I am looking to buy a turntable for my sister, probably for fairly light
use and will be connected to a fairly cheap Sony mini-system. I'm looking
to spend about £100 max. I've been browsing Ebay, and hit upon a few
questions - I know this is a very low budget so I just want to make sure
I don't end up with something hopeless.

1. Obviously the mini-system doesn't have a phono preamp. Am I better off
getting a deck with one built in (eg Bush MTT1), or would there be any
benefit in buying a seperate deck and preamp?

2. I notice seperate phono preamps can be bought for as little as £15,
but are these likely to be complete rubbish? (Or at least how would they
compare in rubbishness to the preamp built into an MTT1 or similar?)

3. Is it the norm for decks to have an earth/ground wire coming out the
back, as well as the line outs? Is this a problem for connecting to a
mini system, as it will not have a terminal to connect it to?

4. What is the norm with creature comforts like 33/45rpm selection
buttons, automatic start and finish mechanisms etc? My sister is a bit
accident prone so I feel having to fiddle around with the belt to change
speeds is asking for it to get broken.

I have a Bush MTT1 myself, and know it would fulfil all of my
requirements for well within my budget (built in preamp, no ground wire,
semi-automatic and 33/45 select button), but I also know it's build
quality is poor and wondered if I could do better for the money.

Thanks in advance for any input.

"Tom Cumming" wrote in message
news
I am looking to buy a turntable for my sister, probably for fairly
light
use and will be connected to a fairly cheap Sony mini-system. I'm
looking
to spend about £100 max. I've been browsing Ebay, and hit upon a few
questions - I know this is a very low budget so I just want to make
sure
I don't end up with something hopeless.

1. Obviously the mini-system doesn't have a phono preamp. Am I better
off
getting a deck with one built in (eg Bush MTT1), or would there be any
benefit in buying a seperate deck and preamp?


Not at the price point you require.



2. I notice seperate phono preamps can be bought for as little as £15,
but are these likely to be complete rubbish? (Or at least how would
they
compare in rubbishness to the preamp built into an MTT1 or similar?)


Probably very similar and probably both at least OK.



3. Is it the norm for decks to have an earth/ground wire coming out
the
back, as well as the line outs? Is this a problem for connecting to a
mini system, as it will not have a terminal to connect it to?


You can try running it straight to the earth on the mains plug (with
great care) if it seems to need it - it may well not.


4. What is the norm with creature comforts like 33/45rpm selection
buttons, automatic start and finish mechanisms etc? My sister is a bit
accident prone so I feel having to fiddle around with the belt to
change
speeds is asking for it to get broken.


No, forget all that - see below...



I have a Bush MTT1 myself, and know it would fulfil all of my
requirements for well within my budget (built in preamp, no ground
wire,
semi-automatic and 33/45 select button), but I also know it's build
quality is poor and wondered if I could do better for the money.


They're dangerous things, those little Bush decks - one of 'em got me
back into vinyl!! ;-)



Thanks in advance for any input.


Forget 'hifi' turntables at the price you are looking to spend and turn
your attention to the 'DJ' world - there are some exciting budget decks
in your price range and a little bit of research will find entry models
from the likes of Ion, Kam, Vestax and Numark with the spec you seek and
which are robust and easy to use.

Start here for an idea:

http://www.djkit.co.uk/sectionindexe...FQfalAod_nSWVw

Note USB connectivity on stuff like this:

http://www.whybuynew.co.uk/ITTUSB-Io...Turntable.html

http://www.djkit.co.uk/acatalog/Numa...Turntable.html


But do check they have onboard 'phono stages' - some do, some don't!

"Keith G" wrote


Forget 'hifi' turntables at the price you are looking to spend and
turn your attention to the 'DJ' world - there are some exciting budget
decks in your price range and a little bit of research will find entry
models from the likes of Ion, Kam, Vestax and Numark with the spec you
seek and which are robust and easy to use.



See this one:

http://www.jbsmusic.co.uk/view/2026/

And on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=130163501122


Seems to punch all the buttons you mentioned, does it not?

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Keith G" wrote


Forget 'hifi' turntables at the price you are looking to spend and turn
your attention to the 'DJ' world - there are some exciting budget decks
in your price range and a little bit of research will find entry models
from the likes of Ion, Kam, Vestax and Numark with the spec you seek and
which are robust and easy to use.



See this one:

http://www.jbsmusic.co.uk/view/2026/

And on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=130163501122


Seems to punch all the buttons you mentioned, does it not?


Apart from the OTT styling, the KAM looks a *lot* better bet than the Bush.
The Bush is a particularly nasty piece of work even at £32.
Alternatively, you could buy a very nice GL75 on Ebay and a small phono
pre-amp......

S.



--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

"Serge Auckland" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Keith G" wrote


Forget 'hifi' turntables at the price you are looking to spend and
turn your attention to the 'DJ' world - there are some exciting
budget decks in your price range and a little bit of research will
find entry models from the likes of Ion, Kam, Vestax and Numark with
the spec you seek and which are robust and easy to use.



See this one:

http://www.jbsmusic.co.uk/view/2026/

And on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=130163501122


Seems to punch all the buttons you mentioned, does it not?


Apart from the OTT styling, the KAM looks a *lot* better bet than the
Bush. The Bush is a particularly nasty piece of work even at £32.
Alternatively, you could buy a very nice GL75 on Ebay and a small
phono pre-amp......


Which reminds me I've got one of them (and two other turntables) under
my bed!! (And I thought I was making some progress with the 'kit
reduction'!!)

Possibly incorrectly, given the budget and mention by the OP that the
turntable was for his sister who was possibly 'a bit too young', I
deduced that she might relate to a modern, 'DJ' style of deck which, as
you know, are quite easy to operate (speed changes especially) and
fairly robust compared to some of the 'hifi' esoterica! The (apparent)
inclusion of a built-in phono stage and USB connectivity makes it a
handy tool for the money, IMO!!

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:35:21 +0100, Keith G wrote:

Possibly incorrectly, given the budget and mention by the OP that the
turntable was for his sister who was possibly 'a bit too young',

Lol, styling is unimportant to be honest! I was referring to myself as
being a bit too young - as in I'm sure if I was into hifi in the 70s I'd
know perfectly well what to do with a ground wire, but I wasn't alive
then...

Thanks for your help.