General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ General Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ] [ Edit ] [ Delete ]

---

Faster, pussycat!

Posted by Joe Rosen on June 6, 2001 at 16:11:09

In Reply to: Not so fast... posted by Aurelio S. on June 6, 2001 at 10:17:25:

Why NOT buy used?
I'm a mechanical idiot, I can design, modify and build my own amplifiers, but I'm not quite so comfortable around things mechanical.
But you want to know what REALLY scares me? Disposable Asian crap technology that is designed to be used a few years, has proprietary parts that get crushed in a Japanese or Malaysian dumpster after the (very brief) warranties on the original equipment expires (they don't want you to fix, they want you narrow-nosed DUMMIES to buy MORE of this disposable junk!), and basically have ZERO user-serviceable parts in them, anyways!
I've bought plenty of used Hi-Fi equipment, because the horrible bit is how random the technological developments are, and as far as regular CD goes, the technology basically DIED in all-in-one machines by about 1991/2. Outrageous? Maybe. But I have three machines, none newer, and I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING NEWER THAT SOUNDS BETTER! I am still awaiting my demo of SACD, but CD is such a god-awful pathetic imitation of analog (I love electrostatic speakers, and CD sounds so bad that it is UNLISTENABLE with every electrostat I've ever heard, yet the same electronics and speakers sound GLORIOUS with LP...what's the score here?) that I remain DEEPLY sceptical. I guess I'm just a Missouri country boy...
What goes wrong in an old turntable? You gotta put a couple of spots of oil in the platter bearing and on the motor spindle once a year? Change a belt every few years?
You have to bother to put it in a place where it won't bounce or feedback (it may seem weird, but the best place is the floor! I dare anyone here to try it! Beats any and every stand you can buy, at any price, every time!), You have to buy a few "accessories" for it? And what happens to those accessories, the pucks, the clamps, the spikes?
Do they suddenly pack up and go south, turning into petrified goat turds when the clock strikes midnight at the end of the 2-year warranty? Funny, people will complain about the limited lifespan & high-cost of a replacement needle, but think nothing of throwing their expensive CD player into the dumpster when it starts permanently mistracking because the laser wears out! And have any of us priced the cost of installing a new laser for our players, lately?
What goes wrong with an old turntable that you would be afraid to buy it? If the platter spins, the bearing is probably OK, right? If you hit the power switch, and the motor turns the platter, then its OK, right? Does the arm move? Set the tracking force and anti-skate to zero (with the stylus guard in place, please!), and blow gently or prod the arm gently and let it glide across the record playing area. And then up and down. Did it "stick" at any point? No? Then the bearings in the arm are primo! It did stick? A little bit? Hmmm, you've got a maybe there. Definitely? OK, either you're going to buy a new arm or you walk...
Try fixing a dead laser that easily!
So you have some adjustments. Overhang, azimuth, tracking force, antiskating. Maybe you have to adjust the tonearm height. Do you need a $100 special Swiny Test CD with $1000-5000 worth of lab equipment to do this? And the engineering knowledge to know what to do with this gear to make the adjustments? A service manual for every turntable? If you don't want to spring for a record-cleaning machine (OOOH! It's got a MOTOR in it! Complicated and unreliable, run and hide!), don't you have a dealer remotely near you that provides record cleaning services? So pay the man the 75 cents or whatever and get 'em cleaned! You don't have to spend $200+! How many records are you going to clean? Do you ever clean your CD's? Don't buy filthy records! And don't try "wet-cleaning" them with Rover's tongue, or that lovely bottle of Corona that you're holding in your left hand! You scratch a record, it makes a "click" every time it goes around. Scratch a CD bad enough, and you're LUCKY if it just makes a "click" every time it goes around, and it goes around alot faster, doesn't it?
Don't feel like forking out big bucks for cartridge alignment guages?
Give your local dealer some chump-change and let him do it for you! You think you'll need to do it every other day or something? Or even every week? Or even every YEAR? If you change the cartridge, the arm or the whole turntable, then you need it done! If you plan on changing cartridges, arms and turntables like you do undergarments, then MAYBE you need to have your own alignment tools...It would be NICE, but do you need this??? And again, once you got 'em, are they gonna wear out? Become any more obsolete than they (ha ha) are already??? I can think of worse investments. Like little edge-cutter gizmos from Germany to shave your digital discs to obsessive-compulsive perfect circumference....only what? $500? $600?
Buy a used table for $200, $300 or $400. A buddy of mine just bought a beautiful CJ Walker turntable, from a retail store! For $60!!! It needed some setup work and a cartridge, but it sounds BEAUTIFUL. If I heard a CD player that sounded that good for less than $2000 I'd BUY IT ON THE SPOT!!! A cartridge you should buy new. But not an arm or turntable. You don't need a degree in rocket science to figure out either how to operate a record player or how to fix what gets worn out or broken. YOU CAN SEE IT. IT'S ALL RIGHT THERE. If purchased from a reputable manufacturer, your turntable can last THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Try that with your Sony CD flayer! My turntables are both over 15 years old, and the only thing I've spent money for are new belts ($20, OOOOH!) and new cartridges every two or three years ($200, OOOOOH! That's a whopping $66 a year!!!).
CD technology is like transistor amps vs. tube ones. Low-maintenance, comparatively lousy sound and disposable VS. routine maintenance, comparitively superior sound and built to last a lifetime.
I've made my choice, and I listen to CD extensively. But vinyl it ain't, and I've gotten FAR more musical value for my dollars with LP than CD ever remotely has provided me with...CD is FALSE convenience, because there is nothing convenient about unsatisfying sound once you're used to what even a relatively cheap but well-though out analog rig can do for you...

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---