AudioNervosa

Systemic Development => Analog Devices => Topic started by: Nick B on February 15, 2018, 07:34:46 PM

Title: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on February 15, 2018, 07:34:46 PM
I never thought I’d say this, but I’m considering selling my analog gear. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought the last few days. I haven’t played an album in over 10 years. Have a brand new Don Sachs maxxed out phono stage that has never been hooked up. An 80 lb Basis table that would likely mess up my back if I tried to move it. Then there’s the issue of buying or building an ultrasonic cleaner for $600 or less. No way I’d pay 4k for  a machine.

Then to clean and catalog each album.....I may have 600 to 800..... and go through the whole ordeal of buying another table, arm, cart etc. To top it off, the beauty of CDs is I don’t have to listen to all  the tracks I don’t care for.

So I’m wondering if some of you have mothballed your analog setups or even sold it all off.

Was it a liberating experience or did you regret it?
Nick

Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: _Scotty_ on February 15, 2018, 09:57:16 PM
My table only weighs 65lbs. and I get my wife to help me move it when necessary. I have music on vinyl that I cannot duplicate on CD or High Rez downloads. My equipment is essentially worthless in comparison to yours so liquidation wouldn't be worth the trouble it would entail. I would be paying someone to take it away.
Scotty
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: tmazz on February 15, 2018, 10:34:41 PM
Get rid of my turntable???????  [-(

They will have to pry it from my cold dead hands.
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: rollo on February 16, 2018, 08:55:13 AM
  It depends on your music collection. If you own those memorable die for LPs which you do not have on CD keep it. If not sell off and better your DAC. It is so close now LPs and digital it comes to nostalgia or routine. Some LP sound sucks, some CD sound sucks. All about quality of recording.
I have two TT's one for stereo one for mono. Great music as well. However since the Formula DAC and La Diva transport less vinyl has hit the mat lately.
I now get emotional impact from CD that alluded that format for me until now. LPs had hit me in the heart all day long. I keep my TT because of the collected music I own. that simple. Not one is better than other. I have fooled many a quest with TT spinning, cart. down but DAC playing. They were shocked when I lifted cart and the music was still playing.
Anyway you do not need an ultrasonic cleaner to listen. You do not need a cart or arm. You need to make a decision.


charles
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on February 16, 2018, 09:37:06 AM
  It depends on your music collection. If you own those memorable die for LPs which you do not have on CD keep it. If not sell off and better your DAC. It is so close now LPs and digital it comes to nostalgia or routine. Some LP sound sucks, some CD sound sucks. All about quality of recording.
I have two TT's one for stereo one for mono. Great music as well. However since the Formula DAC and La Diva transport less vinyl has hit the mat lately.
I now get emotional impact from CD that alluded that format for me until now. LPs had hit me in the heart all day long. I keep my TT because of the collected music I own. that simple. Not one is better than other. I have fooled many a quest with TT spinning, cart. down but DAC playing. They were shocked when I lifted cart and the music was still playing.
Anyway you do not need an ultrasonic cleaner to listen. You do not need a cart or arm. You need to make a decision.


charles

There are definitely some special albums in the collection and I need to go through and find  them.
Of course, if I had the equipment, I’d do the a/d conversion and use software to remove the pops and clcks...which I hate. I don’t know anyone who has that equipment, otherwise that would be the solution. (please, no lectures on copywrite issues)
You mentioned the arm and cart. Of course, I could keep them. I simply assumed it might be easier
to sell the entire combination rather than a table without an arm. May start the process and go through some albums this weekend
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: dBe on February 18, 2018, 02:56:45 PM
I sold my analog gear 20 years ago for what may seem to be stupid reasons.  The biggest one was due to my activity in the local studio and recording scene.  The majority of digital recording being done here at that time was not HDD based, but ADATs, DA-88s and other tape based systems.  Most of them sounded awful and when I was doing measurements and acoustic work I control rooms the most common question asked was "How does it sound?"  Having a Star Sapphire /SME5/Koetsu system as a basis of comparison made me one jaded puppy when it came to SQ comparisons.  Telling a proud Papa that his new baby is ugly is never a desireable thing to do.  I had to change my reference.

Sure there were and still are some great analog studios here, but the vast majority of what I was doing was at smaller rooms and comp prod studios that were all digital.

So, there you have it.  It is good that there have been tremendous improvements in the believeability aspect of digital. 

