Vinyl Asylum

RE: What tables have you owned and which were your favorites ? ....

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In Reply to: RE: What tables have you owned and which were your favorites ? .... posted by reelsmith. on July 16, 2007 at 11:30:31

Well, I suppose I should revive this worthy thread. Or forgive me for exhuming this, in case you were hoping it would RIP...

Back when I was a 10 yr old, I had a Sears Silvertone "suitcase" record player. Used it to learn to play guitar. First records? Beatles '65, Kind Of Blue, singles like Riders On The Storm, 25 Or 6 To 4, Psychedelic Shack, etc. I remember the Jimi Hendrix Smash Hits record too. History of Eric Claption, for sure. Early Rolling Stones and later Beatles stuff.

First real record player was a Dual 12** of some kind. It was not very good. My records from that period all got chewed up pretty good.

My brother had a Technics SL-23. Much better. He had a really sweet setup with Marantz integrated amp, Dynaco A25 speakers (choice!) and that SL23. He was (and is) one smart cookie.

I finally got a decent record player after college. It was a Thorens TD147.

In the late 1980s, for some inexplicable reason, I fell under the influence of Van Alstine. In his newsletter he touted the Harman-Kardon T60 as the killer deal of the day. So I got one, and talked myself into believing that it was better than the Thorens, and sold the TD147. Silly me.

That hk lasted about 10 years before its motor died. No big loss. It was just OK.

In the mid '90s I got a fairly well beat up Thorens TD124. I put a Japanese Graham-copy arm on it (it might be a Jelco, but I don't know). Put a Denon DL103 on it, later broke the needle off in a move (D'oh!!). But for the broken cartridge, that combo would still play. The turntable still needs an overhaul, and I have a nagging suspicion the arm is in the wrong place. I just never got around to fixing all that. Again, silly me. One of these days...

I used that TD124 in its less than optimal state until only about 5 years ago. I got one of the last of the Technics SL-1200mk2 before the big price increase above $700. Slapped a Denon DL100 on it, and this is the best sound I've ever got from vinyl. It cost me less than $600.

I'm still happy.

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