Beginners Guide To Vinyl Music

I’ve wanted to write this post for quite awhile, but never got around to making the accompanying video…well..I finally made my video. I’m going to call this my “Beginners Guide  To Vinyl Music”.

I’ve assembled my turntable set complete with preamp, amp and speakers and it’s not too bad for an introductory turntable system. What I have done in my video is go over all the components that make my system, all for about $160.

• Audio Technica AT-LP60 – http://amzn.to/1G7G5pY
• Plye-Pro PP444 – http://amzn.to/1H1kG21
• Lepai Tripath TA2020 – http://amzn.to/1OWNR7u
• Pioneer Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Speakers – http://amzn.to/1KaYUt6

THE TURNTABLE

The Audio Technica AT-LP60 turntable is what I’m using right now and for it’s price, it delivers the performance I need. With a push of a button, the platter will start spinning and the tone arm will place itself automatically at the beginning of the record. It has 2 speeds – 33 1/3 and 45 RPM, it can be switched by the button on the left side. Since this is fully automatic, there is a switch for the size of the records that you want to play, AT-LP60 only have a switch for 12″ and 7″ record, for 10″ maybe you have to override and manually place the stylus. I highly recommend Audio Technica AT-LP60 Fully Automatic Stereo Turntable System.

When I unpacked my AT-LP60, the tone arm and cartridge and stylus was already in place, you only need to place the platter, install the drive belt and slip mat, it’s very easy to assemble. The AT-LP60 comes in built in phono pre-amp so if you can easily plug this turntable to your home theatre system.

The sound quality can be debated by the top audiophiles, but for a turntable system under $100 – this little machine will ass-kick any turntable system at the same price range and even on those that are in $200 range. The sound performance is just incredible, I really wouldn’t trade this in for anything else at the same price range.

THE PREAMP

A turntable produces a PHONO output signal. This phono signal needs to be converted to a LINE LEVEL signal (sometimes referred to as AUX signal) to work with audio equipment including stereo systems, computers, and speakers. A phono preamp converts PHONO to LINE LEVEL.

The PYLE-PRO PP444 Ultra Compact Phono Turntable Preamp converts the low signal of the turntable to line level signal that the amplifier can handle. In my setup this is completely optional but having a separate pre-amp to be used than the built in pre-amp of AT-LP60 might have some gain plus the fact that PYLE PRO is very cheap I didn’t think twice about adding it to my system.

THE AMPLIFIER

The Lepai TA2020 is actually an amplifier that belongs in an audio system for your car. Lepai then began including a 12v ac power adaptor for home use. The TA2020 has a clean 20 watt power output and it’s light weight and small, it was found to have many great reviews on Amazon so I decided for it’s price and performance, it would be a perfect addition to my system.

Download the video to watch at your leisure: https://archive.org/download/MyInformalVinylSetup/My%20Informal%20Vinyl%20Setup.mp4