Great analog is still the high bar...
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: rollo on April 16, 2018, 07:21:57 AM
   Hook it up yet ??? I'll bet when you do and play one LP your streaming days will be over for critical listening. Hook it up, hook it up.  :)


charles
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on April 16, 2018, 08:42:40 AM
   Hook it up yet ??? I'll bet when you do and play one LP your streaming days will be over for critical listening. Hook it up, hook it up.  :)

charles


Well, the new audio rack is in place, but the turntable isn’t on it. It’s still sitting in another room. I know there’s the lure of great analog sound, but I’m still a digital only guy.

Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on April 19, 2018, 12:28:18 AM
   Hook it up yet ??? I'll bet when you do and play one LP your streaming days will be over for critical listening. Hook it up, hook it up.  :)

charles


...I know there’s the lure of great analog sound, but I’m still a digital only guy.
ya, you just got that turntable and phono stage cuz it looks nice...  ;)

doug s.

Well, it’s sitting there and I haven’t put it up for sale either. So maybe there’s a part of me that still wants to try analog. And, yes, you’re right. It sure looks purdy....love the black and gold look on the turntable and the phono stage.
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: mdconnelly on April 19, 2018, 05:39:32 AM
Nick, I'm in the same boat.  I'll go you one better - not only is my treasured Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S collecting dust, but I have a gorgeous Oracle CD transport that's also not getting any use.   Now, being an old fart means that my vinyl collection (~ 400 albums) has many wonderful memories and will be hard to part with.  And yet, if I spin more than a couple of albums every few months, it's a lot.    And while I still buy CDs when an album is not available as a lossless download, I almost always rip it first and then stick it on a shelf.

In truth, streaming with Roon has spoiled me and made me lazy.   Yet I probably listen to far more music now than I did with vinyl.  And there's no anxiety from pops & ticks or wondering if my cartridge needs to be realigned or replaced when things don't sound as good as they should. 

But no, I'm not ready to part with any of it just yet.   

Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: rollo on April 19, 2018, 08:44:38 AM
   Guys keep that TT. Please, try listening to a download then the same on LP. You will get the disease all over again. For me owning a state of the art digital front end LPs are less played due to mostly convenience. OK lazzyness. l believe that most of us having been listening to digital over analog so long ya just are conditioned to that sound.
   I am not debating which is better. I'm saying just listen to LPs again as a different experience.


charles
   
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on April 19, 2018, 09:04:17 AM
Nick, I'm in the same boat.  I'll go you one better - not only is my treasured Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S collecting dust, but I have a gorgeous Oracle CD transport that's also not getting any use.   Now, being an old fart means that my vinyl collection (~ 400 albums) has many wonderful memories and will be hard to part with.  And yet, if I spin more than a couple of albums every few months, it's a lot.    And while I still buy CDs when an album is not available as a lossless download, I almost always rip it first and then stick it on a shelf.

In truth, streaming with Roon has spoiled me and made me lazy.   Yet I probably listen to far more music now than I did with vinyl.  And there's no anxiety from pops & ticks or wondering if my cartridge needs to be realigned or replaced when things don't sound as good as they should. 

But no, I'm not ready to part with any of it just yet.   

That’s some very nice equipment, Mike. Streaming is so convenient. It’s tough to go back to the old ways. Last year, my sister in law knew I was considering resurrecting my analog setup and she parted with all her dads old records. Very tough for her to do. 
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: rollo on April 19, 2018, 11:34:13 AM
Funny you should mention radio. With the server I can stream WBGO and many others. Lately that is most of my listening time for new music.

charles
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on April 19, 2018, 12:27:50 PM
   Hook it up yet ??? I'll bet when you do and play one LP your streaming days will be over for critical listening. Hook it up, hook it up.  :)

charles


...I know there’s the lure of great analog sound, but I’m still a digital only guy.
ya, you just got that turntable and phono stage cuz it looks nice...  ;)

doug s.

