skymusic20
Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2020
- Messages
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Hi, all, well, It seems to me the TT world is very difficult to understand. It seems very wild world.
In 2019 I bought a "cheap" AT LP120X turntable (not really the same as AT LP120 but cheaper)
I bought it going against several people's advice (online and offline)
The general (strong) advice was "any new under $500 is total, aboslute crap, will sound horrible and will last a week or two.... For $300, or less, you can get a japanese/german/swiss/american made vintage tt that will be absolutely superior to any cheap chinese new tt and will last another 40 years..."
For some period of time I tried to get a japanese/german/swiss/american made vintage tt for $300 or less but it was very difficult and somewhat risky. I did not know what I was buying. So many variables and stuff not easy to understand. Lots of online sellers stated "in working condition". What does that mean? Yeah, my junk car I had when I was 18 years old was in working conditions... just not working properly. Plus, more stuff to buy... cartridge, stylus, mats, arms, covers, preamps, ball bearings, etc, etc.
So I got tired of hunting for vintage TT so I commited heresy and crime: bought a new "cheap" Chinese TT (Hanpin TT).
I did it knowingly such AT LP120X was labeled "absolute junk" (to say the least) in every single forum.
Now first of all, why is it that you need $500 to buy a decent TT when you can buy a DVD player for about $40??
And a $40 DVD player will play CDs that most likely will sound superior than a vinyl on a $500 TT?
I don't get why a mass produced TT is far more expensive compared to similar mass produced CD/DVD player.
Is it really far more difficult/expensive to build a TT than to build a DVD?
Do you need more mechanical precision?
I have heard DVD/CD technology requires very precise mechanical pieces.
Sorry to ask these questions, Im probably very ignorant.
TT technology is probably 100 years old so it is absolutely mature technology
Tons of money have been invested in TT technology research for about a century.
We live in very advanced industrial Capitalism which means mature technologies can only get cheaper, not more expensive.
Back in the 50s or 60s you had to pay premium for high fidelity.... Is it still true in 2021?
Now, I fully understand $500 are peanuts.
I fully understand that a true premium TT might truly cost more than my home and my car put together (including everything inside my home like my cheap TT)
My experience with AT LP120X after more than a year of almost daily use???
I have no reason to complain. Such is my experience.
I keep reading people telling that such is a junk TT that sounds horrible and disgusting and belongs to the trash can.
I will tell you what is junk sound to me: my laptop speakers; my logitech desktop speakers (though these Logitech speakers are a real improvement over my laptop speakers); my cellphone speaker; a boombox; a bluetooth speaker (big or small) and the like...... all that sounds bad to me but don't matter because such stuff are not really made for music listening.
My AT LP120X connected to entry level amp and entry level speakers does not sound like junk to me... My laptop certainly does...
I have personally listened to some Technics/Dual/Lenco (and others) TTs and yes boy they sound great but owners of these TTs buy very expensive carts and very expensive stylus and have them connected to multi thousand dollar preamps/amps then connected to multi thousand dollar speakers and dedicated rooms for music listening. So it is hard to tell if such great sound is due to TT or just partially/marginally due to it.
Now, about the love for vinyl.
I like vinyl, but I do not consider it to be worth investing thousands of dollars.
I have about 400 vinyl. About 350 are rock/pop and about 50 are classical music.
I never play classical on vinyl. It is my opinion that CD (digital music) is the best thing that happened to classical music. I have hundreds of classical music CDs and I think digital is the way to go for classical music.
About rock/pop sometimes I have some mixed feelings but I still consider digital the best format for all kind of music, specially for classical music.
I might be wrong but I truly consider digital is very elegant and superior technology for all kind of music.
I can certainly say I prefer some music/songs played on vinyl rather than on CD. But this is a personal preference. Not a scientific statement. I specially like Hendrix or Rory Gallagher on vinyl but not saying it sounds better than on CD. I just like it more, not saying that it sounds better.
I still buy inexpensive old used vinyl... Nostalgia is a powerful force indeed.
I guess most of my vinyl are in ok shape. Some are in very good shape. Some are in bad shape.
Im not exactly new to turntables or vinyl. Im just back at it.
I just did not know it was a very complicated world....
