When I went to play my new record I discovered that neither of my turntables was in working order — not shocking; they’re from 1976 and 1981 respectively. I hope I get 40+ years out of the new one, too.
Doug's photo blog — originally a photo a day, now not so much
When I went to play my new record I discovered that neither of my turntables was in working order — not shocking; they’re from 1976 and 1981 respectively. I hope I get 40+ years out of the new one, too.
The 1976 was my sister’s, a belt-drive JVC with a somewhat pedestrian Ortofon cartridge. It has been reliable over the years but has developed a rumble due to oxidation in the main bearing, and now the motor won’t start up, I’m guessing due to a bad capacitor.
The 1981 was Fred’s, which he gave me when he got rid of his vinyl. It’s a direct-drive Pioneer with a very nice Audio-Technica cartridge, which I will hold onto. It has developed random fluctuations in its speed control and sounds like crap. I suspect bad caps for it, too.
I picked the new one because it has very little to go wrong with it, and is made in Woburn, MA. I splurged a bit on a Grado cartridge and I must say the sound — especially bass extension and channel separation — are quite a bit better than the old ones.