Well, it’s sitting there and I haven’t put it up for sale either. So maybe there’s a part of me that still wants to try analog. And, yes, you’re right. It sure looks purdy....love the black and gold look on the turntable and the phono stage.
Nick
here's my take - if you still have winyl, then keep the rig and set it up and use it.  even if it doesn't get used often, you will enjoy it when you use it.  if you don't have any records, then get rid of it.  i couldn't imagine trying to start an new record collection now.

i was just gifted a wintage fairchild 411 turntable - this thing's a monster, and i bet albums played on it will rival or surpass my oracle.  it's got a 3-idler pulley system, and each idler can be rotated in; w/the pulley on top of the idler driving a belt that drives the (massive) platter.  it's way cool. i just need to get it sorted; it runs consistently ~4% slow.  it doesn't seem to be a problem w/the idlers, as it's slow on all speeds and the idlers look good, so i have to sort out the (also massive, and silent) motor.

regarding what's spoiled me and made me lazy is internet radio.  it used to be regular fm that made me lazy; this is even worse!  ;)

doug s.

Doug,
That Fairchild is old...just like me :) Good luck working on the speed issue. As to that pesky analog issue.... ??
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: BobM on April 19, 2018, 03:17:28 PM
We are going to be moving in the next few months and I have packed up the stereo and records. Oodles of records. My wife actually said, "did you think about selling all this and starting new instead of packing and moving it all?"

MY BABIES!!!

Never crossed my mind. I'm anxiously looking forward to setting it all up in a new room and turning the locals onto what a good stereo can do vs earbuds.
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: richidoo on April 19, 2018, 05:36:54 PM
and turning the locals onto what a good stereo can do vs earbuds.

Audiophiles: spreading the audionervosa infection far and wide.  :thumb:

I'm sure you new neighbors will adore you Bob!
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on April 19, 2018, 11:00:36 PM
We are going to be moving in the next few months and I have packed up the stereo and records. Oodles of records. My wife actually said, "did you think about selling all this and starting new instead of packing and moving it all?"

MY BABIES!!!

Never crossed my mind. I'm anxiously looking forward to setting it all up in a new room and turning the locals onto what a good stereo can do vs earbuds.

Life without earbuds?? So it aint so, Bob. Good luck on this noble quest  :thumb:
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: rollo on July 10, 2018, 08:57:52 AM
  Me as well lately. Over 2KLPs, two tables numerous cartriges, Phono preamps, VPI cleaner, Kirmuss cleaner, phono cablesand more.
  I have gotten to a point with Redbook CD playback that has equaled or bettered my LP sound. Sitting for 20 minutes and then getting up to flip the LP now ruins my emotional impact. That getting up makes me loose that connection until the needle drops again. with CD 60 plus minutes of listening straight. Keeps the emotion and mood longer which I prefer. Especially with Classical.
  My LP collection is valued at over 10K so why not take advantage of that now. Have some thinking to do. Aqua digital has changed my world.

charles
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 10, 2018, 05:05:23 PM
I am still on the fence and leaning heavily towards dumping analog...BUT. My strategy now is to sell my TT and arm and pay off a bill and buy a sub. THEN, buy a very cheap TT and play those records to hear what I have and see if it’s worth the hassle. I have the Don Sachs phono stageanyway
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: tmazz on July 10, 2018, 06:46:58 PM
  Me as well lately. Over 2KLPs, two tables numerous cartriges, Phono preamps, VPI cleaner, Kirmuss cleaner, phono cablesand more.
  I have gotten to a point with Redbook CD playback that has equaled or bettered my LP sound. Sitting for 20 minutes and then getting up to flip the LP now ruins my emotional impact. That getting up makes me loose that connection until the needle drops again. with CD 60 plus minutes of listening straight. Keeps the emotion and mood longer which I prefer. Especially with Classical.
  My LP collection is valued at over 10K so why not take advantage of that now. Have some thinking to do. Aqua digital has changed my world.

charles

Here's  the fly in the ointment about that. How are you coming up with that $10k valuation? most of us doe that by looking at the retail value of our LPs on the used market. However the only way you can get that kind of money is to either sell them at a record show, which involves packing then all up and dragging them where if you are lucky you wioll sell 10% of them and then have to drag them all home and start over again, or you would have to sell them one at a time on some kind of online site, which is a huge amount of work for a large collection. And if you try to sell them in bulk to a dealer you will be lucky to get 50 cents a an album for them.

