Chapter 1: Getting Started
Like so many others on this forum, I first became obsessed with turntables and vinyl. Despite the lack of Pro-Ject love here, I picked up the Pro-Ject Debut III as my first table. I live in Minnesota so the Needle Doctor store is almost as close as their website :thmbsp: I loved the Pro-Ject and had plans of eventually upgrading with the Speed Box & Acrylic platter...
Here is my first setup back in 2011...
And a shot of the
Pro-Ject Debut III
turntable
…then a different kind of “project” table landed at my house. It was a Dual 1009 F (circa 1968) that I got from the original owner – complete with original boxes, manuals, and set up instructions.
Dual 1009F
turntable
I tried my hand at getting it fully functional and failed so then I bought a couple Yamaha's...
Yamaha YP-B4
turntable and
Yamaha YP-D4
turntable
Unfortunately the B4 had a bad channel and the D4 broke in transit to me. I had a guy from The Needle Doctor install new IC's on the B4 and gave it a new home. Then I finally ended up with a Pioneer PL-570 that I fell in love with.
Pioneer PL-570
turntable
Then I got into cassettes for a bit because they were fun and cheap
I picked up a Harman/Kardon TD292 Deck from a local thrift for $12.99. Brought it home, hooked it up, and I was actually kind of surprised how nice it sounded. I would later play around with a few other decks and amass a large cassette collection, but I've since "cooled off" a bit and trimmed my collection down to my favorites.
The resulting system looked like this:
Harman/Kardon HK 3370
receiver |
Rotel RCD-950
CDP |
Pioneer PL-570
turntable |
Denon DRS-810
cassette deck |
Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 450
speakers