Vinyl Cool Again

analog music reproduction discussion

Vinyl Cool Again

Postby Shannon Parks » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:31 pm

From college dorm rooms to high school sleepovers, an all-but-extinct music medium has been showing up lately. And we don't mean CDs. Vinyl records, especially the full-length LPs that helped define the golden era of rock in the 1960s and '70s, are suddenly cool again. Some of the new fans are baby boomers nostalgic for their youth. But to the surprise and delight of music executives, increasing numbers of the iPod generation are also purchasing turntables (or dusting off Dad's), buying long-playing vinyl records and giving them a spin.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 69,00.html
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NEW Vinyl!!

Postby msmpe » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:14 am

OK Shannon, I'll bite: where do you get 'em? Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_12

The lil lady and I just got our Thorens spinning again (new belt). Listened to some oldies through the SONY (ugh) and viola, much better than the CDs. Which is why I'm building a phono section in my little SEP.

Which brings up a question for anybody who tunes in: who has a phono preamp PCB? Besides Joe Curcio's very accurate little PWB-6 (2 6DJ8s w/ passive RIAA eq meant to replace the Dyna PAS unit, but can be used where ever).

My preference is 3-stage, passive eq, compact. I'm not in a position to design or build my own PCB.

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Postby sorenj07 » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:53 am

I've been meaning to build a RIAA stage. I've got two TFK 12AX7's, anybody got any ideas? I'm prepared to tack on a (W)CF stage so high output impedance isn't an issue.
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Postby TomMcNally » Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:10 am

I'd be interested in what you find, Soren.

I'd like to handwire something simple with three tubes.

Just something to do ... I have a bunch of high end
broadcast turntable preamps, solid state of course.

I know what will happen though ... I'll spin vinyl for a few days
and then realize why it's a pain in the ass. Flipping discs every
20 minutes or so gets old fast. XM's Lucy or my IPod, running
RockBox with 5000 songs goes back on pretty quickly.

... tom
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Postby DerekVa » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:20 am

I'm building an RCA 7025 / 12AX7 preamp using an old Handmade Electronics board. The board is stuffed, but I haven't put together a PSU as of yet. My biggest concern with this design is that it is a two-stage not three-stage design, so there's a pretty high probability that it won't conform very well to the RIAA curve.

Once I finish it, I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm sure it won't be anywhere as good as my Gram Amp 2SE, but it may be a good match for some of my old mono classical & opera LPs.

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Phono preamp

Postby msmpe » Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:45 pm

I'm a beginner at this, but have done some research on phono tube preamps. Two things to consider are accuracy of the RIAA EQ and gain.

According to Eric Hayes in some earlier threads, 40dB is the minimum gain requirement. The 2-stage passive preamps will just barely meet that spec if pushed. The 3-stage is better suited in this regard.

With that said, however, there are a couple of good 2-stage MM preamps out there: RJM and Curcio's PWB-6. Both use 6922s and claim high accuracy, but gain for both is less than 40dB (38 and 30 respectively). The early Shure M65 and RCA 2-stage circuits were not the most accurate (see earlier threads), and I am not considering them any more. Although JE Labs has an interesting RCA knock-off by a guy who should have a pretty discerning ear. For my first MM phono preamp I'm working on RJM's circuit followed by a 2 stage line.

For some "beefier" circuits check out: Allen Wright's (VSE) FVP5A or RTP3C, Curcio's Sarah, Steve Bench's Cascode, and Jim Hagerman's Coronet2. You could also consider the Marantz Model 7 which is a 3 stage phono circuit followed by a line stage, and there are probably some other vintage hi-end circuits worth considering.

Nuther Nuby hooked on tubes
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Postby Geek » Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:19 am

Hi,

Low transconductance tubes like 12AX7 should be avoided for at least the input stage.

Here's another proven circuit, if somewhat complex:
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca/GeeK_ZonE/ ... 8#msg33448

I used a 6AQ4 for the bottom of the cascode for reasons that it just sounded better to me than a stage of ECC88 :)

The component values are chosen for practical RIAA curve (+2%) that includes all the Cin and Cstray rubbish. Should be adjusted for your layout as needed.

Cheers!
-= Gregg =-
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Postby Slartibartfast » Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:03 pm

TomMcNally wrote:
I know what will happen though ... I'll spin vinyl for a few days
and then realize why it's a pain in the ass. Flipping discs every
20 minutes or so gets old fast. XM's Lucy or my IPod, running
RockBox with 5000 songs goes back on pretty quickly.

... tom


With the way modern music is mastered these days, I am buying more older vinyl. Even remasters for CDs of classic vinyl albums is sometimes done horribly...
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Postby K-MAN » Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:07 pm

Allot of people here in Vancouver are into Vinyl. There's a store close by that has thousands of records and he's always busy. I'm hoping if enough people are interested that they might start making new ones.
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Postby Slartibartfast » Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:04 pm

K-MAN wrote:Allot of people here in Vancouver are into Vinyl. There's a store close by that has thousands of records and he's always busy. I'm hoping if enough people are interested that they might start making new ones.


This is already happening. There are indie bands and some of them only release their music on vinyl, or select albums on vinyl.
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Postby SDS-PAGE » Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:32 pm

Speaking of vinyls, I got my first copy of Pink Floyd's TDSM. Pretty sweet record! Now I need to rent the Wizard of Oz video. I also have a complete set of Journey records on the way that I'm pretty excited about. BTW, I like the new lead singer for Journey from Philippines, Arnel Pineda. He sounds just the original singer. Wish they would put out their new record in vinyl, but the CD sounds just fine.
Last edited by SDS-PAGE on Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby TomMcNally » Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:49 pm

Hi Min ...

Dark Side of the Moon and the Wizard of Oz is lots of fun !
Make sure you start the album right when the lion roars
for the third time in the MGM opening. It's a little easier
with a CD. I have a pre-made DVD, but I think I had
more fun doing the VHS tape and CD a few years back.

... tom
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Postby TerrySmith » Wed Jun 11, 2008 7:21 am

Another question is where would you find a good quality new turntable these days? Are the DJ types any good?
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Postby Slartibartfast » Wed Jun 11, 2008 7:41 am

TerrySmith wrote:Another question is where would you find a good quality new turntable these days? Are the DJ types any good?



Why limit yourself to new?There are plenty of good used TT out there. Take a look at this site:

http://www.theturntablefactory.com/
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Postby TomMcNally » Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:37 am

I've had a Technics SL-1200 for a long time. I think it's a
good way to go. Rugged, no rubber parts, perfect speed
regulation, etc.

My only word of caution on an older turntable is that if
it uses rubber parts, belts, idler wheels, etc, make sure
they are available, since age and heat destroy them.
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