Back in the days I never gave much importance to it as I just bought turntables and vinyl records for the music and that was it...
Regards!!
In 2019 I bought a "cheap" AT LP120X turntable (not really the same as AT LP120 but cheaper)
I bought it going against several people's advice (online and offline)
The general (strong) advice was "any new under $500 is total, aboslute crap, will sound horrible and will last a week or two.... For $300, or less, you can get a japanese/german/swiss/american made vintage tt that will be absolutely superior to any cheap chinese new tt and will last another 40 years..."
For some period of time I tried to get a japanese/german/swiss/american made vintage tt for $300 or less but it was very difficult and somewhat risky. I did not know what I was buying. So many variables and stuff not easy to understand. Lots of online sellers stated "in working condition". What does that mean? Yeah, my junk car I had when I was 18 years old was in working conditions... just not working properly. Plus, more stuff to buy... cartridge, stylus, mats, arms, covers, preamps, ball bearings, etc, etc.
So I got tired of hunting for vintage TT so I commited heresy and crime: bought a new "cheap" Chinese TT (Hanpin TT).
I did it knowingly such AT LP120X was labeled "absolute junk" (to say the least) in every single forum.
Now first of all, why is it that you need $500 to buy a decent TT when you can buy a DVD player for about $40??
And a $40 DVD player will play CDs that most likely will sound superior than a vinyl on a $500 TT?
I don't get why a mass produced TT is far more expensive compared to similar mass produced CD/DVD player.
Is it really far more difficult/expensive to build a TT than to build a DVD?
Do you need more mechanical precision?
I have heard DVD/CD technology requires very precise mechanical pieces.
Sorry to ask these questions, Im probably very ignorant.
TT technology is probably 100 years old so it is absolutely mature technology
Tons of money have been invested in TT technology research for about a century.
We live in very advanced industrial Capitalism which means mature technologies can only get cheaper, not more expensive.
Back in the 50s or 60s you had to pay premium for high fidelity.... Is it still true in 2021?
Now, I fully understand $500 are peanuts.
I fully understand that a true premium TT might truly cost more than my home and my car put together (including everything inside my home like my cheap TT)
My experience with AT LP120X after more than a year of almost daily use???
I have no reason to complain. Such is my experience.
I keep reading people telling that such is a junk TT that sounds horrible and disgusting and belongs to the trash can.
I will tell you what is junk sound to me: my laptop speakers; my logitech desktop speakers (though these Logitech speakers are a real improvement over my laptop speakers); my cellphone speaker; a boombox; a bluetooth speaker (big or small) and the like...... all that sounds bad to me but don't matter because such stuff are not really made for music listening.
My AT LP120X connected to entry level amp and entry level speakers does not sound like junk to me... My laptop certainly does...
I have personally listened to some Technics/Dual/Lenco (and others) TTs and yes boy they sound great but owners of these TTs buy very expensive carts and very expensive stylus and have them connected to multi thousand dollar preamps/amps then connected to multi thousand dollar speakers and dedicated rooms for music listening. So it is hard to tell if such great sound is due to TT or just partially/marginally due to it.
Now, about the love for vinyl.
I like vinyl, but I do not consider it to be worth investing thousands of dollars.
I have about 400 vinyl. About 350 are rock/pop and about 50 are classical music.
I never play classical on vinyl. It is my opinion that CD (digital music) is the best thing that happened to classical music. I have hundreds of classical music CDs and I think digital is the way to go for classical music.
About rock/pop sometimes I have some mixed feelings but I still consider digital the best format for all kind of music, specially for classical music.
I might be wrong but I truly consider digital is very elegant and superior technology for all kind of music.
I can certainly say I prefer some music/songs played on vinyl rather than on CD. But this is a personal preference. Not a scientific statement. I specially like Hendrix or Rory Gallagher on vinyl but not saying it sounds better than on CD. I just like it more, not saying that it sounds better.
I still buy inexpensive old used vinyl... Nostalgia is a powerful force indeed.
I guess most of my vinyl are in ok shape. Some are in very good shape. Some are in bad shape.
Im not exactly new to turntables or vinyl. Im just back at it.
I just did not know it was a very complicated world....
Back in the days I never gave much importance to it as I just bought turntables and vinyl records for the music and that was it...
Regards!!