So while it is easy to say that your collection is worth $X it is quite another matter trying to turn it into cash.
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 11, 2018, 11:54:40 PM
I am still on the fence and leaning heavily towards dumping analog...BUT. My strategy now is to sell my TT and arm and pay off a bill and buy a sub. THEN, buy a very cheap TT and play those records to hear what I have and see if it’s worth the hassle. I have the Don Sachs phono stageanyway
Nick
i would humbly suggest that you buy your "very cheap" turntable before selling your spendy rig, because if you decide it's worth the hassle, you may be disappointed you let your nice rig go.  i also suggest your "very cheap" turntable be an empire; either the unsuspended iterations, or the rare 498 if you want a suspension.  prices have crept up a bit, as people realize their worth, but they still punch way above their price range, regarding price/performance ratio.  you'd have to spend a lot more on something new to get similar performance...

doug s.

Well, I hear what you’re saying and I haven’t put the Basis TT and Graham arm up for sale yet anyway. I know the combo would be hard to beat. But damn, that thing is heavy.... 🏋🏻‍♂️ I’ll likely have a preamp soon anyway. But there is the old cash flow problem with this crazy hobby and I also need to buy a sub
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: tmazz on July 12, 2018, 05:00:24 AM
Nick, I'm not sure what you  are considering as a "very Cheap" price, but I recently purchased one of these Pro-Ject Debut Carbon TTs for a friend of mine and it does puts out some really nice sound considering the price ($399 including an Ortofon 2M Red cart).

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PRDECADC

And if you buy it from Audio Advisor you get 30 day return privileges, so i you try it out and the SQ turns out to be less than you would like to deal with you can always send it back for a full refund. (I hve sent stuff back to them in the past and they gave me no hassles about it at all.

Does it sound anywhere as good as my VPI/SME combination, of course not, but the whole thing (which comes with the cart premountedand takes about ten minutes to get up and runnimg right out of the box) costs lesst than the power cable I have connected to my TT.

Great value for the money.
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: rollo on July 12, 2018, 05:54:45 AM
  Me as well lately. Over 2KLPs, two tables numerous cartriges, Phono preamps, VPI cleaner, Kirmuss cleaner, phono cablesand more.
  I have gotten to a point with Redbook CD playback that has equaled or bettered my LP sound. Sitting for 20 minutes and then getting up to flip the LP now ruins my emotional impact. That getting up makes me loose that connection until the needle drops again. with CD 60 plus minutes of listening straight. Keeps the emotion and mood longer which I prefer. Especially with Classical.
  My LP collection is valued at over 10K so why not take advantage of that now. Have some thinking to do. Aqua digital has changed my world.

charles

Here's  the fly in the ointment about that. How are you coming up with that $10k valuation? most of us doe that by looking at the retail value of our LPs on the used market. However the only way you can get that kind of money is to either sell them at a record show, which involves packing then all up and dragging them where if you are lucky you wioll sell 10% of them and then have to drag them all home and start over again, or you would have to sell them one at a time on some kind of online site, which is a huge amount of work for a large collection. And if you try to sell them in bulk to a dealer you will be lucky to get 50 cents a an album for them.

So while it is easy to say that your collection is worth $X it is quite another matter trying to turn it into cash.


 Tom I am lucky to own numerous 10" 33.3 mono jazz recordings. First LP of artist and pressings of such. I have been offered over 5K just for those.
 You are right about trading in to a record dealer. One will not get much. Looking to sell entire collection to one buyer. Actually have some interest.

charles
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 12, 2018, 09:56:29 AM
Nick, I'm not sure what you  are considering as a "very Cheap" price, but I recently purchased one of these Pro-Ject Debut Carbon TTs for a friend of mine and it does puts out some really nice sound considering the price ($399 including an Ortofon 2M Red cart).

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PRDECADC

And if you buy it from Audio Advisor you get 30 day return privileges, so i you try it out and the SQ turns out to be less than you would like to deal with you can always send it back for a full refund. (I hve sent stuff back to them in the past and they gave me no hassles about it at all.

Does it sound anywhere as good as my VPI/SME combination, of course not, but the whole thing (which comes with the cart premountedand takes about ten minutes to get up and runnimg right out of the box) costs lesst than the power cable I have connected to my TT.

Great value for the money.

