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[Jason Lord]

Greetings,

This is my first post.  I've been lurking here a while.  Now that the water is warm.....

I've been approached recently about transferring vinyl records to digital.  I feel that the order of importance in 3 steps is:

1. Turntable/Cartridge
2. Phono Preamp
3. DAC

Figuring a Rosetta 800 would be an acceptable DAC, I'm looking for recommendations as to Phono Preamps & turntables.

Thanks
Jason Lord

[claveslave]

Go here
for a high quality preamp.
You could do worse than a Technics SL 1200 Mk. II and a Shure V 15 type V.
Bit pricey but excellent results will be had.

[Roland Storch]

The old EMT turntables are verx good for that job. They are still in use at a lot of radio stations in Europe. The Model 938 isn?t very expensive but very good.

It has built in phono preamps and balanced line outputs. There are always EMTs on ebay. Some come with the EMT cartridge TSD15 which is really good and the arm 929.

The EMT938 with arm 929 and cartridge TSD15 is about 2500,-

[Roland Storch]

Here?s a link to more about EMT:
http://www.emt-profi.de/M%20EMT%20948.htm

[Jason Lord]

Thanks for the fast replies.    I'll be reading your links during my daily forum reading.

I'm glad that the turntable isn't going to be a $4000 piece.  I did a search here for 'phono pre' and the only result was someone talking about a JA Michelle turntable.  I googled them up and found a site selling models from $2K - $5K!!!  ouch..

I own a UA 2-610 Tube pre in the studio, and I love the sound of it.  But has applications, it's not the choice for everything, the tubes have a sound.  

Does it come down to if it sounds good, it's good?  Or would a pre that's considered 'transparent' be the choice for transfers, since coloration is not desirable in this situation?

Cheers,

Jason Lord

[Roland Storch]

I would prefer a transparent phone stage becuase vinyl alreday has plenty of coloration.

[JGreenslade]

If you are looking for a “transparent” preamp maybe the hi-fi market is not the way to go. Part of my job involves demo-ing units to hi-fi dealers, one recently expressed that their clients felt the EAR transformer-coupled valve amps were too “clinical”... If a wire-with-gain is what you’re looking for I’d suggest looking at units designed for broadcast, EMT is a good suggestion although they can be rare and expensive.

Bear in mind that the majority of vinyl cut in the last 10yrs or so is likely to have travelled through a digital-delay, and IMHO a valve-based unit such as EAR or Manley could have just the balance between pleasant colouration and transparency you need. Creek make a well-reviewed (if that means anything) phono-stage for

[Bill Park]

Lets not forget that the 1200 tracks rather heavy.

 Bill

[magicchord]

Then there's always the Radio Design Labs module.



Patrick Bryant
MagicChord Music

[Level]

If you do not mind a kit..and vacuum tubes and a great deal for a very high fidelity phono pre, go to:

www.bottlehead.com

Look for the "seduction"

The web page scrolls horizonally, not vertically.

[tterral]

I just purchased a Music Hall MMF-5 turntable and Channel Islands VPP-1 phono preamp. I bought the MMF-5 (which is a very highly regarded budget turntable) for $350 used. I bought it from a guy over at www.audioshopper.com. Another good place to look for high end used equipment is www.audiogon.com. The MMF-5 comes with a good cartridge (Goldring 1012), glass platter, dual plinth and record clamp. The MMF-5 lists for $629 and can be had in the $550 range, new. The MMF-7 is a step up - better table, cartridge, etc. VPI tables are also excellent, but more expensive.

The Channel Islands pre seems to be very nice for $250 shipped (from www.modwright.com, list is $299). I am still breaking it in and it sounds nice. I will probably either get the upgraded power supply that is available ($159) or go with the mods that modwright offers ($200) or may do both. The CI VPP-1 is supposed to be better than the Creek stuff, sound wise as well as the fact that the CI VPP-1 handles both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges, whereas the new Creek phono pre that does both is $100-150 more expensive. The Monolithic PS-2 (or PS-1 if you can find them, the PS-2 just replaced it) are excellent units as well. They too offer an upgraded, dual mono power supply. The PS-2 is a little more expensive than the VPP-1, but not that much.

Good luck.
Tim Terral

PS: If any of you have not listened to your old vinyl on a decent stereo in a while, you will be AMAZED at how much better it sounds than CDs. I have just had my new TT for about a week and while most of my records date back to the 70s to mid 80s, the ones that were recorded well sound incredible. Badly recorded vinyl, sounds, well badly recorded, just like a badly recorded CD. Another plus with listening to the older stuff, they actually have dynamics. I had forgotten what an album sounded like that wasn't squashed to shit. Incredible.