I’m looking to get a record player in the $60-$80 range. Any recommendations?
Yes. Save up a minimum of $100 more, then look for a turntable. Well, unless you want to play your records on a toy.
Any other suggestions?
Get one with a built-in preamp so you can transfer signal to your computer. Radio Shack has one.
"fraid not. I think that 60-80 is delusional, UNLESS you are looking for a used one.
If not, then the Technics seems like a good choice, for only $140.
Or the Aiwa PX-E860, but you can’t find it online at the sites I prefer.
P.S. You can find a Sony for $100. DON’T! Not if you want to replace the cartridge.
Scott is right. You can’t get a turntable much above the “Barbie” variety for the price you quoted. If you get a used turntable, be aware that you will very likely have to replace the belt (if it’s not direct drive) and the stylus, which, if not broken, will have in excess of 10,000 hours on it, and be all but worn down to a nub. That’s why I suggested you save up some bucks and get a real turntable. You aren’t even going to get a decent sound out of a cartridge that costs less than $80.
Look om EBAY, stuff from around the 70’s will be available, but not very good, you’ll need to up your price I think.
Try EBAY in January and you might do better, when prices tend to fall a little.
Here are some things to consider:
(a) Does your receiver have a phono stage included? If not, you’ll have to either buy a turntable which includes one (some cheap turntables do) or a separate phono preamp ($30-$$$) to plug into a spare aux input on your receiver.
(b) Do you want to play junk-store/garage-sale/grungy used vinyl on your machine, or new pressings and audiophile pressings? If it’s the former, don’t bother buying an expensive cartridge unless you’re going to make a concerted effort to clean your used vinyl, and clean your stylus regularly with the proper tools.
© Do you want to buy a used player or a new one?
(d) Do you want to change cartridges/tonearm/adjust tracking force and antiskate down the line? There are a few P-mount replacement cartridges, but not many; there are lots of choices for standard cartridges. If you want to grow with your player, you’ll want one which allows you to upgrade without buying a whole new deck. If you just want to transfer your oldies to your computer, maybe you should just get a cheapie with a built-in phono preamp and sell it or give it away when you’re finished.
Once you have that sorted out, check out stevehoffman.tv’s forums for lots of detailed advice. I personally bought a Pioneer 12D off E-bay for $80 – that’s really far more than most people would pay for it, really, but it was worth it to me since I wanted a very cherry used model with basic features and needed it right away. The belt was new. The cartridge was a shitty ADC QLM MkIII, and played out, but that was to be expected. It’s a solid, but bottom-of-the-line unit from the 1970s, but it’s still way better than anything currently available for the price by far. People rave about things like the Thorens 160 and such, but these are hard to find for cheap on ebay. Perhaps it’s worth the effort to you. Or perhaps your time is more valuable, and you might just as well pony up another hundred and change for a Music Hall MMF2.1 or similar and be done with it – you’ll get a decent cartridge, warranty, and you’ll be able to sell it for fairly close to what you paid for it if you want to upgrade or decide you don’t like playing records that much.
It’s absolutely false that there are no good cartridges for under $80. Think $30 or so – Stanton 500E Mk2, Grado Black, a certain Audio-Technica cartridge which isn’t available in the US but can be had on e-bay gets great reviews, but I haven’t tried it.
I use a 500 for transferring 78s. But you put in an LP stylus, and record a record onto the computer, then switch cartridges for a 681, record the same record and then A/B them. The 500 sounds like there’s a pillow over the speakers. That’s what you get for $30.
That wasn’t my experience with the 500E – but I obviously don’t have an audiophile setup. I had one for 2 months before I upgraded to a Shure M97xE, which is way more cartridge than my Pioneer deserves, but I certainly wouldn’t describe the Stanton as sounding like the stylus had to pass through a pillow before contacting the groove.
Anyway, that’s the OK thing about audio – you only have to please your own ears.
The Crosley line of turntables varies in price via the extras, (CD, cassette) A basic Croosley turntable without 78 RPM maybe within your budget.
I’ve been completely happy with my Pioneer PL-990, which I bought 4 years ago. It’s a good-quality standard turntable from a dependable brand. I didn’t even buy a separate cartridge/stylus for it - my LPs, both old and new, sound fine with the setup that came out of the box.
It’s $109 w/ free shipping from J&R, which is more than you wanted to spend, but worth it - J&R online is where I got mine from too, along with a lot of other audio equipment, and I find them very reliable. Their store in NYC is great too.