fast (I suppose you can adjust this on a Technics).

Unhelpfully, I'll point out that while yr typical high-end models are practically all belt-drive (Nottingham, VPI, Oracle, Michell, Linn, Thorens, Pierre Lurne, Kuzma, Wilson Benesch, Girati, SME, etc), the record-player many seem to think of as the absolute state-of-the-art in vinyl replay is direct-drive: the Andy Payor-designed Rockport Sirius III.

If the auxiliary jacks are more than just out jacks, yeah, absolutely.

As for under $200 models, the Sony PSLX250H can be had under a $100, and its a pretty fine record player for the money. Its a belt driven turntable, and assuming all you want to do is play records, it fits the bill. If you do some searching on needledoctor.com, you can find a replacement stylus for $30 rather than the $55 Sony wants for it.

I'm in urgent need of an upgrade as my system is really showing its age.

Any recommendations for a decent, not-too-expensive, home-use record player? Do the tips upthread [Rega Planar, Pro-ject] still apply?

Is this good advice: If you're looking for a turntable for straight playback, definetly look into getting a belt-driven one since they tend to sound a lot better than the direct driven ones ??

Answers in layman's terms, please.

A Project or a Music Hall are the go-to entry level good decks. They are belt driven. Usually come with a cartridge.

Belt drive and direct drive refer to how the motor is linked to the platter. In a bd there's only a flimsy rubber band making the connection, but this is good for sound quality since the motor's vibrations don't get passed along as much. But you can't slip-cue (pull back on the platter) because that would pull back on the motor and damage it. And it would stretch out the band, too. In a dd the connection between motor and platter is with gears. You get very quick start-up, which is good for dj-ing. On the downside, vibrations get passed along. But there's a differential in there so that when you pull back on the platter, it doesn't affect the motor--just as when you stop pedaling a ten-speed, or even pedal backward, the wheels keep going.

And the best Rega you can afford is still a good idea.

Thanks so much for the explanation, Michael.

I'll have a search round on the net for Rega and Music Hall.

I was bought a Crosley turntable with in-built speakers which has sat in my kitchen and been given a proper pummelling (and pummelled my records) over the last 10 years.

It's a cheap and cheeerful piece of work but it sounds pretty good and is compact enough to sit on a work surface without taking up too much space. Unfortunately it's now playing the records too slowly and I'd like to replace it. I've seen more recent Crosley models and some of them are really horrible - the sound is tinny and they probably destroy records.

Anyone had any luck with all-in-one portable-style turntables, preferably with inbuilt speakers and the option to switch to Bluetooth? Are they all absolutely awful now? Do they all mash up your records? I miss playing records in my kitchen!

check to see if the glue connecting the platter to the spindle is loose, my Rega spun slowly and it was the platter/spindle loosebut not loose enough to not spin, just spun at a low/variable speed. I took it for repair and all it took was a blob of glue.. still good 12 years later...

from the sound of it, worst case should be a new belt

alas, despite researching, I can't work out what size belt it needs

try eBay, turntable model number + "belt", sort price low to high

I'm no expert... there is conceivably some motor issue... but maybe you can tighten the belt to compensate!

I'd also suggest trying a new belt. My pro ject rpm5 started playing too slow and it turned out the belt had just become brittle and loose over time