Tom,
Charles has mentioned the Project as well. Buying a very cheap TT isn’t to replace my nice Graham arm and Basis TT, it would just be a temporary fix to see if I even like analog after all these years of not playing. My wife nicely reminded me that she’s never seen me play a record in the 22 years we’ve been married and she’s probably right. I know I bought my rig in 1990 or so.
If it’s still worth the hassle of the the setup, stylus cleaning, buying a record cleaning machine (as I can’t stand pops and clicks) and getting up and down to change sides, then I’d save up for a used Technics or Empire that Doug likes, etc.
As to a cart, I still have a brand new AT 440 ML and another damaged cart that can be repaired.
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 12, 2018, 10:03:54 AM
Nick, I'm not sure what you  are considering as a "very Cheap" price, but I recently purchased one of these Pro-Ject Debut Carbon TTs for a friend of mine and it does puts out some really nice sound considering the price ($399 including an Ortofon 2M Red cart).

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PRDECADC

And if you buy it from Audio Advisor you get 30 day return privileges, so i you try it out and the SQ turns out to be less than you would like to deal with you can always send it back for a full refund. (I hve sent stuff back to them in the past and they gave me no hassles about it at all.

Does it sound anywhere as good as my VPI/SME combination, of course not, but the whole thing (which comes with the cart premountedand takes about ten minutes to get up and runnimg right out of the box) costs lesst than the power cable I have connected to my TT.

Great value for the money.
great value for the money?  for me, great value for the money is a similarly priced vintage empire, which competes sonically w/new offerings in the $2k-$3k range.  of course, what cartridge that may or may not come w/a vintage turntable is an unknown.  the last empire i bought was $325, and it included a decent grado cartridge (green?  black? i don't remember.) it was my daughter's gift to her boyfriend.  ;) and it sounded great.  she now has a new boyfriend, but she wishes she had the old turntable.   :lol:

doug s.

Sad about her turntable. Maybe now she’s learned to prioritize  :rofl: Just took a peek on hifi shark and lots of current and sold Empires are shown. Have certainly heard of Empire, but know nothing about particular models
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 14, 2018, 05:06:55 PM
Sad about her turntable. Maybe now she’s learned to prioritize  :rofl: Just took a peek on hifi shark and lots of current and sold Empires are shown. Have certainly heard of Empire, but know nothing about particular models
Nick
empires aren't the only quality vintage turntables out there worth considering, but likely the easiest to find and set up.  and, they're all good, but i prefer the simpler non-suspended units.  and the rare 498 has the simplicity of the early units, w/the suspension of the later series. lack of anti-skate on the early arms is probably the most serious drawback, but it's relatively easy to rectify if keeping the arm, and it's really not much of an issue regarding sound.  it might wear the stylus a bit sooner.  and, many of the empires have aftermarket arms, as arm replacement is a popular mod, and you could buy them new w/o arms.

regarding record cleaning, i have never used a record cleaner, having excellent results cleaning by hand w/lukewarm water, mild dishsoap, a sponge, and drying w/a soft lint-free cloth...

doug s.

Good news in that I have enough 💰to get Charles’ Audio Hungary preamp and buy a sub now if I wish. I’d still have a bill to pay off, but I am going to keep the current rig just to play some records and see if it’s worth keeping analog. If not, the Don Sachs phono pre would sell easily. The Empire looks interesting and getting an arm for it would be a simple solution. Speaking of the 498 model,
eBay has one. Could use a little tlc to spiff it up, but otherwise looks ok.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Empire-498-Turntable-with-980-Tonearm/332702207201?hash=item4d7698cce1:g:7ZYAAOSwkslane5F
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: shadowlight on July 14, 2018, 07:29:36 PM
The other forearm to look for the Empire is Jelco.  You do not have to modify anything.
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 14, 2018, 07:56:15 PM
The other forearm to look for the Empire is Jelco.  You do not have to modify anything.

Have always read very positive comments about the Jelco arms and the prices are quite good
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 14, 2018, 08:03:29 PM
Good news in that I have enough 💰to get Charles’ Audio Hungary preamp and buy a sub now if I wish. I’d still have a bill to pay off, but I am going to keep the current rig just to play some records and see if it’s worth keeping analog. If not, the Don Sachs phono pre would sell easily. The Empire looks interesting and getting an arm for it would be a simple solution. Speaking of the 498 model,
eBay has one. Could use a little tlc to spiff it up, but otherwise looks ok.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Empire-498-Turntable-with-980-Tonearm/332702207201?hash=item4d7698cce1:g:7ZYAAOSwkslane5F
yes, the 498 looks nice; the peeling finish on those old arms is typical; that one is not so bad, actually.  reasonably-enough priced, but ebay typically gets the high end of the pricing spectrum for these.  if you're patient, you can find them for less.  but, the 498's are rare.  more common are the unsuspended units, which are actually quite a bit easier to adapt arms to:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132701013433 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/132701013433)
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SEwAAOSw6QpbLqpO/s-l500.jpg)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/332717090270 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/332717090270)
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/TaYAAOSw8P9bPOg4/s-l500.jpg)

