I got a 1979 Telefunken Hi-Fi. It looks like a respiration apparatus from a russian hospital in the 60s, weighs a ton and sounds way too bright...but for some reason I love it. The record player is really good...

Oh...and I stole it from my boss when working at night...

A $10 1200 MK2 from village discount outlet
2 70's sansui 5000A receivers (Quad motha fucka!)
2 huge stupid looking Pioneer towers (12", 4", 1")
2 Jensen bookshelf speakers (8", 1.5")
all speakers found in the ally behind my apartment. wired together with cable pulled out of the walls of the cultural center I think it's gepco.
Tammy Faye, Buck Trent, Martin Denny, Dolly, and the Mummies.

I also mix through this retarded mess.

japmn wrote:A $10 1200 MK2 from village discount outlet

I used to be embarrassed about my 1200 until I read this:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/techn ... 200_e.html

makes sense.

JDanger wrote:No, the new platter has not yet arrived. To the best of knowledge it will solve my problem, I am just curious to hear if these P1 platters are known to be inefficient, or if anyone has had similar problems. Or if my logic seems sound to those with experience in these matters.

what exactly did you see with the old platter? was the tonearm moving up and down? back and forth in an S motion? Does it do it on every record, even ones that you know are flat?

what do you mean "are the P1 Platters inefficient"?

A glass platter is heavier, giving more flywheel effect and smoothing out the steps that the motor makes as it turns. This will give a more consisent speed and a more focussed sound and image. If indeed the old platter was not flat, the glass one will be flatter, and any vertical movement of the stylus and tonearm that resulted from the old platter should go away.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:
A glass platter is heavier, giving more flywheel effect and smoothing out the steps that the motor makes as it turns. This will give a more consisent speed and a more focussed sound and image. If indeed the old platter was not flat, the glass one will be flatter, and any vertical movement of the stylus and tonearm that resulted from the old platter should go away.

This is the assurance I was hoping to hear. Thank you.

The platter tends to 'teeter', slightly, as it rotates. Let this awesomely done drawing illustrate:




All these questions will be answered once the glass platter arrives, I suppose. I was only wondering if this was a common problem with the P1.

JDanger wrote:
All these questions will be answered once the glass platter arrives, I suppose. I was only wondering if this was a common problem with the P1.

based on your drawings, the bearing/spindle is crooked. just dropping a new platter on top of that is not going to make any difference. the pivot point should be exactly perpendicular to the top surface of the plinth, in all planes. see if there is some way that you can adjust the spindle hole mount so it is straight. Or is the spindle itself bent? or maybe the inner platter (where the belt rides) is pressed on to the spindle slightly crooked?

All of these things can be fixed, you just have to figure out what the problem is. I would take it to a Rega Dealer. They can get parts for you.

Good luck.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:

JDanger wrote:
All these questions will be answered once the glass platter arrives, I suppose. I was only wondering if this was a common problem with the P1.

based on your drawings, the bearing/spindle is crooked. just dropping a new platter on top of that is not going to make any difference. the pivot point should be exactly perpendicular to the top surface of the plinth, in all planes. see if there is some way that you can adjust the spindle hole mount so it is straight. Or is the spindle itself bent? or maybe the inner platter (where the belt rides) is pressed on to the spindle slightly crooked?

Shiza Minelli!!

I was not hoping to hear that. The inner platter seems flawless as does the spindle. I'll take it to my dealer after the glass arrives.

Thanks again for your help!

I hope no one minds if i jump on this thread- I searched for audiophile turntables and this is the first thread that came up.

i'm looking to upgrade my Hi-Fi in the turntable department. I'm using a Gemini DJ turntable that I bought years ago to learn to scratch. I've since lost interest in that, but I've taken to record collecting like a fish to water. The problem is that my records sound like crap. there is lots of audible distortion and everything sounds really tinny. I'm afraid to listen to my records on this because i'm afraid they're going to get get destroyed.

my current setup is this:
Gemini turntable w/ badly aligned and probably worn cartridge.
$20 radioshack preamp
Yamaha CA1000 Amp (the phono input is fried so i'm using the aux channel w/ the preamp)

I've been looking at the cheapest Rega, Music Hall, and Pro-jects tables. i figure dropping $200-300 on a new table will severely improve my predicament. I'd really appreciate any advice on this... what about preamps? Should that be a priority or should I wait on that?

thanks a lot!
-mike

BTW- i had no IDEA how deep the rabbit-hole went on this stuff til I went to needledoctor.com and saw that you can buy a 770lb $100,000 turntable and an $11,000 preamp...

I finished my Hi-Fi construction that I started back in June. Here are the final purchases. I bought/learned about stuff through Audio Consultants in Evanston, eBay, Audiogon, and the Polk Audio forum.

Amplifier: Almarro A205A mkii (Used)

http://www.almarro.com/products.html

Simple single ended pentode design using a 5751 driver and EL84 power tube. It has a passive attenuation circuit so no preamp is needed. Made with discrete components, point-to-point construction, and very affordable for what you get. My only gripe is that in the early models (like mine) there is a slight hum from the power transformer interacting with the left output transformer. I have reduced it with some steel shielding. The newer design eliminates this hum.

Phono: VPI Scout (Used)

It's as good as mentioned here on the EA board. I got this cheap with an arm (audioquest pt-6) and cartridge (Ortofon X5-MC) included.

Phono-Pre: Gram Amp 2 SE

I got a bit lazy and decided not to build a phono preamp. This one is much nicer that the Rotel, HH Scott, or Project phono preamps I was using. Perhaps it's mental, but I hear less surface noise with this preamp.

Speakers: Fostex FE167E full range drivers built into cabinets by FRITZSPEAKERS.

http://fritzspeakers.com/FullRangeSpecs.htm

You can buy these speakers and build a cabinet... but you would have to build the cabinet. These speakers are amazing. I'm selling my B&W 601's. Fritz is selling on eBay as of recently and they are cheap for what you get. There are other people making these cabinets as well so you have lots of options. None of these people are named Fritz.

So that's about it. I made my own speaker connects with an extension cable. That's lots of copper.

I also found a resale shop here in Evanston with some excellent vinyl. Now I have enough classical and opera for a lifetime.

Oh, and big props to the Record Doctor III. Great record cleaner. Not build like the VPI, but not bad.

With patience I was able to get all these audio lovelies at just over $2K.

My amp has died, and cannot be repaired. I am now in the market for a new amp, and need something with at least 60W per channel to drive my ATC's.

I am considering a Pre + Monoblocks setup, and I have a budget of around £600.

Any recommendations are welcome.