this one might actually be the exact unit i owned a few years back; not sure how many there are w/that arm:
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/TVkAAOSw~uJbP9lB/s-l500.jpg)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/232837839846 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/232837839846)

and, you can search craigslist, either local or worldwide:
http://www.adhuntr.com/ (http://www.adhuntr.com/)

i have a 498 that i adapted to take a rega tonearm, but it's not been put into service.  i had to have a special tonearm base made for it.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=55939)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=55944)

and esoteric sound sells arms that are plug-n-play for the suspended empires:
https://www.esotericsound.com/ArmsAndHeadshells.htm (https://www.esotericsound.com/ArmsAndHeadshells.htm)

doug s.

Doug,
That’s a great website and I bookmarked it. The prices of those arms and others like Rega and Jelco are all quite reasonable. I’ve had my Graham arm with extra armwand since the early 1990s. No clue what I paid for it.
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 14, 2018, 08:16:51 PM
Doug,
That’s a great website and I bookmarked it. The prices of those arms and others like Rega and Jelco are all quite reasonable. I’ve had my Graham arm with extra armwand since the early 1990s. No clue what I paid for it.
Nick
nick,
re: great site - i suspect you're referring to the adhuntr site, not the esoteric site.  i'd say it's pretty evil, actually!   :rofl:

re: the graham tonearm + extra wand, i suspect it cost a bit more than any of those empires; probably more than any two of them...  ;)

doug s.

Doug,
It was the esoteric site....I forgot to look at the adhnutr site. Yea, I guess I spent some good change on that and the Basis TT as well. It’s a shame I’ve only played vinyl for a few years on it and that was a very long time ago....
Nick
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: tmazz on July 15, 2018, 08:41:55 PM
Doug,
That’s a great website and I bookmarked it. The prices of those arms and others like Rega and Jelco are all quite reasonable. I’ve had my Graham arm with extra armwand since the early 1990s. No clue what I paid for it.
Nick
nick,
re: great site - i suspect you're referring to the adhuntr site, not the esoteric site.  i'd say it's pretty evil, actually!   :rofl:

re: the graham tonearm + extra wand, i suspect it cost a bit more than any of those empires; probably more than any two of them...  ;)

doug s.

It wouldn't surprise me if the extra graham wand alone cost more than one of those Empires.  :roll:


BTW those pictures really brought back memories. I grew up only a few miles away from the Empire factory.

And the now that I think about it the US offices of BIC were only a few moles in another direction and  HQ of the US Thorens distributor was only two blocks from my high school.

Maybe this explains some of my life long obsession with LPs and TTs.  :thumb:
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: Nick B on July 16, 2018, 03:41:07 PM
Doug,
That’s a great website and I bookmarked it. The prices of those arms and others like Rega and Jelco are all quite reasonable. I’ve had my Graham arm with extra armwand since the early 1990s. No clue what I paid for it.
Nick
nick,
re: great site - i suspect you're referring to the adhuntr site, not the esoteric site.  i'd say it's pretty evil, actually!   :rofl:

re: the graham tonearm + extra wand, i suspect it cost a bit more than any of those empires; probably more than any two of them...  ;)

doug s.

It wouldn't surprise me if the extra graham wand alone cost more than one of those Empires.  :roll:


BTW those pictures really brought back memories. I grew up only a few miles away from the Empire factory.

And the now that I think about it the US offices of BIC were only a few moles in another direction and  HQ of the US Thorens distributor was only two blocks from my high school.

Maybe this explains some of my life long obsession with LPs and TTs.  :thumb:

Well, I have spent more than I should on occasion....or even many occasions....and the Graham and Basis fit that category. The extra wand is the ceramic one and I’ve never used it, so who knows if it’s better than the original.
Sure is nice to have such good memories. My buddy and I used to hang out at the now defunct Pacific Stereo stores as well as a few very kind dealers.
Title: Re: thinking about selling my analog rig
Post by: tmazz on July 16, 2018, 05:41:20 PM

Well, I have spent more than I should on occasion....or even many occasions....



Haven't we all Nick, haven't we all....... :roll: